Let’s say that you have a coin and you want to turn it into a cut coin pendant. Keep reading and I will show you how easy – well, maybe not so easy – making a cut coin is.
The first step is to look at the coin and decide what part of the design that you want to keep. This will of course tell you what you need to cut out. Once you have done that, you now determine how many holes that you have to drill and where. You will need at least two – one at the top for the jump ring and another one to give you access to the area of the coin you want to cut out. You may need more, considerably more, than that. Once you have decided where and how many holes you need, you then need to drill them.
Now comes the hard part. With a jeweler’s saw you cut the coin by hand. A jeweler’s saw is similar to a hacksaw or coping saw but much smaller. It uses very fine blades called jeweler’s saw blades. These come in many different sizes, from fine to extremely fine. The finest ones are very delicate and very easy to break when you are sawing with them. This part of the job is the most tedious, most difficult, and most time-consuming. One thing you quickly find out if you try this is that you have to pay close attention to what you are doing. One misstroke and your beautiful pendant becomes a piece of scrap.
Finally you finish the saw work. Next you have to grind off the burrs and rough edges on the back since this is the area that will be touching whoever wears it. Finally you have to polish the pendant and attach the jump ring. Voila – one lovely cut coin!