Pattern Transfer & Piercing

Having used the piercing saw to cut wire for the basic rings, we now have a go at piercing sheet.
Just a few trial cuts to start with: straight, curved, turned through a right angle and then a more acute angle.
We then drew a simple shape with a scriber and pierced that out (I did a star).

Now here’s a handy new trick I didn’t know about before.
Black and white photocopies or laser printouts (not colour or inkjet) can be transferred to metal using acetone.  Just remember to print the image backwards.

We were provided with pre-printed alphabets to select a couple of letters from.

First I chose a “G” because it has both straight and curved lines.
Then we needed a letter with an internal cutout.  I chose “R” which is nice and complicated.

To get into the cutout, a hole needed to be drilled at a suitable point for the saw blade to be threaded through.
At home I use a bow drill.  People laugh at me when I say that.  I started using one at evening classes because I was the only one who mastered it (and I liked showing off).  Then I continued using one at home because the alternative is my Dremel which is too fast.
So it’s really nice to finally have access to a real pendant motor with foot pedal.  The shank drill bits are also something I've never used before and are really nice.

Onto the next method of pattern transfer.  Good old fashioned 'draw it on a piece of paper and cut it out'.  The shape can then be drawn round onto the sheet with a scriber.

I opted for a tree (because that’s what I did when I first did any piercing all those years ago at evening classes) with a cutout bird & apple.

When it was all cut out, I decided the roots made it too fussy, so I cut them off.

I still wasn’t happy with the design (I think it looks like a woman with curly hair and a squint, going “ooo”).

So to contrast, I then drew out a very simple paisley shape, and I'm much happier with it.

Next I tried out some cats.