Another Wild Rose Project

What is your latest project?
User avatar
tom_tom_go
Driver
Driver
Posts: 4824
Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2011 3:08 am
Location: Kent, UK
Contact:

Re: Another Wild Rose Project

Post by tom_tom_go » Thu Apr 18, 2019 1:46 pm

Enjoying this thread guys thank you for all your input.

It is always worth explaining as much as possible as not everyone is as experienced as you think.

User avatar
Busted Bricks
Trainee Driver
Trainee Driver
Posts: 750
Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2011 9:16 pm
Location: Denmark
Contact:

Re: Another Wild Rose Project

Post by Busted Bricks » Thu Apr 18, 2019 2:23 pm

On CNC machines we mostly use NC spot drills which may explain why the traditional centre drills are not as commonly found anymore. That said, they are easily obtainable over here and don't cost much either - about £3.50 excl. VAT. I have a registered business so can buy from all the tool merchants.
https://ph-v.dk/shop/centrer-bor-48c1.html

EDIT: I see Axminster stock them at low prices. Not sure what the moaning is about ;) ;)

https://www.axminster.co.uk/centre-drills-bs-ax21647

User avatar
GTB
Driver
Driver
Posts: 1550
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2011 2:46 pm
Location: Australia

Re: Another Wild Rose Project

Post by GTB » Thu Apr 18, 2019 4:45 pm

Busted Bricks wrote: Thu Apr 18, 2019 2:23 pm EDIT: I see Axminster stock them at low prices. Not sure what the moaning is about ;) ;)
Both your links are for the traditional style of lathe centre drill (also known as a Slocombe drill). Been around for donkeys years and available cheaply in any decent toolshop. Most model engineers will have a few.

They are not NC spotting drills, which is what Phil and I are recommending for more accurate hole positioning.

This link shows an NC spotting drill and a simple description. They are short, single ended and have a tip geometry that minimises any tendency to wander when they touch the workpiece.

http://www.guhring.com/BrowseProducts/P ... pot-Drills

It is the NC spot drills that Ian is having trouble locating, not Slocombe drills.

Regards,
Graeme

User avatar
Busted Bricks
Trainee Driver
Trainee Driver
Posts: 750
Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2011 9:16 pm
Location: Denmark
Contact:

Re: Another Wild Rose Project

Post by Busted Bricks » Thu Apr 18, 2019 6:31 pm

Sorry, I misunderstood - I thought it was centre drills that were hard to obtain. Yes, NC spot drills are probably not easily obtained from model engineering suppliers. We buy them from big trade suppliers. Good thing about them is that they last a very long time, so unless you crash them, the initial cost is very small in the grand scheme of things. I pay app. £6.80 for a 3mm NC drill.

User avatar
dewintondave
Trainee Driver
Trainee Driver
Posts: 697
Joined: Mon Mar 07, 2011 8:52 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: Another Wild Rose Project

Post by dewintondave » Fri Apr 19, 2019 2:31 am

I don't have a problem using an appropriate sized centre drill in a centre punching to start drilled holes

From the marked out lines start the hole location with a light tap on the dot punch (60 deg) and progress to the centre punch (90 deg). The dot punch is more easily sighted than a centre punch

I posted this to encourage Keith
IMG_20190419_114911.jpg
IMG_20190419_114911.jpg (22.75 KiB) Viewed 15825 times
Best wishes,
Dave

User avatar
GTB
Driver
Driver
Posts: 1550
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2011 2:46 pm
Location: Australia

Re: Another Wild Rose Project

Post by GTB » Fri Apr 19, 2019 4:48 pm

For many years I used clip on magnifiers with my glasses for fine work. They came from the local optician, so the lenses were decent quality and I was able to claim them on my medical fund.

When I retired and set up the workshop, I had a discussion with my optometrist and had a special 'workshop' prescription with extra magnification made up and fitted in safety frames.

Which if nothing else ensures I wear eye protection in the workshop, or I can't see what I'm doing.........

Graeme

User avatar
Busted Bricks
Trainee Driver
Trainee Driver
Posts: 750
Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2011 9:16 pm
Location: Denmark
Contact:

Re: Another Wild Rose Project

Post by Busted Bricks » Fri Apr 19, 2019 6:28 pm

I have a couple of pairs of these lying around. They are actually very good considering the low price.
https://www.banggood.com/MG81001-E-Port ... rehouse=CN

User avatar
dewintondave
Trainee Driver
Trainee Driver
Posts: 697
Joined: Mon Mar 07, 2011 8:52 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: Another Wild Rose Project

Post by dewintondave » Sat Apr 20, 2019 2:36 am

I use magnifying lens's all the time now
IMG_20190419_113609.jpg
IMG_20190419_113609.jpg (81.33 KiB) Viewed 15557 times
Best wishes,
Dave

User avatar
FWLR
Driver
Driver
Posts: 4262
Joined: Sat Aug 05, 2017 9:45 am
Location: Preston, Lancashire, UK

Re: Another Wild Rose Project

Post by FWLR » Mon Apr 22, 2019 11:03 am

When I can find my normal prescription glasses.... :lol: :lol:

User avatar
-steves-
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 2412
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 1:50 pm
Location: Cambridge & Peterborough

Re: Another Wild Rose Project

Post by -steves- » Fri Apr 26, 2019 4:28 pm

Sorry people, I have been doing lots of family "things" over the Easter weekend and have only just managed to sit down and catch up on my own thread, let alone all the other threads I need to catch up on, lol.

Some very interesting comments in this thread now, many extremely helpful. I would like to thank Ian and Graeme for all their really useful engineering experience input, it's already been fantastic in helping me get a 1mm hole through a 2.5mm stainless steel bar. I used the 6" ruler trick on the mill and found it easy to use, fast and extremely accurate.
So, please do keep the help coming when ever you feel it's useful and I am not sure how I would have managed that without the help :thumbleft:

No pictures to go up at the moment, however, I have got the steam chests finished, the pistons machined up and the piston rods done. Also got some more of the eccentric rods done, all be it with important dimensions missing on the plans, so I kind of made them up and guessed, unfortunately under size so I will have to "adapt" the cross slides to match :oops:

A long way to go and I have not managed to get much done due to family commitments, not that I mind BBQ's 5 days in a row and meals out, so no complaints from me :thumbleft: :lol: WIll try and get some pictures up within the next day or two, depending on what I get done and how much workshop time I get :)
The buck stops here .......

Ditton Meadow Light Railway (DMLR)
Member of Peterborough and District Association
http://peterborough.16mm.org.uk/

User avatar
-steves-
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 2412
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 1:50 pm
Location: Cambridge & Peterborough

Re: Another Wild Rose Project

Post by -steves- » Sun Apr 28, 2019 12:40 pm

I managed to upload some pictures to bring the build up to date.

One thing to note is the rear cylinder covers have been remade, one side once and one side twice. I will admit that by the fifth one, they were a lot easier to make than the first one and turned out much better.

I have made the steam chests, steam chest covers, steam chest bodge inserts, eccentric straps, pistons, piston roods, remade the rear covers (a few times), valve rod glands, slide bars (though not happy with them), eccentrics and rods all now made.

Things left to do on the motion side are, motion brackets, cross slides, steam chest valves and a few joining parts. Lots of work left and to be fair, I am not entirely how how to start some of them, but as always, I will just jump right on and go for it. ;) :lol:

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image
The buck stops here .......

Ditton Meadow Light Railway (DMLR)
Member of Peterborough and District Association
http://peterborough.16mm.org.uk/

User avatar
-steves-
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 2412
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 1:50 pm
Location: Cambridge & Peterborough

Re: Another Wild Rose Project

Post by -steves- » Sun Apr 28, 2019 9:03 pm

Oily Rag wrote: Sun Apr 28, 2019 5:06 pm Hi Steve
Good to see progress on the build. By the way never feel bad about having to remake something or duplicating part. Letting something go that you know you could make better will bug you for ever. I always take heart in such matters from a man who used to write under the name of Tubal Cain on the subject of model engineering etc,in real life an excellent engineer and lecturer on the subject one T.D.Walshaw. He always stressed that professional workers like clockmakers and watch makers, instrument makers etc often made two of small complex parts using only the best one in the final assembly.

That being the case if I have to make a number of attempts to get something pretty close to "right" then I have not failed and am in good company. And it all looks good to me.
I agree, I could have let one side of the rear cylinder go as it was "ok", but by the time I had made 4 of them, the fourth was so much better than the other side, (down to machining learnt along the way and the best way to do the job) I decided I would make them match and made it again (Sam).

I guess that makes me a professional as I am making lots of parts more than once, lol ;) A professional what, best not to ask :)
The buck stops here .......

Ditton Meadow Light Railway (DMLR)
Member of Peterborough and District Association
http://peterborough.16mm.org.uk/

User avatar
Keith S
Driver
Driver
Posts: 1624
Joined: Thu Feb 24, 2011 11:44 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Another Wild Rose Project

Post by Keith S » Mon Apr 29, 2019 2:59 pm

I once made a little wooden sailboat. I rented a garage for the purpose, and the construction took two years. I taught myself the carpentry required along the way. When she was finished, one of my friends who was helping me clean up the garage remarked that there were enough discarded parts lying about that it looked as though I'd built two boats.

It looks like a good job to me Steve, I was thinking it will be tricky to adjust the valves in those tight quarters once she's all put together!

User avatar
-steves-
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 2412
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 1:50 pm
Location: Cambridge & Peterborough

Re: Another Wild Rose Project

Post by -steves- » Mon Apr 29, 2019 3:40 pm

Keith S wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 2:59 pm I once made a little wooden sailboat. I rented a garage for the purpose, and the construction took two years. I taught myself the carpentry required along the way. When she was finished, one of my friends who was helping me clean up the garage remarked that there were enough discarded parts lying about that it looked as though I'd built two boats.

It looks like a good job to me Steve, I was thinking it will be tricky to adjust the valves in those tight quarters once she's all put together!
I know this feeling, I have enough spare / broken, cut off parts that it looks like I have made more than one, lol :lol:

As for the valves, they say to do one at a time, removing the other side completely when you do so, or at least that's what I think it said, certainly for the first side, I kinda skip read the rest, lol. :oops: :shock: :lol:
The buck stops here .......

Ditton Meadow Light Railway (DMLR)
Member of Peterborough and District Association
http://peterborough.16mm.org.uk/

User avatar
-steves-
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 2412
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 1:50 pm
Location: Cambridge & Peterborough

Re: Another Wild Rose Project

Post by -steves- » Mon Apr 29, 2019 3:55 pm

I managed to get the valves and inner cross slides made today, it appears the entire thing needs a little fettling to make it all fit together as it should. The valves were a lot easier than I had initially thought they might be and I have been quite pleased with how they turned out, again, just needed a little thought up front as to what the correct order of steps would be required.

I have decided that some of the smaller, finer detailed parts, like the motion brackets, maybe the slide bars and the outer cross slides I am going to cheat and buy from model engineer laser as I am not just skilled enough to know where to start on parts like that and feel quite a bit of accuracy will be required. I know, it's cheating, but sometimes you just have to know your current limits. I might have a go at the parts at some point, but I am definitely not holding my breath on them.

If any of the more skilled metalworking people care to comment on how to cut a 1mm thick, 300mm x 300mm sheet of steel to get straight metal that is just 3.5mm wide and accurate over 50mm then I am only too happy to hear from you. I can't hold it to hack saw it (not even in a vice it just flexes), I can't use tin snips as it just curls up and even if I did get a thin straight strip I am not sure I could mill down to 3.5mm in a mill vice, though maybe I could if I put my mind to it, but even then I am pretty sure i would not get it in the vice level and end up with 3mm one end and 4mm the other, lol :shock: ;) I seem to have a big issue with cutting thin strips of metal off sheet metal, so I would love any help on this, be it brass, steel copper etc. I do have a bandsaw that goes vertical, but the metal does not cut well if it's thin and tends to bend or jam up the cutting blade :(
The buck stops here .......

Ditton Meadow Light Railway (DMLR)
Member of Peterborough and District Association
http://peterborough.16mm.org.uk/

User avatar
GTB
Driver
Driver
Posts: 1550
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2011 2:46 pm
Location: Australia

Re: Another Wild Rose Project

Post by GTB » Mon Apr 29, 2019 5:42 pm

-steves- wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 3:55 pm If any of the more skilled metalworking people care to comment on how to cut a 1mm thick, 300mm x 300mm sheet of steel to get straight metal that is just 3.5mm wide and accurate over 50mm then I am only too happy to hear from you.
What are you like with a piercing saw?

I cut out all my brass and steel sheet metal parts using a piercing saw, a selection of blades and a homemade oversize version of a jewellers bench peg. I usually clamp the sheet to the peg to stop it moving while cutting, especially thicker sheet. Once the cut edges have been finished by draw filing they are as good as any laser cut part.

The frames, slidebars, motion bracket and sundry other parts of the loco frame shown in this old thread were cut from 3mm and 1.5mm steel plate with this equipment. The 3mm frames took a couple of hours each and many blades, due to all the curved cuts, but straight narrow strips for slidebars would be ten minutes or so and a couple of blades.

https://gardenrails.org/viewtopic.php?f ... 1&p=103918

Not everyone gets on with a piercing saw. Which pretty much leaves just laser cutting, but I can't use CAD and the cost of getting one off parts cut locally would send me broke. Water jet cutting also works nicely, but costs more. Spark erosion wire cutting gives the best finish, but is as slow as a wet week and so costs a fortune.

LBSC used to suggest turning the hacksaw blade through 90deg and cutting strips horizontally holding the stock in a vice and using the vice jaws as a guide. Not sure that would do the vice jaws a lot of good.....

The blades available for metal cutting bandsaws won't cut anything thinner than 1.5mm in my experience and all I use mine for in this context is long straight cuts when roughing out blanks for subsequent marking out and cutting frames. Which then get finished with the piercing saw.

To mill something and get the sides parallel I use thin parallels to support the part in the vice while milling, but that isn't how I make slidebars. Quicker and easier to saw them out slightly oversize and then draw file down to the scribed line.

Regards,
Graeme

User avatar
-steves-
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 2412
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 1:50 pm
Location: Cambridge & Peterborough

Re: Another Wild Rose Project

Post by -steves- » Mon Apr 29, 2019 7:28 pm

GTB wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 5:42 pm
-steves- wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 3:55 pm If any of the more skilled metalworking people care to comment on how to cut a 1mm thick, 300mm x 300mm sheet of steel to get straight metal that is just 3.5mm wide and accurate over 50mm then I am only too happy to hear from you.
What are you like with a piercing saw?

I cut out all my brass and steel sheet metal parts using a piercing saw, a selection of blades and a homemade oversize version of a jewellers bench peg. I usually clamp the sheet to the peg to stop it moving while cutting, especially thicker sheet. Once the cut edges have been finished by draw filing they are as good as any laser cut part.

The frames, slidebars, motion bracket and sundry other parts of the loco frame shown in this old thread were cut from 3mm and 1.5mm steel plate with this equipment. The 3mm frames took a couple of hours each and many blades, due to all the curved cuts, but straight narrow strips for slidebars would be ten minutes or so and a couple of blades.

https://gardenrails.org/viewtopic.php?f ... 1&p=103918

Not everyone gets on with a piercing saw. Which pretty much leaves just laser cutting, but I can't use CAD and the cost of getting one off parts cut locally would send me broke. Water jet cutting also works nicely, but costs more. Spark erosion wire cutting gives the best finish, but is as slow as a wet week and so costs a fortune.

LBSC used to suggest turning the hacksaw blade through 90deg and cutting strips horizontally holding the stock in a vice and using the vice jaws as a guide. Not sure that would do the vice jaws a lot of good.....

The blades available for metal cutting bandsaws won't cut anything thinner than 1.5mm in my experience and all I use mine for in this context is long straight cuts when roughing out blanks for subsequent marking out and cutting frames. Which then get finished with the piercing saw.

To mill something and get the sides parallel I use thin parallels to support the part in the vice while milling, but that isn't how I make slidebars. Quicker and easier to saw them out slightly oversize and then draw file down to the scribed line.

Regards,
Graeme
Hi Graeme

I think you over estimate my engineering skills, lol ;) I have no idea what a piercing saw is, no do I know what draw filing is either. I will have a look online and see what they are and get back to you shortly ;)

I really appreciate the advice and guidance, exactly what I was looking for, thank you :thumbup:
The buck stops here .......

Ditton Meadow Light Railway (DMLR)
Member of Peterborough and District Association
http://peterborough.16mm.org.uk/

User avatar
tom_tom_go
Driver
Driver
Posts: 4824
Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2011 3:08 am
Location: Kent, UK
Contact:

Re: Another Wild Rose Project

Post by tom_tom_go » Mon Apr 29, 2019 7:30 pm

Again, appreciate the responses to this thread as these are questions I need answering as well.

User avatar
-steves-
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 2412
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 1:50 pm
Location: Cambridge & Peterborough

Re: Another Wild Rose Project

Post by -steves- » Mon Apr 29, 2019 7:52 pm

Oily Rag wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 7:25 pm Hi Steve,
I have to agree completely with Graeme. I had written quite an epistle on the subject, but not only did Graeme beat me to it, it also failed to post up properly. Just a couple of tips from me. Don't drink the night before cutting things out with a piercing saw. You need a steady hand as the blades are quite delicate. It is best used like a fretsaw with balde vertical, teeth pointing downwards so the cut is on the down stroke. I try to pick a tooth pitch which gives me at least three teeth in contact with the material thickness, and let the saw do the work. Forcing it will break blades, yep i know done it.

The other thing is support for the work. I knock up a little VEE table from wood about 6MM thick say 150mm long by 75mm wide. Cut a VEE about 20degrees included angle about 75 long on the centre of a short side. I screw a bl;ock on the back clear of the VEE which means it can be held in bench vice and I can sit up close to the work. If you then over cut the blade will usually survive a light cut into the wood,. Keep the work rigid either with finger pressure or arrange a toolmakers clamp, cut a bit, move the work, reclamp etc. Finishing is with the file I'm afraid, draw filing down to final size. This is all very frustrating, requires patience but a "feel" for it is soon established and its very useful skill. Yep these old techniques are often pooh poohed, but they do work. Just look at Acme Whistles, the Thunderer is still made and in much the same way as it always was. In fact this very evening our local TV news carried an article on them and they still have the Flypresses they have had for many many years.

Sorry I can't provide any quick fixes but I am sure others will be along to provide some refinement to my crude methods.
GTB wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 5:42 pm
What are you like with a piercing saw?

Quicker and easier to saw them out slightly oversize and then draw file down to the scribed line.
OK, from what I have just read up on these methods they are the preferred hand tooling methods that are still used and a my best option to get the parts from sheet metal.

I had no idea what draw filing was, I do now and I can see that will be useful , so thanks to Ian and Graeme there :thumbup:

OK, a piercing saw, looks a bit like a fret saw, which I do have, both the hand held version and the electric scroll saw type, could I use either of these as a piercing saw or do I need to purchase the correct tool for the job?

The 3 teeth in contact with the work seems a pretty good rule of thumb from what I have just read and seen, so I will be sticking with that as a general guide.

Ian, I can't quite picture your VEE table thing, if you have any pictures I would really appreciate it :thumbup:

Graeme, you really do over estimate my engineering skills, lol, you mean my big black Sharpie line doesn't quite meet the scribe line, my problem is I can never see any lines I scribe, so I gave up and used an ultra fine Sharpie, which is about 1mm wide :oops: :oops: :(

To add to what Tom said, I also really appreciate Ian and Graeme replying to my newbie and what must sometimes seem dumb questions, but my motto has always been, if you don't know, don't be ashamed, just ask, nothing to lose by asking :thumbup: As you have probably guessed I ask lots ;) :lol:
The buck stops here .......

Ditton Meadow Light Railway (DMLR)
Member of Peterborough and District Association
http://peterborough.16mm.org.uk/

User avatar
GTB
Driver
Driver
Posts: 1550
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2011 2:46 pm
Location: Australia

Re: Another Wild Rose Project

Post by GTB » Tue Apr 30, 2019 5:13 pm

-steves- wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 7:52 pm Graeme, you really do over estimate my engineering skills, lol, you mean my big black Sharpie line doesn't quite meet the scribe line, my problem is I can never see any lines I scribe, so I gave up and used an ultra fine Sharpie, which is about 1mm wide :oops: :oops: :(
Don't confuse education with skill. Education may, or may not, teach you what to do. Skill comes from aptitude and experience.

Some of this will probably cover what Ian was going to say. Don't let that stop you Ian, there's usually more than one way to do something.


Marking Out.

You are halfway there Steve.......

One way to make a scribe line more visible is to use a wide marking pen to cover the area with black ink, then scribe. The 'correct' way to do it is to use Marking Out Blue, which is just a blue ink, but you can't buy that in the local newsagent like you can marking pens. You could always use a blue marker to make it look more professional I suppose......;)

The pic below shows my usual marking out tools on the metal working bench. A 4" pair of calipers, a scribe and a 6" ruler.

Marking Out.jpg
Marking Out.jpg (90.79 KiB) Viewed 15267 times

The workpiece is a bit of 1.5mm hot rolled steel plate that has been draw filed to give a straight reference edge and scribed to mark out a 3.5mm strip. It's already got a dark surface, so the line scribed with the callipers is quite visible if you have plenty of light. If it was nice clean shiny cold rolled sheet, I'd have run a wide line of ink along that side of the workpiece. The calipers were set to 3.5mm using the ruler, then run along using the reference edge as a step to give a scribe line parallel to the reference edge. A few minutes with the piercing saw and a #2 blade, a bit of draw filing and you have a straight, flat strip with parallel sides.

The drawing shows the frames for my current project. I'd go crazy marking all that out on a steel sheet, so I just glue the paper image on a piece of steel sheet, drill a few starting holes and start cutting.....


Piercing Saws.

The next photo shows the jewellers saws I use for cutting out parts.

Piercing Saws.jpg
Piercing Saws.jpg (117.27 KiB) Viewed 15267 times

The small saw is an Eclipse No. 50ps, bought from the long gone Model Dockyard in Melbourne 45+ years ago. This type is known in the jewellery trade as an English pattern saw and is my preference for cutting small parts in brass and steel. Not sure Eclipse still make them, but there are plenty of copies available. The throat depth limits it though for cutting large parts like frames.

For cutting frames and other long parts I use the larger German pattern jewellers saw with a 200mm throat, bought from the jewellers supplier in Melbourne that I use for a lot of small hand tools. That's also where I buy my saw blades. The german saw came with a small tapered handle I couldn't get used to, so I changed it to a larger one, which gives me a good grip.

Not shown in the photo is an Eclipse FS70 fret saw that only I use when the cut is too long for the german frame. As Ian said, it is unwieldy and difficult to use on metal and I only get it out when there is no alternative. The last job it did was cutting the frames and footplate for the big Bagnall 2-6-2.


Bench Peg.

The last photo shows my bench peg set up in the vice with a piece of steel clamped in place ready to cut.

Bench Peg.jpg
Bench Peg.jpg (143.14 KiB) Viewed 15267 times

It was made from a pine offcut in the bits box, with a cleat screwed and glued in place so it can be gripped in the small vice. As Ian has described it has a hole bored near the front and a wedge cut out, which is hidden by the front clamp. My toolmakers clamps are too small for this job and I use various size G clamps.

I'm left handed, so it is set up for me to cut a long thin strip on the side facing the camera. Which is also why the vice is bolted at the r/h end of the bench. There is an angle poise lamp clamped to the back of the bench to provide enough light for me to see the scribe line and follow it with the saw. The setup is at a comfortable height to use while sitting down and everything is in focus when I wear my workshop glasses. Swarf builds up and can obscure the line as you cut, so I keep a cheap paintbrush on the bench to brush it away as I go.


Saw Blades.

The jewellers supplier I use sells Indian made blades, German made blades and Swiss made blades. The Indian ones are cheaper and don't always cut straight, the German ones are better and if you have the money, the Swiss ones are best. Even the Swiss ones only cost me 40 cents each and while I've used the German ones for a long while, now that I don't break as many blades I recently bought some Swiss ones to try.

If you look on the net, you will find plenty of jewellery making sites with tables to tell you what size blade to use for what thickness metal and how to use a jewellers saw. Basically though it come down to Ian's rule of having at least 3 teeth in contact all the time. The same applies to any metal cutting blade, such as hacksaw and bandsaw blades, you need 3 teeth in contact to cut without jamming.

The only sheet thicknesses I use are 0.6mm and 0.8mm in brass and cold rolled steel, as well as 1.5mm and 3mm in hot rolled steel. Plus the occasional bit of K&S 1/32" and 1/16" brass strip.

I use #2 saw blades for the thicker steel sheets and #3/0 for the brass and steel sheets under 1mm. Blades last longer on straight cuts and longer again in brass. If you cut a lot of small radius curves, or sharp internal corners, the set on the side of the teeth wears rapidly and the blade soon jams as the clearance in the cut reduces. When it jams, it breaks.

Piercing saws are designed to cut vertically with the weight of the saw doing the work and the teeth point down so the blade is in tension while cutting. They aren't miniature hacksaws and don't work well when used horizontally. As Ian said, you get better with practice and eventually develop a rhythm that gives a smooth cut.

Regards,
Graeme

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests