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Piercing saws

Sometimes it is necessary to saw a slit that is narrower than can be done with an ordinary hacksaw blade. The way of doing this can be to use a piercing saw. This is not normally regarded as a tool for use by engineers. It will not be found in tool catalogues for engineers. However it is used by jewellers.

The piercing saw is like a hacksaw but is smaller overall. This is mainly because the blades are much shorter.

fig piercing saw

The blades are much narrower and thinner than a hacksaw blade. Needless to say, they are much more fragile. Whereas a hacksaw blade will last long past the point where it is no longer sharp, a piercing saw blade will frequently get broken. If it is planned to use a piercing saw then the minimum number required will be about a dozen.

On a piercing saw the blade is fitted so that the teeth point towards the handle.

fig piercing saw blade

 

 

blade specifications

size        thickness      teeth/10mm

4              0.45              14

3             0.45               15

2             0.40               16

1             0.39               17

1/0          0.36               19

2/0          0.35               20

3/0          0.34               22

4/0          0.29               24

5/0          0.26               26

6/0          0.24               27

8/0          0.22               28

these are from page 33 in the Walsh catalogue