[Jewelry making - Article 00012] - Re: [Orchid] Drawing wire, getting burrs

[Trevor F]

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    Thank you all for your feedback on by "square wire makes burrs"
    problem. A few of you have suggested that it's the mill producing the
    burrs that are later revealed by the draw plates but I assure you
    that's not the case. My mill is in very good shape, virtually new in
    fact, and I've examined the wire I roll out of it very closely, even
    carved into it to see if anything was hidden beneath the surface. I
    am quite confident that there are no sub-surface "fins" or ripples or
    anything else of that sort. Given that I can raise the burrs in
    question at any time by simply drawing larger gauge square wire
    through a round draw plate I am certain that it's that process that
    is causing the burrs, not something that was in the wire before it
    went through the draw plate. 

>     It sounds like you need an intermediate draw plate to start the
>     rounding off process.... Or Start with a larger size squaring plate
>     first which would leave the corners a bit round on a first pass. 

    Jesse, 

    An intermediate plate sounds like an interesting idea (see below)
    and I'd very much like to know if that's the way others have solved
    this type of problem. I'm afraid I'm a bit puzzled by your mention of
    a "larger size squaring plate" because (a) I'm not using a squaring
    plate, I'm running the squared wire that comes off the mill through
    round holed plates and (b) I don't want to make squared wire -- I can
    get that off the mill -- it's round wire that I'm after. 

>     You could attempt to run the square wire through at a forty-five
>     degree angle, and make octagonal wire of it. Flattening the
>     corners would go a long way in the transition from square to
>     round.... 

    Loren, 

    Now, that's an interesting thought, and relates I think to what
    Jesse has suggested. I do have hexagonal plates which might be worth
    trying. When I think of it that might have some relation to wire
    pulling the way I normally do it, which is to run large gauge stuff
    through the mill until it is small and then move over to the
    drawplates. The upshot of it is that by the time the wire is done in
    the mill the proportional difference between one of the squared off
    corners and one of the sides is much much less than when you pull the
    wire out of the mill when it's still a large gauge. In other words,
    fine wire off the mill is more hexagonal than large wire would be. 

    It was interesting to read that you've basically ignored them and, I
    presume, suffered no ill effects because of it. I'm at a loss, and
    dead curious, to know more. Are the burs imbedded in the wire but it
    just doesn't matter that much? Does the process at some point correct
    itself and the burrs just "go away"? I suppose I could just go ahead
    at try some of this to see for myself but I'm reluctant to sacrifice
    the metal to find out, though I suppose one need not run a great lot
    through in order to see what happens. Still, I am curious on your
    thoughts about where those burrs go. 

Cheers,
Trevor F.
in The City of Light
Visit TouchMetal.com at http://www.touchmetal.com
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