Sukashi and the Jeweler's saw.
This is a Steel Horse Tsuba I was commissioned to do. The design is taken directly from a picture provided by the client. This is a very demanding hand saw job and I thought it might make an interesting to talk about it.

My primary tool used to create Sukashi is a Standard German Jeweler's saw fitted with swiss made 4/0 size blades. This is not an expensive tool, but it does take a great deal skill to optimize it's use when sawing heavy steel plate. When done correctly 95% percent of the work is done with the saw and the remainder is done with files and chisels. It takes a great deal of focus to keep the saw vertical in two axis while tracking a fine line. The steel plate used in this piece was 3/16" Thick or just about 5mm. About the same thickness as 62 sheets of standard printer paper.


This is a 5.25" long "4/0" blade. you are viewing the side of the blade. Head on the blade is less than half this thick. These blades do not last long a long time, but they cut fairly quickly. More often than not they break before they get dull in 5mm steel. They start dulling after 1 or 2 inches of cutting. So I order these blades by the gross. On a bad day I can go through dozens of blades. This particular project consumed about 80 blades. That's a little high for most Tsuba, but the design is in part to blame. The frequent tight curves and corners are really hard on the blades so they brake more frequently.


This the standard German Jewelers saw. It has a 4 inch throat which is ideal for Tsuba sized jobs. From the factory these come with slender wooden handles that are painted black. I have very large hands so I replaced the handle with something large and more comfortable. You can see the Deck I use to support my Tsuba while sawing (above the saw) It has a variety of holes and slots to allow clearance for the blade. In this shot I am ready to remount a new blade.

Here I have finished mounting the blade with the Tsuba threaded on the blade. Notice the little hole in my work bench. The little nub on the end of the saw is resting in it.   The saw frame in placed between my body and the bench this way. That allows both hands to be free for the blade change.  The tension is adjusted by how hard I push the handle with my chest just before clamping the blade in place.

Looking down on my progress. Here you can see the dry blade lube and a tube of blades. The steel plate is covered in paper with the design printed on it. The paper is glued on with Standard super glue. Then it is soaked in super glue. This locks the paper fibers so that they can be sawn cleanly. Otherwise the lines become fuzzy and my accuracy drops. I either use this method or a more traditional scribing/punch technique to layout my designs. There are approximately 50 inches of line to cut in this design!

Here you can see a still of the saw in action. Well sort of I am holding the camera with my other hand...

Here you can see the double line I use. If you cut away your only reference things get sloppy. So even when just using one line I always try to cut to one side of it slightly so the reference remains. For me It is more accurate to track just outside of a line that it is to eat away at the end of a line.

Here the sawing is completed. If my form was good I can put all the pieces back and lift the Tsuba without any pieces getting stuck. If I can do this from either side then I was holding the saw within a 1 or 2 degree of perpendicular the entire time. It is just something I aspire too that gives me a good sense of satisfaction. I can certainly get away with less accuracy I just have to file more to make up for it. The sloppier the cut the more filing you have to do. I prefer to let the saw do most of the work in one elegant pass...

Here is the finished Tsuba. The Rim has been filed round. The interior cut edges have been slightly rounded. The interior walls have been gone over with a file to remove any jagged saw marks. Then finally the SabiSuke Patina is created. 
  The Jewelers saw is not the first tool that most would think of to cut plate steel, but if applied with enough sensitivity it does a great job.

I was trained on the job to use these hand saws. I was given some basic instruction then told I had to cut out 100 lincoln heads. I thought it was crazy at the time. Turns out I was not wrong, but I did get very good as sawing out lincoln heads. Then I started sawing out all kinds of coins like the one pictured here.