PB Cohen Creations

Jeweler's saw blades come in 16 different sizes, with different sizes recommended for different thicknesses of metal. Thinner blades are for cutting thinner metal, and thicker blades are for thicker metal. Supply kits at the Art Center, where I've taken several classes over the years, come with size 2/0 blades, which corresponds to the thickness of the metal supplied to the students: 20 gauge on the B&S scale (Brown & Sharpe). 20 gauge metal is 0.032 inches, or 0.812 millimeters thick. This is a reasonable gauge of sheet metal to give students: a little thick for earrings, a little thin for bracelets, but usable for just about anything.

The 2/0 size blade, which is 0.0100 inches thick, is designed to cut 20 or 22 gauge metal, and this is important for beginning students. 0.0100 inches is only about a quarter of a millimeter thick, it's very easy to break these things. At the Art Center, beginning students are given at least 24 blades; some students break many more than that during a semester. So anything to make sawing easier (like supplying blades that are designed to cut the supplied metal) is a good thing.

Some students hate to saw — in fact, some practiced metalsmiths I know hate to saw. But I was always good at it. Take a look at one of the first pieces I ever finished:

This is made out of brass (which is harder to saw than copper or silver), and is about 3 1/2 inches by 2 1/4 inches. Try to ignore the overall "design" of it! But take a look at those details (click on the photos to pop up a bigger version) — this is one of the first dozen or so cuts I ever made:

And this is the next one:

I don't mean to brag about my sawing abilities. I use a file to refine most of my cuts just like anybody — but I rarely break a blade, and I'm less annoyed by sawing than many people seem to be (maybe those are related). But my skill, such as it is, explains why I have so many 2/0 saw blades hanging around, and how I know you can use this size blade to cut just about any gauge of sheet metal — not easily, maybe, but it's possible. It might also explain why it's only been recently that I've bothered to try out different sizes of blades.

Click on this photo for a bigger version. From the left are saw blades 8/0 (the smallest available at 0.0063 inches thick), 2/0, and 5 (0.0160 inches thick). The scrap of silver is 20 gauge, with cuts made from the same blades, in the same order. The ruler at the top of the image shows 1/16 inch increments.

You can see that — if you're able to make saw blades your friends — you can use these different cuts, or kerfs, as design elements. More on that later.

NOTES: B&S gauge is equivalent to AWG or American Wire Gauge, but not the same as SWG, or (British) Standard Wire Gauge. Reade Advanced Materials (looks like a chemical supplier) has a Wire Gauge Conversion Chart.

The Contenti company (a jewelry supplier) has a Saw Blade & Drill Sizes guide available in PDF. The biggest jewelry saw blade available is an 8, which is 0.0197 inches thick.