could somebody loan me a hunert till im doing better

Hey Mike
I aslo pierce with tools I have made. I use 20ga silver and have had no problems pirecing even the finest holes. And yes I do have the drill bits and all the fancy equpiment. I have no preference between the two. But I will add, I probably peirce more holes than I drill.

Jerry

Otto
I was thinking of that very thing, sounds like a good idea.

Jerry
have all the fancy stuff as well, and like piercing better as well. What have you made your piercing tools from? I am going to make me some new ones, and look for a new spring punch. I do appreciate the input, and any ideas or suggestions anyone has.

_________________
May God Bless you, as He has me
Mike Pardue
www.parduesilversmith.com

MIKE
IF YOU FIND A REAL GOOD SPRING LOADED CENTER PUNCH PLEASE LIST WHERE YOU BOUGHT IT. THE LAST COUPLE I HAVE BOUGHT ARE JUNK.

Mike

I use an old scribe , I dont know what kind of steal its made of but it sure seems to hold the point well .

Jerry

Ted
The punch I have is a Sterrett brand. I did find some on ebay, priced from 8.00 up to about 25.00, all plus shipping. I am going to look around and check prices, and will post any findings. The Starrett I have was a good one, it just wore out, I have used it for 8 years or so.


Jerry
Thanks for the info, when you get up this way, holler I would like to meet you.

_________________
May God Bless you, as He has me
Mike Pardue
www.parduesilversmith.com

As long as you can pierce the metal to be sawn and it does not distort the surrounding area too extensively...whatever works is fine. Because I have worked within production constraints over the years and time is a factor, I pierce all my work using a drill bit. I mostly use 22 gauge material as an overlay. I use a center punch to lightly mark my piece where I want to drill. Depending on the space available to drill, I use either a #74 or a #70 bit. I use a 4/0 saw blade, so no more smaller than a #74 bit. I apply bees wax to the bit before and after every three holes drilled. I use gentle pressure at a slow revolution. I apply gentle force 1/3 of the way through then slightly back off a little, I reapply the gentle force to 2/3 of the way through...slightly back off, then I reapply gentle pressure until I break through. I use pine wood to set the metal on as I am piercing. With a little practice I have found that I can pierce hundreds and perhaps maybe well into a couple thousand holes with just one #74 bit (just don't know, never really counted) . I buy them by the dozen from Rio Grande so they are econimical and over the long haul I save a lot of time on any sort of production run. Of course this is not the only way but it works well for me.

Best regards,
Greg Pauline

What I forgot to mention was that I spend about 12 - 15 seconds per hole once I have the bit chucked in place. It really goes fast.

Merry Christmas!
Greg Pauline

I never even though of peircing a hole, I tried it out as soon as i read this. I works good, but almost everything i make has a left and a right, therfore I fold my silver before i cut and cut through two layers at once this way my side peices are the same left and right, so I drill. griff

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www.handmadecowboy.com

Griff
Hello, the piercing would work best on just a single sheet of metal, never tried 2. I have always drilled a hole when I need to get through 2 sheets.
Hey I saw your engraving site the other day. A guy could really do some great tutorials with this computer deal. Well take care

_________________
May God Bless you, as He has me
Mike Pardue
www.parduesilversmith.com

as soon as i get the camera deal worked out im gonna do some how tos thanks!

_________________
www.handmadecowboy.com

Griff
The how to deal would be great. I did one , but its just a series of still pictures. I am looking into a video camera, I think a guy could do some real good things with one. A pictures is worth a thousand words, but watching someone do something is the way to go.

_________________
May God Bless you, as He has me
Mike Pardue
www.parduesilversmith.com

Just got the new Rio Grande tool catalog. On page 109 they have hole-punching pliers. I've never used these but they sure look like they would work real slick and if you had alot of holes to cut for piercings this might be a quick and easy way to do them.

Larry

Hey Larry

Maybe the reason the forum is so quite, everybody is looking at their new Rio Grand catlog. Sure lots of nice stuff in it.

_________________
Norm Harris, Jr.
"The outside of a Horse is good for the inside of a Man"

Norm,

Your probably right about everyone looking at the catalog. They seem to have alot of new stuff this year. Wish I could afford to get some new toys but then I would need to learn how to use them. It would be fun to get into doing some castings because I think having that ability would open up alot of possibilities.

Larry