Question about Jewler's Saw Blades

[jstedfast]

I'm currently building one of Jim Kibler's Colonial kits that I bought a few years ago and I've drilled 1/16" holes in the barrel under lugs, but I still need to elongate those holes. Jim Kibler has a video in his "Building a Colonial Rifle Kit" series where he uses a jeweler's saw to accomplish this.

Initially, I found a cheap jeweler's saw on Amazon for ~$15 that came with 144 blades of various sizes, but after sleeping on hitting that "Buy Now" button, decided maybe that was just a tad too cheap especially since all all likelihood, I'll eventually be trying my hand at building a Bucks County style rifle (which is what I originally wanted to do before I wisely chose to start with a Kibler kit to get a little experience). Ended up searching these forums and saw mention that places like Track of the Wolf sell a (likely) better quality saw, and sure enough, they have one for $20. I think I can afford that extra $5 and it'll give me a bit of peace-of-mind over buying no-name knockoff Chinese junk.

So here's my question: what saw blades should I be getting for this task? I did see mention of "1/0" blades somewhere in these forums. Are those the flat blades? Track of the Wolf has "size 1" flat blades which I assume is what the "1/0" refers to, but I'm not sure. The "piercing blades" that TotW sells seem to potentially be a good option as well, but I honestly don't know.

Any recommendations for this newbie?

[Bill Raby]

You are just fine going cheap on the frame. I have been using the same cheap Chinese knockoff saw frame for over 30 years. But throw away those blades and get some good ones. Don't go cheap on the blades.

[Joe Stein]

Here's a post from the metal working tutorials that can help you with blade selection.
https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=31215.0

[bama]

Jeweler saw blades are not that expensive but knowing what size blades to get is a little confusing. You need to buy blades for the thickness of the material you are going to be cutting. The rule of thumb is two teeth per thickness of the material. Google jeweler saw blade size chart and it will tell you what size blade you need for the thickness of the material you are cutting. There are many suppliers of blades out there, i buy mine from Rio Grande Jewelry supply.

[foresterdj]

On the other hand, when I did my Killer SMR, I drilled the 1/16" holes and used a 1/16" diamond dremel bit to auger them out fore and aft. It worked for me, but I am a novice in this gun building world.

[P.W.Berkuta]

When choosing a saw blade you try to match the thickness of the material being sawed to the tooth count of the saw blade. Rule of thumb is 2-1/2 to 3 teeth per material thickness. You should also use some kind of lube on the saw blade such as a wax or light machine oil. Keep your saw strokes moderate in speed and as constant as possible to prevent breakage and longevity of the saw blade. Don't force the blade/stroke.

[Goo]

Right now I have six beginning students I am trying to teach how to properly use a jewelers saw needless to say its a bit of a struggle for them to not break blades but they are coming along well. The proper term for this operation is Piercing.   As others have said the number of teeth that come in contact with the thickness of the metal is crucial.   But other factors are crucial as well you need a saw frame that stays true and is not warped , a warped frame will cause quite a few problems.  You need decent blades not the most expensive ones.   You need to develop proper technique, saw blade needs to remain plumb while sawing. The only thing the moves is your elbow and wrist, turn the work and not the saw frame and you need the proper height of bench pin, usually mid chest and  body posture. Watch some youtube videos

[kutter]

I bought this W.German made saw when I first started engraving in the very early 70's. It's well built and never had a problem with it.
Decent quality blades, installed with some tension in the saw frame, don't get too aggressive in sawing and remember that it cuts on the pull stroke. Let the blade float a bit when doing the return stroke of the saw/blade. Give the cut some clearance when going around tight arcs. Sometimes you need to stand the blade in position and cut the kerf a bit wider to allow the blade to make the turn.

For lengthening the bbl pin attachment holes to make them slots, I have used the saw. But I switched to using the dreaded Dremel Tool with
a Dental Bur tip in it.
These are cheap HS burs that I buy in quantity. Lots of different shapes available.
I usually find them at gun shows, a vendor with a table full of China made handy tools.
I guess these are supposed to fit a special type of collet with a taper fit, but i just hold them in a regular 3-jaw chuck on a Dremel
by the short round section of the shank just above that taper.

They are on the Net as well. There's carbide ones too. Expensive , cheap ones, all kinds of shapes of cutters.
There are some available with a straight, round shank as well. I just didn't happen in to those at the time.

I use the shape shown for elongating the bbl pin hole to a slot. In the soft steel used for this, the HS bits work well. Cheap enough that if you eat up one doing one bbl that's not at all bad..
Lots easier than w/a saw and blades IMO. Just trying to reset the blade in the frame and tensioning it while it's thru the hole can be a blade breaker.

These HS burs are very aggressive in wood. They make good undercut and repair channels when doing glue repairs. Very clean and fast cutting.

[TDM]

Sounds like you have the same cheap jewelers saw I have. But use the largest blades in the pack, I believe they’re #2s. If you use the smaller ones you will break several cutting one slot. Mine gets the job done fine with the largest, heaviest blade. But again, they’re all small and will break.

[elkhorne]

Kutter,
Any suggestion on where to get those dental burns like you show for your Drexel. I have some from Rio Grande but not nearly as sturdy of a shank. Thanks.
elkhorne

[kutter]

I picked these up at a GunShow. A table full of Chinese made tools and oddities.

The shank looks like it fits some sort of special collet. I searched around and haven't been able to locate anything that looks the same.
So maybe thats why they were so cheap!

Lots of Dental Burs for sale on Ebay in quantity. Most everything sold now has a simple straight shank like a common drill.

There are 2 or 3 sizes in the industry I gather from my searching the above so a sturdy diameter should be available.

Some of these things are dredfully $$ intended for their actual uses.
But for our uses  of making holes in wood and soft metals, the cheaper import bits do OK and are a disposable item when you can get a bag of 50pcs for a decent price.

[A.Merrill]

Don't waste your time on cheap blades. Rio Grande gold blades are best for a dollar more. Get some bees wax to lubricate the blades while cutting. Al

[horologist]

I posted this some time ago in a old thread.

Link
https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=49382.0

Some of the info has been covered already some not.
A bench pin is a handy accessory to have for cutting.

Troy