Tips to Know About Jeweler's Sawblades

Tips to Know About Jeweler's Sawblades

Saw blades are measured in size by numbers that are like the numbers on a number line. There is no zero size saw blade. Just like the number line, as the number goes up the size of the blade goes up. As the number goes down the size of the blade becomes smaller.

Two saw teeth to the side of metal

The smaller the blade the thinner it is and the more teeth per inch. The larger the blade the thicker it is and it has less teeth per inch. The correct saw blade size should be measured by the amount of teeth to the side (thickness) of the metal. There should be between
2 -3 teeth to the side of the metal.

The jeweler's saw blade attaches to the saw frame with the teeth pointing down and out away from the handle. The thicker the metal, the larger the blade needed. The thinner the metal the smaller the blade needed.

An annealed saw blade

More expensive blades pay for themselves because they don’t break as easily as less expensive blades. The more expensive blades are annealed so that they bend more without breaking and they have a rounded back allowing the blade to turn more easily.

If the blade is too big, you will have a harder time pulling the saw blade down through the metal. The metal may even bend from the force. If the blade is too small, it won’t steer where you want it to go. It tends to go where ever it wants! Size 05 - 03 are the saw blade sizes used the most.

Saw frames come in several widths (throat depths). The depth allows for sawing deeper into a sheet of metal. For the most part, 3”- 4” is plenty deep for most sawing needs.