Tutorial Tuesday - hints and tips for sawing metal sheet

As the project I've got in Beads and Beyond this month is all about sawing daisies from copper sheet, I thought that I'd share with you the hints and tips I give my college and private tuition students.

The main tools I use for sawing and piercing(piercing is sawing inside a piece of metal).

Hammer and sharp tipped steel rod for marking where I want to drill a pilot hole for pierced work.

Bench peg that clamps to my bench to support my work - I like this type as I can move it out of the way when I don't need it.

Two different types of saw frames with saw blades

Saw frames

There are two different types of jeweller's saw frames - adjustable and fixed. The blue one in the picture above is an adjustable saw frame with three wing nuts - two that hold the blade and one that adjusts the length of the frame.

To put a blade in an adjustable frame:

1. Open top nut of saw frame and put in one end of the blade with teeth of blade facing towards you and pointing towards the handle of the saw. Tighten the nut. 
2. Loosen the nut at the side of the frame and adjust the frame so that it is a centimetre or so shorter than the blade. 
3. Loosen the bottom nut, insert the blade end and tighten the nut.
4. Lengthen the frame so that the blade is taut and tighten the nut. When you ‘pluck’ the blade it should make a nice sharp ‘ping’.

·       

The wooden handled saw in the photo has a fixed saw frame, in other words, you can't adjust the length of the frame.
To put a blade in an adjustable frame:

1. Hold the front end of the frame in the V of the bench peg so that it doesn’t slip and support the handle against your chest. 
2. Open top nut of saw frame and put in one end of the blade with teeth of blade facing towards you and pointing towards the handle of the saw. Tighten the nut.
3. Put the frame under tension by pushing on it with your chesor your hand. 
4. Loosen the bottom nut, insert the blade end and tighten the nut. 
5. Take the tension off the frame so that the blade is taut. When you ‘pluck’ the blade it should make a nice sharp ‘ping’.

Posture

·         Posture is really important when you are sawing metal. If you sit properly then you will actually have more control over the blade and find the job easier to do, and it's a good idea to sit properly anyway, especially as you will find yourself sitting still for a long time cutting out complex designs!

•       Saw at eye level – it makes it easier to see what you are doing, helps to keep your back straight to reduce back ache and helps to prevent excessive pressure on your wrist. Most jeweller’s benches are taller than normal tables, or you can use an adjustable chair. 
•       Keep your feet apart and knees over your feet – this helps to keep you stable and more comfortable and so helps to prevent ‘wobbles’when you're cutting!

 With practice you will be able to cut so accurately that you can pierce a shape from metal and use both the negative and positive pieces in your work, as I've done with the daisy above.

 Other tips 

•       Keep the blade upright – holding the blade at an angle will make it more difficult to turn corners.
•       Hold the saw lightly – too tight a grip will make the blade jam and cause blades to break
•       Use as much of the blade as possible – short strokes will jam the blade and cause the blade to wear out unevenly.
•       To remove the blade from your work – saw backwards!
•            If your blade gets stuck – try lifting up the whole piece of metal by the saw. This usually loosens the blade.
•       To cut (pierce) inside metal – drill a pilot hole and thread the blade through it before tightening it in the frame.
•       Always turn the metal not your blade – this helps to make your cutting more accurate.
•       To turn a sharp corner – ‘saw’ up and down on the spot with slight pressure backwards, slowly turning the blade/metal as you do so. 
•       Always buy the best quality blades that you can - it will save you hours of filing to clean up your work afterwards.
•       Always use the correct blade for your work – you should ideally have two or three points of the blade to the thickness of what you are cutting. Too thick a blade will catch in your work, too thin a blade will take ages to cut and wear out very quickly. The blade that I use most often is graded as 2/0