Sawing problems from a new member~please feel free to answer

[Patstone]

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This is the PIC I was trying to find yesterday. Hope this clarifies it a bit, sorry, trying too take photo with one hand but obviously you have to hold the silver with your left hand.

[Aurarius]

You place the piece on the "V" of the benchpeg and hold the saw in your hand so the blade is parallel with the bench inside the "V" slot and saw across the "V"

This matter gets curiouser and curiouser. The picture you've uploaded does indeed show what you describe, but I'm puzzled how you can saw anywhere with the blade tight within the very corner of the V slot and the saw frame held parallel to the bench like that; you'll simply saw into the wood of the bench peg. I suspect there's a certain amount of turning of the saw frame away from parallel to the bench and a degree of travel into and out of the V slot that has not been acknowledged. Or does the blade stay in exactly the same spot like a bandsaw while it travels up and down and you simply move the piece towards it?

[ps_bond]

Or does the blade stay in exactly the same spot like a bandsaw while it travels up and down and you simply move the piece towards it?

Can't say I manage to keep mine precisely in the same place (unless I'm using the precision saw guide) when sawing straight lines, but close enough.

[joella]

This is really interesting as Ive only ever used the saw facing into the V, heading straight ahead, so I'm going to try this as it is quite hard to see where I'm going sometimes - so glad someone thought to ask about it.
Sue

[Goldsmith]

This matter gets curiouser and curiouser. The picture you've uploaded does indeed show what you describe, but I'm puzzled how you can saw anywhere with the blade tight within the very corner of the V slot and the saw frame held parallel to the bench like that; you'll simply saw into the wood of the bench peg. I suspect there's a certain amount of turning of the saw frame away from parallel to the bench and a degree of travel into and out of the V slot that has not been acknowledged. Or does the blade stay in exactly the same spot like a bandsaw while it travels up and down and you simply move the piece towards it?

May I suggest that you try some piercing this way, when you pierce a flat item correctly you use your free hand's fingers to manipulate the piece on the bench peg, the V in the peg has about half an inch of free space to saw within and when you have sawn across the V you move the item across the peg so that you have some more free space. When I said that I pierce with the frame at right angles to my eyeline, this was for simple cutting outlines on flat sheet. Some jobs will require you to be able to pierce in all directions, I have even had to insert a saw blade facing backwards in the frame for some jobs. Some items that I have pierced have been shaped like bowls or egg shells and I have had to hold them beneath my bench peg to secure while piercing their intricate designs. If you pierce correctly there should be no forward force, only a downward force while cutting.

This was me piercing an egg shell 35 years ago.


James

[joella]

What an utter legend James! There really is no hope for rank amateurs such as myself, but even so...... how many hours practice would you suggest to an eager hobbyist who would really like to get better at this?
Sue

[ps_bond]

There are some sawing exercises in Brepohl that I quite like for improving accuracy. Can't see that excerpt on Ganoksin yet, if I find it I'll post the link.

[joella]

Thank you Peter, is 'Brepohl' reference to a book called 'the theory and practice of goldsmithing' ? (I've just googled Brepohl,and it comes up with the book - it is available on amazon, but at £50 ish, its a bit steep for me - so I'm hoping the info is available through a link via ganoskin or some such - thanks
Sue

[ps_bond]

That's the beastie. There's a number of excerpts on Ganoksin, I'll have a bit more of a look soon.

[Goldsmith]

What an utter legend James! There really is no hope for rank amateurs such as myself, but even so...... how many hours practice would you suggest to an eager hobbyist who would really like to get better at this?
Sue

I started piercing monograms for an engraving company, they used to pay me 2/6 per letter, way back in the early 1960s. This was a large piece of flat sheet piercing that I did many years ago, it was about 10 inches square and was 18ct gold, a prayer, commissioned for the Sultan of Oman.



James