[Jewelry making - Article 00355] - Re: [Orchid] Rolling and making wire

[Jay Whaley]

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Jerry,

    I know I've written about making wire with a rolling mill before on
    Orchid, but I'll give you another set of instructions. 

    Unless you're planning to make fine silver bezel, I'd alloy the fine
    silver coin into sterling first. I highly recommend United Metals
    S88 Master Alloy for sterling, as it is a far superior product than
    regular (copper) sterling. My students love it's easy working
    properties. Take your coin and weigh it. Once you have the exact
    weight of the coin (fine silver) divide that number by.925, which
    will give you the total weight of the sterling you will make. Simply
    add your alloy to the coin on the scale until you reach that number
    you've calculated. 

    Once you have the total fine silver and alloy weighed, put it into a
    melting dish you can pour with, and melt it all with a suitable
    torch, and mix with a carbon stirring stick until all is melted
    together. Got fire? Turn it up, and get the flame HOT! When the
    metal is quite liquid, tip the melting dish toward the pouring lip,
    keeping the high flame on the front edge of the pouring lip and
    silver puddle, and rest the pouring dish on top of the ingot mold you
    are using. Pour quickly into the warmed steel ingot mold, all the
    while keeping the torch flame on the metal being poured. This will
    take a little practice to get this right every time. 

    I'd advise a vertical-style ingot mold, a "combination ingot mold"
    being my favorite and most versatile. For wire of any shape or size,
    pick a large round ingot hole to pour into. Once you've poured your
    ingot, and released it from the ingot mold, pickle it to clean off
    all oxidation, rinse and dry. File off all fins or sharp edges with a
    file. 

    You will be using the grooved section of your rolling mill to make
    wire. Choose a groove that visually "fits" the size of ingot you're
    rolling. First make a pass with the mill, and when the slightly
    squared ingot emerges from the other side of the mill, give the ingot
    a quarter turn (corners up!) and roll it back through the mill in the
    same groove. Tighten the mill a half-turn, and do the exact same
    thing, remembering to turn the ingot a quarter turn on the way back
    through the mill. This will produce a square ingot. After about 3
    passes, you must anneal the silver ingot. After annealing and
    pickling, go through the mill in the same process, until you have
    reached the width you need. Never run your mill all the way together
    so the rollers are touching. Always leave a small gap between the
    rollers. This will avoid damaging your flat rollers, and will help
    prevent "fins" on your ingots. When you "run out of groove" and the
    rollers are about to touch, open up the mill and start work on the
    next smaller groove. If making flat stock, just steer the square
    stock you've made along the edge of the flat rollers until it's the
    desired thickness, tightening the mill very slightly for each pass,
    and annealing after say, 6 passes. Round stock you should make 2
    gauges larger than the final round size you want, and pull through a
    draw plate. Tapering can be done quickly and accurately with the
    mill, for the drawing process. (Anneal that taper first!) There are
    a lot more details, but those are the basics. 

    Good luck. You will be able to make stock you cannot buy in any
    catalog, and make custom bezel thicker than that nasty 32 ga. they
    sell, and at any width you need. And, you will get really fast at it,
    too. 

Jay Whaley UCSD Craft Center
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