Wire Pattern Rolls - above and below.
Recent Cool Tools columns
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A rolling mill is something of the holy grail
of the workshop. Buying one is a quest — it takes some time to find the
right one, with the right features, at the right time, for the right price. There
are tradeoffs with any rolling mill purchase — and everyone wants the one
that will give the most versatility for the typically large investment. I bought
a small used one for a very good price from a friend, and I take great care to
keep it clean, protected from dust, and most importantly, protected from moisture.
Since there are zillions of things one can do with the rolling mill, I've called
in some tips from our crew of experts. Try some of these yourself, once you’ve
brought home your very own holy grail of a mill.
Kenneth Singh
is the owner of 46 Jewelry Supply, Inc., and he carries a great selection of
rolling mills. Recently, I discovered that he has interchangeable, prepatterned
rollers available for two of his mills — and one of them is the model I
own. To use them, you simply unbolt the top roller, slide it out, and insert
the patterned roller.
The roller patterns include both sheet and wire designs. He’s also created
custom pattern rollers.
Here are some samples of the different roll textures: bracelet patterns, wire
patterns, florentine pattern, diamond cut pattern, half-round wire pattern, floral
wire pattern.
Karat Rolling Mill.
Harold O'Connor
Last summer I took a workshop with Harold, and for two days the studio rolling
mill was in constant use. One of my favorite demos from that workshop was of
rolling 26-gauge reticulation silver (which has had the silver raised) through
the mill with a “spiderweb” of stainless steel binding wire sandwiched
in between the sheets. The gullies created by the wire in the surface of the
silver cause the reticulation to move toward them under the torch — an
interesting way to “steer” reticulation toward an area of metal surface.
Harold takes this technique even further by fusing gold granulation into the
gullies as well.
In the workshop, I also did an informal poll on favorite things to use to
create texture in the rolling mill — try these items on dry, annealed 26-gauge
sheet the next time you’re looking for a cool pattern: index cards, crêpe
paper, file folders, feathers, bay leaves, nylon lace, rice paper.
And another thing...
Two-inch-wide, patterned brass sheet is available from several suppliers. To
transfer the pattern from the brass to silver, use it for about six to 10 passes
with annealed silver. After that many passes, the sharpness of the brass pattern
will begin to degrade, and you won’t get a clean impression — plus,
the brass will become so stiff and work-hardened, it will be hard to use, anyway.
At that point, just anneal it and use it for a project!
When you use patterned brass, remember to protect your mill by encasing the
receiving sheet/patterned brass in a plain paper “sandwich” — something
I do whenever I’m using the mill, because I don’t want to damage
my rollers, or take the chance of transferring any oil residue from the rollers
onto my silver.
When you’re done with your mill, separate the rollers by about 1⁄8
of an inch, and drape a lint-free cloth over them to protect them from dust.
You can also give them a thin coat of light machine oil (I use sewing machine
oil) to create a moisture barrier. Be sure to roll an absorbent strip of blotter
paper through the mill several times to remove the oil before using the mill
again.
You can also download Cool Tools: Rolling Mills in
PDF format. (1.2MB)
Cool Tools is a regular feature of Jewelry Artist. If you have a tool you would
like featured, a useful tool modification, or interesting bench trick to suggest,
or, if you'd like to join our studio of experts, contact Helen Driggs, Managing
Editor, Jewelry Artist, 300 Chesterfield Parkway, Suite 100, Malvern, PA 19355,
or hdriggs@interweave.com, subject line "Cool Tools." Please include your complete
contact information with all submissions.
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