Cutting and filing are the most basic processing techniques for making silver jewelry. This technique should be mastered and will be used repeatedly in various stages of making silver jewelry. Cutting machines, steel shears and silver scissors can all be used as tools for cutting silver pieces, but the silver pieces cut by these tools have rough edges and are not precise enough. You can use nozzle scissors and diagonal scissors to cut the silver wire. However, cutting the silver wire with these two tools will leave a slanted section, which needs to be smoothed with a file.

If you use tiger head scissors, the section left after cutting the silver wire will be neater, and there is basically no need to use a file to trim it. If you use a saw to cut and trim silver sheets, silver wires and silver tubes, the effect will be much better. The saw is the most basic jewelry making tool. It has a wide range of uses, whether it is simple or complex silver cutting work. The saw consists of a saw bow and a saw blade. The saw blade needs to be clamped firmly with the saw bow so that the saw blade will not loosen during cutting.

There are many models of saw blades, and the commonly used models are between No. 4/0 and No. 8/0, of which No. 4/0 is thicker and No. 8/0 is thinner. We must choose the thickness of the saw blade according to the thickness of the silver sheet. Generally speaking, the thickness of the silver sheet should be equal to the distance between the three teeth of the saw blade. The filing process is suitable for the shaping and finishing of works. Through filing, small pits and burrs can be removed, holes can be enlarged, and grooves can be filed.

The file is usually made of steel, and the purpose of cutting metal is achieved through the grooves on the file surface. This kind of file is the largest among jewelry-specific files. It has different shapes and lengths. There are two lengths, one is 150mm (6") and the other is 200mm (8"). Among them, No. 2 flat file The No. 2 semi-round file is most commonly used. In addition, the thicker flat file is also commonly used. It has a higher efficiency in cutting metal. For ease of use, the hand file can be equipped with a wooden handle. Typically, wooden handles and hand files are sold separately. When installing a wooden handle to a hand file, first burn the lower end of the hand file red with a fire gun, then insert it into the pre-drilled hole in the wooden handle while it is hot, and knock the wooden handle tightly on the anvil to complete the installation.