[Source] Blades for Knew concept saw

I need extra blades for my new Knew Concept saw. It will be used for
cutting jump rings, 16 ga. What sizes will I need. And. what brand
and source for buying them?

Thank you, Ruth Mary

Hi Mary,

I’m Lee’s semi-invisible minion in the making of the KC saws. (I do
the machining on things like the blade clamps) The blades that Lee
installs are usually Antilopes. 3/0 if I remember correctly. But
anything will work so long as they’re the standard 5.125" long. I’ve
used everything from Laser Golds to Hercules, to ancient Vigors with
no problems.

The only real issue we’ve seen is that the KC saws are so much
stiffer than the old style frames that they are capable of pulling
small blades apart, especially the lever tensioned models. If you’ve
been using a thick blade, remember to dial back on the tension before
you go to lever tighten a small one, or you’ll rip it apart.

(The Antilopes are mostly because we get a good price on them in
large, large batches, rather than any sort of functional
preference.) You can get blades from just about any jeweler’s
supplier. (It’s sort of like bread at the grocer’s. If they don’t
have something that basic…)

(In the US, I’d say Allcraft, Otto Frei, Rio, or IJS. Whoever’s
closest to you, and having a sale.)

How recent is your saw? If you look at the bit of the clamp where
the blade goes in, is it flat, or is there a bit of a funnel?

The newer ones (since about mid-summer last year) have a countersink
to help guide the blade into the hole. They’ve also got a larger
hole for the blade, so they’ll mount anything up to about a #10
blade. If it’s flat, it’ll mount up to about a #6 or so. And they’ll
both mount anything down to 8/0.

(Or, I’ve personally used mine with an 8/0, and had friends who’ve
reported successful use of 10/0’s.)

So, the short answer is: any jeweler’s saw blade will work, provided
that it’s 5.125" long.

For 16 ga jumprings, I’d say… 2/0 or 3/0. Maybe 4/0? You could go
with coarser blades, probably all the way up to #2, but finer’s
easier on wire, especially when you’re just starting out. The extra
few milliseconds from the finer blade will be more than made up for
by not having to fight the coarser one.

Regards,
Brian Meek.

(Or, I've personally used mine with an 8/0, and had friends who've
reported successful use of 10/0's.) 

OK, I’d sure like to know where do you find 10/0’s?

Thanks.
Pam Chott
www.songofthephoenix.com

Hi Pam,

It wasn’t me, but a friend of mine said she got some 10/0’s from
Tevel at Allcraft.

Regards,
Brian

OK, I'd sure like to know where do you find 10/0's? 

I’ll echo that. Google will turn up at least 12 million hits for
just about anything but I have yet to find one for 10/0 blades. I’ve
looked on German and English websites, 8/0 is the finest I’ve found.

Neil A.

metalliferous in new york sells 10/0 or at least used to - not sure
if it’s on their website or not, but in person (or by phone, i’m
sure) they carry them

Metalliferous

A year or so ago I took a class from a jeweler who does incredibly
intricate piercing. She said she uses 10/0 blades from Allcraft.

Mary

A year or so ago I took a class from a jeweler who does incredibly
intricate piercing. She said she uses 10/0 blades from Allcraft. 

It might be worth mentioning that when I got some of those 10/0
blades from Allcraft, Tevel said they’d been a special order from
germany (Hercules blades, I think I recall, but I might be wrong on
that). Apparently the company had made a bunch for a special order
that had been cancelled, and Tevel was able to buy the whole bunch.
That was a few years ago. I don’t know if he’s got more since, but if
not, his supply might be limited, and so far as I’ve seen, nobody
else in the U.S. (or elsewhere that I’m aware of) offers such a fine
size. Be aware that while they’re cool as hell, they’re also fragile,
even in a NK saw, and need a careful gentle skilled touch or you’ll
break them quickly. Not a beginners saw blade. Considerably more
fragile than an 8/0 blade, but they sure are cool when you really
need that delicate a saw.

Peter