Sawing Silver Sheet Metal

There are a variey of ways to cut silver.

Sawing silver sheet metal.

Smaller pieces are mainly used for making jewelry and the best way to cut silver in this instance is with a jewelry saw. Supporting the metal on both sides of the blade keeps it from wobbling. Sterling silver sheet metal is excellent for making special handcrafted jewelry pieces. Choose from 16 gauge thick to 28 gauge thin silver sheet for piercing and sawing into custom shapes dapping doming soldering forming into bracelet cuffs and other fine craft applications.

For less precise cuts metal shears cut sterling silver quickly. From elizabeth bone s book silversmithing for jewelry makers. If you saw with too much force or try too hard you ll probably break a blade. Use coarser blades for the best outcome when cutting straight lines.

24 gauge and thinner sheet is very useful for metal stamping and embossing. The finer teeth of the 4 0 blade make cutting thin metal much easier. Pick up some finer blades when you want to tackle more intricate curved work. Mail order phone center mon.

While both of these methods work for cutting larger bulk pieces of silver cutting smaller pieces requires a different type of saw. Start out with 2 0 jeweller s saw blades. Learn how to saw metal sheet. Use shears to cut a small piece of silver from a larger sheet for cutting with a jeweler s saw for cutting templates from a thin sheet of metal or for chain cutting.

Hold the saw frame between 90 and 45 degrees to your metal and start sawing. Less wobbling easier sawing. Metal shears may resemble scissors or they may look more like small gardening shears. Brace the piece that you are sawing on a bench pin that clamps to your worktable so you have a stable surface to work on.

The cutting motion comes from the elbow not the wrist. I default to size 2 0 saw blades for 22 gauge metal sheet and higher. Lean over a master s shoulder and watch as alan revere demonstrates dozens. 8am 5 30pm mst 800 545 7968.

Choosing jeweler s saw blades. For 24 gauge sheet and thinner i jump down to 4 0. Ingots are cut using metal cutting band saws while large pieces are cut using metal cutting reciprocating saws. Hold your metal in place on the bench pin with your non dominant hand.

Japanese pattern earrings from the revere on goldsmithing dvd series.