How to choose and use a jewelry rolling mill

1. How to choose and use a jewelry rolling mill? A jewelry rolling mill is common in every jeweler’s workshop. The machine is quite like a mangle in many ways. Traditionally, a rolling mill came with steel rollers so that when metal passed through the rollers, it was compressed. This either changed the gauge or sometimes the shape. When cutting the thickness by half, the craftsman must double the length – if the rolling is done in a single direction. The rolling process should be gradual, and the compression will make sure that the metal works harder. Because of this, the metal must be annealed in between each rolling stage. How much effort do you want to put into rolling? To reduce effort required to roll metal, rolling mills are usually equipped with gears. The smoother and easier the roll, the more gears. A rolling mill with a ratio of 4:1 means that you will need to turn the handle four times to get the rollers to move once. A rolling mill with a lower ratio than 4:1 is not something I would want to use. It's hard work and results aren't as consistent. A direct drive is a rolling mill that has no gear reduction. Personally, I don’t like them.

2. How wide sheet you want to be able to roll? I generally don’t roll metal that’s much wider than 3 inches (76mm), but that didn’t stop me getting the full 6 inches of flat space for rolling sheet. I probably wasted a little money there always thinking bigger is better! But always check under the specs to see how wide that flat rolling space is, especially when buying a combination mill (one that rolls wire and sheet). What thickness (gauge) of metal you want to be able to roll? My rollers open to 6mm for my Durston Double D4 model and 5.5mm on my Durston Agile C110. Both of which are more than enough for roller printing with texture plates and rolling down any sheet that I need from melted scrap. If you are intending on doing a lot of roller printing, just take a measurement of the sheet, plate, and sandwich material (I usually use paper and foam), and make sure the rollers open wide enough to accommodate this. When you want to get the most out of your metal, a jewelry rolling mill machine from Jewelerstoolsmall is exactly what you need. A rolling mill is an invaluable tool to add to your jewelry studio. With a rolling mill, you can reduce the thickness of sheet metal, draw down wire, and imprint patterns and texture on annealed metal sheets or wire. Try rolling out your wire solder to flatten it for ease of placement or roll out thin gold foil! They are excellent for fold forming and when you need to harden your sheet metal or wire. Do you want to melt down your own scraps? A rolling mill is the tool that you need to flatten that ingot into the gauge that you need. Even though it is such a workhorse with so many uses around the studio, a rolling mill is a very simple machine, both in design and in use. A rolling mill is a manufacturing machine that has two or more hardened steel rollers. Some have a perfectly smooth and very highly polished finish. Some include wire grooves, for round or half round, and some have pattern rollers for sheet metal and some for wires. Combination rolling mills have both a flat surface and a section with grooves on the rollers for rolling wire.