Mod Bracelet
The bracelet begins as a piece of 20 gauge sterling silver sheet 1.5 inches wide and 5.75 inches in length. I first polish the metal, saw the ends round, then mark my design on the metal with a fine-point permanent marking pen. The small circles will be the cutouts of this design. I first center punch the metal on a steel bench block to guide my drill.
I drill the holes with a number 60 drill bit. In the photo I am using a Dremel machine as a drill. I usually prefer to use a drill press. This method was easier to photograph. A drill press is preferable because you do not need to hold the drill and the holes are always perfectly straight.
After inserting the saw blade through the hole and then re-attaching it to the saw frame, I carefully saw out each circle. Just inside the lower right corner is my bench-mounted Bur-Life, which I use to lubricate my blade before and throughout the sawing process. My main sawblade size is 2/0; I use size 4/0 for metals 24 gauge or thinner.
After sawing, I file all edges smooth with a half-round diamond file.
After re-polishing the metal to remove any scratches which were caused during sawing and filing, I bend the metal into shape on an oval bracelet mandrel.
I continue to form the bracelet on the mandrel with my hands. I like to do as much forming as possible with my hands only so as to mar the metal as little as possible. It's also important to have a finely polished mandrel.
The shape is refined with gentle taps with a rawhide mallet. The minor scratches and marks which occur during this process will need to be polished out afterwards.

The bracelet is finished.

To see more bracelets like this, click here.