ICAP: Break Saw Blade, Cuss, Threepeat

So, now that One's done my brain has returned to the Three design.  I've got two competing designs in mind and I can't decide between them.  Fortunately, both require lots of little 3 shapes to be cut out of copper.

To create the 3s, first I made a template out of cardstock, and I traced the template onto the copper sheet using a sharpie.  I started by using the scrap copper left from cutting out the 2s.  If you look, you can see the curve of the upside down two on the edge of this piece of scrap.

Then I use the jeweler's saw to carefully cut out the shape.  This involves lots of a) broken saw blades, b) cussing, c) more broken saw blades and d) more cussing.  Basically, there's a lot of cussing involved in sawing.  And that's VERY satisfying.

This shot, by the way, is not really me sawing.  I can't saw and hold the camera at the same time.  I only have two arms.  Anyway, lots of horrible sawing noises later, and I have some small copper three components to play with.

Next, I'll have to file them to make the edges smooth and make sure no one cuts themselves on sharp corners.  After they've been filed, then the fun part begins:  texturing.