G’day. I have read some comments about on drawing the designs on
paper and using rubber cement to fasten it to sheet. I would have
thought my method so obvious as not to be worth mentioning, but on the
other hand (there are generally two hands!) perhaps it is:-
When I have a design I need to cut from sheet, or a left and right
handed copy - as for earrings - I use a pencil to draw the design,
scan it at fairly high resolution, with plenty of contrast, put it
into a graphics program and use the mirror image to give left and
right copies. Having resized these more or less as required, I insert
them into a word processor, then use the corner ‘handles’ to give me a
very precise size. I print these out on self adhesive paper - as
many copies as needed - and stick the prints to pieces of metal, then
use a jeweller’s saw and small drill if piercing is required.
If the design is composed of several symmetrical parts or units, I
draw one unit, then use the copy/mirror/rotate facility to create
correctly oriented copies which, because I have a fairly sophisticated
graphics program, (Paint Shop Pro 6) I can paste each unit to form a
whole. I copy this and use the sticky paper to produce guides for
sawing. Before I had a good program, I would print correctly oriented
and sized units and fit them together on the metal.
Another way with left and right units is to fasten two or more pieces
of thin (up to 2 mm) of metal together using double sided sellotape
between them. I make sure they are well stuck by placing them in a
protected-jaw vice and tightening. The pieces may then be cut
identically, separated on completion, (use acetone) and one reversed
to give a mirror image of the other. Subsequent carving of course,
has to be done separately.
Don’t have a scanner? or a digital camera? Then you can’t use my
method unless you can persuade a mate to scan your drawing for you to
a floppy disc and do the rest on your own computer. Why, you ask, (as
Benjamin would say) don’t I simply do the drawing with a CAD program?
Because I can do it much, much faster with pencil and paper! A computer
is an excellent and versatile tool, but sometimes old methods are
simpler. Especially when you get old! Cheers,
John Burgess; @John_Burgess2 of Mapua Nelson NZ