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Milomade
08-02-2012, 01:21 PM
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

Dennis
08-02-2012, 08:11 PM
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.

mizgeorge
08-02-2012, 08:28 PM
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!!

Dennis
08-02-2012, 10:46 PM
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.

ps_bond
09-02-2012, 07:12 AM
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? :D

Milomade
09-02-2012, 09:35 AM
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.

ps_bond
09-02-2012, 10:06 AM
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.

Milomade
09-02-2012, 01:07 PM
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.

Melanie De Castro Pugh
20-02-2012, 01:49 PM
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

Milomade
20-02-2012, 04:17 PM
which one are you thinking of getting?

Melanie De Castro Pugh
23-02-2012, 10:44 PM
The Cookies cheapo one! I am in my default state of being "financially embarrassed"...


Melanie

http://www.spinysharklythings.com

ScottyC
26-04-2012, 11:32 AM
Hi folks i would save up and buy a good set of rolling mills, or with any other jewellery tools buy the best you can cheap tools are false economy
i have tried cheap and they just snap or break., i have a set of durston rollers i have used for the last 25 years and never had a problem with them
and they will probably out do me...

Scott

louisella76
27-04-2012, 07:49 AM
[QUOTE=Melanie De Castro Pugh;46296]The Cookies cheapo one! I am in my default state of being "financially embarrassed"...


Melanie

QUOTE]

Hi Melanie - I bought the Cookie one earlier this year an love it. Just be prepared to do a lot of de-greasing when it arrives...and a tip, don't unpack it straight onto the living room carpet as I started to do! :o

Melanie De Castro Pugh
27-04-2012, 09:59 AM
Thanks for that, it got unpacked in the shed, that was a two woman job! I've only degreased the smooth rollers, figured it couldn't hurt to leave it on the other moving parts :-)


Melanie

http://www.spinysharklythings.com

Dennis
27-04-2012, 07:13 PM
Hi folks i would save up and buy a good set of rolling mills, or with any other jewellery tools buy the best you can cheap tools are false economy
i have tried cheap and they just snap or break., i have a set of durston rollers i have used for the last 25 years and never had a problem with them
and they will probably out do me...

Scott

I am a part time volunteer in an ESOL class, so what bothers me is: can one refer to a set of rolling mills as one does to a pair of trousers?

andrew_berry
29-04-2012, 03:20 PM
I am with ScottyC on this one.

Its got to be Durston every single time.

Like ScottyC I have had mine 23 years and they are in service every single day and have not had any problems with them at all.

Shop around for the best deals and the cheapest on Durston mills.

Buy British, buy the best

Andrew