[Jewelry making - Article 00101] - Re: [Orchid] Drawing wire, getting burrs

[Jay Whaley]

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    I have been reading the postings on getting burs on drawn wire. I
    agree that most problems related to sharp "spurs" or burs in the
    drawn wire would occur in the rolling mill phase. If the wire ingot
    stays in a basically square shape as it is being reduced with the
    rolling mill, avoiding any thin "wings" or extrusions from forming
    along the corners of the square wire, a good drawn wire should be
    assured. That is assuming the annealing of the wire is done with
    regularity and the entire wire reaches annealing temperature each
    time. The metal should also be soft enough to roll, and not
    "contaminated" with a casting-type alloy, which tends NOT to roll or
    draw well at all. I cannot stress how important it is to roll this
    square wire ingot twice through each groove (rotating the wire 90
    degrees each time) to achieve a perfectly square wire before drawing.
    Another vital aspect to making good wire is not letting the rollers
    come all the way together, touching, while the wire is being run
    through the mill. The wire ingot will always expand sideways,
    slightly, from the extreme pressure of the rollers, and the wire must
    be able to "bulge" slightly outward between the rollers grooves. If
    enough room is not left between the rollers (as when the rollers are
    touching together), the wire will "extrude" between the rollers,
    making a sharp fin. The running of the rollers all the way together
    is usually so counter-productive and potentially damaging to the
    mill, that I don't even allow my students to do it in our studio. 

    Tapering the wire can be quite quickly done with a rolling mill's
    grooves, but that taper MUST be annealed before you can draw the wire
    through the drawplate. I have also seen problems drawing wire if the
    drawplate is reversed. The wire will always come OUT the side that is
    numbered, and go in the larger side, without the numbering. 

Jay Whaley
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