[Jewelry making - Article 00094] - Re: [Orchid] Buying My First Rolling Mill...

[Terry Ogden]

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Marty

    This is the site I got mine from and the item number on the page. 

    http://tinyurl.com/z86qz 

    Item S-223 The price was 169 when I bought it. 

    First let me say, I don't think you can hurt a rolling mill short of
    your wife throwing it at you, or in my case, knocking it onto the
    concrete, it really dinged the concrete and did nothing good to the
    plastic handle other than that there was no harm done. They are very
    simple machines and by nature of purpose, very sturdy. If you roll
    mild steel, make sure any oxides are removed as they will mar the
    roller faces. This would include pressing plate etchings into silver
    or gold. Our dust here has a lot of quartz and topaz in it and this
    also will mar the faces. I would suggest starting with new metal, I
    prefer cold rolled, it is cleaner to start with and holds the
    features of etching longer for embossing. 

    I have used the flat rollers quit a lot, the pattern rollers that
    come with it are pretty unimpressive for my taste, and it only rolls
    half round or triangle wires. If you can machine anything, it is a
    very simple mill to make your own rollers for. I have made rollers
    for various shapes and it has turned out pretty well. I tried etching
    a roller, but it is much simpler to etch a plate and roll it through
    with your work piece. I don't know if all the rolling mills can do
    this, but on mine I can tweak one side and roll in a wedge shape on
    my wire which makes an interesting feature for a bezel, wire inlay or
    jump rings. Yes it does make the wire curl, but I am going to bend it
    anyway so what the heck. 

    As far as maintenance, I just oil it on occasion and about once a
    year pull it apart for a full cleaning. There is really not much
    there to worry over except the faces of the rollers. The side to
    side accuracy for the full 3 inches is. 0003 inches or - .0001
    depending on how careful I am in putting it back to square after
    trying something new or pulling it apart to change rollers. 

    Parts - If I ever need any, I'll buy another mill or make the part I
    need. I would be really surprised if they carried any, it's an import
    and it would probably cost more to get the parts mailed in than it
    would be worth. 

    Like you, I am a hobbyist and as such would rather spend my money on
    new material, classes and cool rocks as long as the tools I buy meet
    fit, form, function and survivability I am happy. The only thing I
    finally went and bought a good one of was a draw plate for wire. I
    pull wire a lot more than I thought I would, I now have one in
    carbide. Until I had enough experience to know what I would be doing
    and how much, it would have been a hard sell to get me to spend the
    $100 to pull wire, especially since my first draw plate only cost me
    $8. I guess I feel the same about rolling mills, the cheap one has
    lasted this long and is showing no signs of cashing in. 

    If you are really going to be doing that much plate and wire, you
    may want to consider the motorized versions, this one has a 4 to
    ratio and it don't take long to start getting cramps and get a stand
    you can bolt to the floor. 

Good luck on your decision.
Terry
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