Cutting Silver/copper. Piercing saw or ringsaw ?

[ajda]

I've decided to venture into copper and silver cuffs. Confusing array of piercing saws/blades and looks like weeks of breaking blades before I get the hand of it, from what I've read so far. I have a Taurus 3 ringsaw, I use this for my glass and my dicro. Wld the ringsaw do a good job on cutting the silver or copper sheeting ?

Great advice so far on working with piercing saws, which would definitely be my choice for sheet metals... I also have a Taurus for glass working and have used it with all sorts of other stuff, including heavy-duty floor tiles when redecorating our bathroom. It is fantastic for cutting intricate shapes in materials like that, but I wouldn't let my silver anywhere near it! Even the finest blades available for it are too thick and too rough and there's way more power than you want or can control accurately - but with a little practice you should be able to do delicate work quite easily and accurately by hand with a saw. If you search "piercing saw" on YouTube you can find lots of videos that will help you get a feel for it.
Alan

[Goldsmith]

I would also recommend getting to know the uses of a piercing saw, a few tips from me; make sure your bench peg is very secure and does not wobble when in use, get used to piercing in all directions, I mostly pierce from right to left across my benchpeg, my master always told me to pierce this way so that I could see the line I was piercing along, he always said "it was better to see where the blade was going rather than where it has been" . When piercing shaped objects such as egg shells I held them up against the underside of my bench peg while piercing. Practice will teach you these lessons. I find I can pierce most usual metal thicknesses with blade sizes 4/0 to 0, I would suggest 3/0 blades as a good starter size, OK for 0.5mm up to 1mm. base metals.



James

[silverlining]

I would also recommend getting to know the uses of a piercing saw, a few tips from me; make sure your bench peg is very secure and does not wobble when in use, get used to piercing in all directions, I mostly pierce from right to left across my benchpeg, my master always told me to pierce this way so that I could see the line I was piercing along, he always said "it was better to see where the blade was going rather than where it has been" . When piercing shaped objects such as egg shells I held them up against the underside of my bench peg while piercing. Practice will teach you these lessons. I find I can pierce most usual metal thicknesses with blade sizes 4/0 to 0, I would suggest 3/0 blades as a good starter size, OK for 0.5mm up to 1mm. base metals.



James

I pierce from right to left across my benchpeg as well, glad I'm not the only one! I find it a lot easier and much more accurate and also quicker as, as you've said, it's easier to see the line