Billet Size for CooksonGold Rolling Mill

[craynerd]

Morning all
This is a very beginner question as IÂ’ve not been going long but nearly all the YouTube tutorials I see show people pouring a 5-8mm silver / gold billets and then using their fancy rolling mill to turn that to square and eventually thinner wire. The issue is that my older cooksongold rolling mill only has a 4mm opening at maximum! It seems an obvious solution to pour a 4mm or less billet but most moulds are bigger than this and even after making my own mould, I struggle pouring less than 5mm channels as it starts to cool too quickly instead off flow the length of the mould and then I end up with a short length of 4mm billet a large solidified blob of excess at the top! However 5mm I can pour no issue.

My question is - is 4mm the max opening on this rolling mill or am I doing something wrong?

If pouring narrower billet is the answer - any tips or links to suitable moulds you use?

Thanks
Chris

[Dennis]

Three observations:

If you pour your metal into an open mould, or a channel made in a block, you can achieve any dimension you wish

Any worthwhile rolling mill will open at least 4cm. If not something has happened to obstruct it. Maybe you've just misplaced your decimal point?

It is particularly important with cheaper rolling mills not to overload them. Start billets with a hammer, and then roll in small increments until the desired thickness is achieved, annealing as necessary.
Don' put your whole weight behind the handle, or you will damage the machine. Dennis.

[Dennis]

You could also adopt Nick's casting method in Delft clay shown below, which would solve all your problems. at once.

[nicks creative stuff]

I would like to elaborate on what Dennis suggested. An experienced and skilled blacksmith can forged down steel bar or rod to just about any size and shape. Silver is somewhat similar apart from not being able to work hot and needing regular annealing. With a bit of patience and practice and a nice sturdy anvil block large misshaped ingot rods can be neatly hammered down to a wire shape that will easily fit in any rolling mill … Or you could cast a 4mm rod with Delft Clay a bit like this … https://youtu.be/d4aC1dYqYpI … N

[alastairduncan]

Silver is somewhat similar apart from not being able to work hot and needing regular annealing

You can hot forge sterling silver. Brett Payne does a lot of forging.

https://youtu.be/z8JNIF8miPs

Take a look at the other videos on his channel.

I'm not sure that you would need hot forging for jewellery making but it can speed up the process.

[nicks creative stuff]

Thanks for that Alastair, nice collection of videos there. Something I’ve never seen before working big lumps of silver like that … N

[alastairduncan]

He uses some interesting techniques such as the drop hammer and English wheel on Instagram for big pieces of work.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CYv2zDuFMF-

[nicks creative stuff]

Fascinating process using low temperature metal for die making. I have worked hot copper before and I suppose it must be very similar. I can imagine temperature control is everything when forging hot silver. I’ll have to give it a go sometime, I have a small ingot that needs working down … N

[nicks creative stuff]

Have you seen Alec Steele’s video forging hot gold … a bit silly being a blacksmith working gold so lots of filings on the floor … https://youtu.be/6n0rO1h4diY?si=VlgKWQ-UgHaiwlNV

[nicks creative stuff]

Thanks for the suggestion Alastair, just had a good look at Brett’s website … wow that was an eye-opener … N