I need a STRONG saw frame for standard size jewelry saw blades that
has a throat depth of 10" or more. I have the one that Rio Grande
sells, but its very flimsy.
Any recomendations?
Thanks,
Wm. Dubin
I also have the 10" saw frame Rio Sells. I replaced the plastic
thumbscrews with metal ones and it works a lot better now.
Alana Clearlake
I also have the 10" saw frame Rio Sells. I replaced the plastic thumbscrews with metal ones and it works a lot better now.
Alana, I cut through 1/8" brass sheet with this saw, and I find the
frame wobble’s which breaks the blades. This is why I was looking for
a stonger built one, but so far no one has had any suggestions.
Wm.
G’day; The standard jewellers frame saw has a ‘throat’ of only
about 2 1/2 inches. This can be annoying when trying to make a cut
in flat sheet deeper than that.
Try the fretwork saws available in hobby shops; they vary from about
8 inches to 12 inches. Make sure that the frame is of metal of a
reasonable thickness. If used with a perfectly in line up and down
stroke, you won’t break many saws.
As you might have guessed I made my own from aluminium strip. For
cutting dead straight strips from a sheet, try the very thin 'razor’
saws sold in hobby shops for cutting balsa; these are like a little
5 inch tenon saw with very fine teeth. Not easy to use, but you can
make cuts as long as you wish, by using the saw at a very low angle.
I reverse the handle on mine, so it cuts on the pull stroke like
Japanese carpenter’s saws; it’s much easier to use that way. –
Cheers for now,
John Burgess; @John_Burgess2 of Mapua Nelson NZ
Alana, I cut through 1/8" brass sheet with this saw, and I find the frame wobble's which breaks the blades. This is why I was looking for a stonger built one, but so far no one has had any suggestions.
I don’t have any recommendations for a stronger saw frame but you
might try a stronger saw blade. I use 4/0 blades on silver, gold,
and on thin gauge copper and brass. But for 1/8" brass sheet (which I
use in my blanking system) I switch to 1/0 or even #1 blades.
Attn. Wm. I was going to suggest a Scroll Saw. This should depend on
how often you will be using it.
It is possible to stabilize a 10" frame but it will depend on the
metal hardness and the Blade how true it will hold. Plus if you
really need a 10" frame I can imagine the size of the piece that you
will be struggling with unless you have a way to hold it.
A variable speed motorized scroll saw with a tilt table that will
accept a 10" piece and can take a Jewelers Saw blade will be a good
bet. Roughly about $200 to 300.
If the expense is a problem and time is no sweat. and all you need
is a straight vertical cut Then make your self a jig that will let
you slide the saw using 2 tube one attached to your frame (tack
welded to the outer tube). Rio has a jig similar to that.
Wish you the best Kenneth Singh
I found some old tools metal saws in my shed htat belonged to my
father and they could be used for jewelry but htey are rusted. Is
there any way I can clean them up and use them and or any book that
would tell me how to do that? I am a novice at jewelry making and
don’t want to invest money in tools just yet. Thank you in advance
for answering my question. Bernice
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Hello Bernice, Your effort to economize is laudible, but in this
case could bring you much frustration! First, are these jeweler’s
saws you found? This webpage shows several:
http://www.fdjtool.com/store/find.asp?keywords=saw+frame If your
saw isn’t a jeweler’s saw, ignore the rest of this 
Removing
rust from the frame will improve appearances and avoid
contamination; frames are usable indefinitely. If the saw blade is
rusted, plan to buy new ones. (That is plural, because not only do
they break, but you will want a different size for each gauge of
sheet.) The rust will have roughened the sides of the blade so that
it will not glide smoothly as you cut… not to mention that it will
be prone to breaking. Saw blades are cheap (US$5.50 for 144 budget
variety blades - better ones are about US$0.50 each) and a new frame
can be had for less than US$10.00. This is one case where
economizing saves little money, and frankly, isn’t worth it. Best of
luck. Judy in Kansas
Judy M. Willingham, R.S.
Biological and Agricultural Engineering
237 Seaton Hall
Kansas State University
Manhattan KS 66506
(785) 532-2936
could be used for jewelry but htey are rusted. Is there any way I can clean them up and use them...
Hi Bernice, Back in April, an Orchid member pointed out a post in the
archives on this topic from another Orchid member. I tried it out and
its amazing. What’s better is that its done with little/no effort,
its environmentally friendly, and you may already have everything you
need!
Check it out:
Thanks again, Poppy and David!
Dave
Dave Sebaste
Sebaste Studio and
Carolina Artisans’ Gallery
Charlotte, NC (USA)
dave@sebaste.com
http://www.CarolinaArtisans.com
I found some old tools metal saws in my shed htat belonged to my father and they could be used for jewelry but htey are rusted. Is there any way I can clean them up and use them and or any book that would tell me how to do that?
G’day; Just pop into your nearest hardware or paint shop or garage
shop and ask for “Rust Remover” The simple instructions on the
bottle will tell you exactly what to do. It will contain phosphoric
acid, which although it is a mild acid, don’t get it on your clothes
or yourself. It will just sting and you wash it straight off with
no problems. But I would suggest you wear rubber gloves and eye
protection. But using it as per instructions should cause no
trouble. People will tell you to use Coca Cola and other things,
but honestly, the rust remover you buy will do what it is supposed to
do at a very reasonable cost. When the rust and residue is gone,
lightly oil the tools with a mineral oil or vaseline.
Cheers now, John Burgess
A variable speed motorized scroll saw with a tilt table that will accept a 10" piece and can take a Jewelers Saw blade will be a good bet.
Kenneth: I thought the same thing but got really disappointing
results. I was trying out my new blanking system from Rio Grande.
Their technical staff had recommended that I cut some dies out of
brass before trying the steel. I bought a variable speed motorized
scroll saw, with a tilt table, that can take a jewelers saw blade. To
my surprise, it cut much slower, by my math more than 10 times slower,
than doing it by hand with my jewelers saw frame. This surprised me
because by my advance estimate (length of stroke multiplied by
strokes per minute) the scroll saw should have been slightly faster
than by hand. If anyone else has gotten better results with a scroll
saw I’d love to hear about your approach. That scroll saw is sitting
idle and I hate to have idle assets.
Michael Conlin
For what is probably the best manual fret saw frame see:
http://www.hegner.ch/frameseten.htm
This is a Swiss site for Hegner who also may well make the best
electric scroll saws. Hegner is sold in the US by Advanced Machinery.
I don’t know if they sell the manual saw, but Switzerland is on
our small world. They are EXPENSIVE . Everyone who has one swears by
them. If you are making money with your work really consider the
Hegner. I don’t have one but have a couple of the asian knockoffs
at about 1/10 th price. one is a vari speed 400-1800 strokes per min
and the other is one I modified to about zero - 400 strokes per min
with a longer adjustable stroke to use more of the blade. I use this
one to cut up to 1/2 " 6061 T6 aluminum tooling plate. The best
blades are the expensive ones and even then they don’t last
spectacularly long on this type cut.
The short stroke on the power saws is one thing that causes the
apparent slow cutting. Broken blades are caused by pushing the
cut and twisting the blade as well as trying to use a dull blade.
Cheap blades have poor quality control and are often very hard or
very soft as well as not very sharp.
For fancy cuts on smaller and thiner material the old bench pin and
saw frame is probably better than a power saw.
When using any tool I find it best to either fix the tool or the
work. Trying to control both at the same time leads to poor results.
Manually gives much better use of the blade length. For a manual
guided frame The Bonny Doone one from Rio or direct from Bonny
Doone is probably your best buy. If these don’t work it is either
poor blades or poor operator.
Jesse
Michael,
I got the same to worse results with the scroll saw I purchased.
Mine was so bad it hardly sawed at all. I returned it, and a few
weeks later it was sent back, with a piece of brass a bit thicker
than 1/64" with a design sawn in it. The guy was very proud of this.
Of course the saw was SUPPOSED to be able to handle up to 3/8" thick
in brass, something I can easily do by hand. The motor was removed to
be used elsewhere, and the saw itself went by the curb side where it
soon was taken by someone. I would NEVER repeat this one!
Wm.
Jesse,
THANK YOU… the Hegner Super fretsaw looks to be exactly what I
need. The power saw would be over-kill in my work. I normally work in
sizes that a standard jewelry frame can handle, but at least once for
each piece (I’m a sculptor) I must saw through these large sheets,
and this fretsaw SHOULD do the trick. I’ve written the Co. and will
purchase it as soon as I hear from them.
Wm.