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Thread: Which Rolling Mill

  1. #1
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    Default Which Rolling Mill

    Hi All

    Looking for advice on which rolling mill to buy. I can't go above £500 so that rules out a few, but confused by the specs given on the CG site and what they all mean.

    If you had £500 to spend which would you go for?

    Basically I want to start recycling silver and copper and possibly brass and so I'll be wanting to form my own sheets of metal from odds and ends and have the ability to make sheets to required thicknesses. I also want to do the same with wire as well. I also want to be able to texture my sheets of metal too.

    Any advice welcome.

    Thanks

    E
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  2. #2
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    Well Evie,

    You need at least 80mm of flat surface, but 10 is better.
    You need to be able to put through a thick bar, although you must go slowly and anneal plenty at first to avoid cracking, so a 6mm gap is good.
    You need plenty of square grooves, because that's how you start making wire.
    If you have a strong worktop to screw it to, you don't need a stand. but stands need to be screwed to the floor with heavy bolts, or they come loose.
    Gears are good to save on puff, but are not within your budget, so go for the 999 AXV from Cookson if you find the price is good, which I have been told it is.

    There is lots more to say about rolling, so come back when you are ready regards, Dennis.

  3. #3
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    I think you also need to forget about reclaiming copper and brass. Copper's too hard to pour, and the fumes involved with brass are just too nasty to even think about.

    This has been discussed before, but I gave up recycling my own scrap a long time ago. The difference in price between sending it off as scrap and buying new material just doesn't justify the time and effort involved.

    I do draw my own wire occasionally (if I need a size or shape I don't have or can't get) but that's about it.

    For that, and for a bit of texturing, the budget mills do the job perfectly well IMO. That is, until one can afford an all singing all dancing heavily geared Durston!!

  4. #4
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    You might think that George and I are at loggerheads, but we’re not. It’s just that we make completely different things. I have a lot of thick stubby remnants that I am pleased to roll into usable sheet or wire of a preferred thickness.

    Also most of my work incorporates roll textures and I would feel seriously hampered if I did not have a wide enough flat area. I have 80mm, but often wish I had 100.

    As for rolling down ingots you might eventually come to the same conclusion as George. But I believe in getting it out of your system, by having a go at your precious metal scrap. Wire is easier than sheet. Dennis.

  5. #5
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    Similarly, for my needs, geared is the only way I'd want to handle rolling down largeish ingots of mokume gane. Ungeared is not much fun by comparison! The extension rolls on mine are handy (set for half round, but I might change them over to oval); the square wire rolls I use a moderate amount. If I was buying again, I'd go for a double rather than combination - more & more I'm finding that the width of mokume sheet I want is too large for the flat rolls.

    I don't do much roll texturing; I do use mine for step rolling though.

    But that's just how I use mine.

    George's comment about copper is right - although as I need some copper ingots for a particular project, I'm going to try the overly-exciting-sounding Japanese water casting method soonish (tip a full crucible into a mould submerged in near-boiling water). What's the worst that could happen?
    Last edited by ps_bond; 09-02-2012 at 07:15 AM.

  6. #6
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    Thanks for all the responses so far - as for recycling copper and brass - this is more in the form of copper pipes and brass elements I've salvaged from our house renovation - I won't be melting copper down into ingots but trying to flatten shape the scraps I have into useable pieces. I think I'm going to opt for the 999 AXU from Cookson and then I'll need to save up to buy a stand as well as my jewellery bench wouldn't be able to accommodate a rolling mill.
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  7. #7
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    If you can bolt it down (and have the facility to drill the mounting holes) then Machine Mart have a grinder stand that works quite well; I've seen someone using an Ikea butchers trolley as a stand too.

    I flatten quite a lot of pipe like that. Easy to do provided it is annealed (and clean and dry) first.

  8. #8
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    I'd prefer a stand that I don't need to bolt down as we've just laid a new oak floor and so thanks for suggesting the IKEA butchers trolleys - I have two of these already and the plan is that they'll slide underneath my work bench so I could pull them out if I need extra surfaces to work on. Maybe I keep one out full time for the rolling mill - not sure I have room though - it is quite a small room. Lots to think about and that would save me a lot of money as the stands are quite pricey too.
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  9. #9
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    This is a brilliantly timed thread as far as I'm concerned, because I'm starting to thing about getting a rolling mill too :-)


    Melanie

    http://www.spinysharklythings.com

  10. #10
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    which one are you thinking of getting?
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