Outside my Comfort Zone....

Today I tried a new tool. I wanted to cut some copper and had never tried a jewelers saw before. First I put a blade in - it was really a pain. The blade was so fine and so thin I had to put on my magnifier headband. I finally got it on and I sawed a bit -it cut pretty easy! - but the copper I was cutting was too big for the saw and there was not enough room to cut it all the way around. Then I looked in a book I had, and saw I had the blade in backwards....I was trying to cut INSIDE between the saw and it's handle.....so I tried to reverse it. No matter what i did, I could not get the blade back in. Then i snapped the blade in two...so I tried a new blade....then I gave up. My DH wanted to know why I didn't just use my micromark electric mini scroll saw. Now this is a tool I have had for about 4 years....but have never used...because, well...it scares me....ALL power tools SCARE me.....
It was sitting on one of my workbenches, all set up, with a blade in it and everything........
So I glued a paper design onto a sheet of 25 gauge copper and I turned it on -
and I did it!

This is the saw.

This is the paper design glued onto the copper.

...and this is my cut design! Not exactly, perfect - but it was my first cut.... Cool, huh?
Tomorrow I'm going to switch to a fine blade and see if i can be more precise. Eventually I want to try acid etching a design onto it.
Remember the copper beads I was hammering/forming/ making last week?


Well I put them together into a necklace.


It also has 3mm copper round beads, forged copper washers, and handmade copper jump rings, copper spacers and copper clasp.

Then I tumbled and work hardened the whole thing in my lortone tumbler.