I completed the rolling mill conversion. It works like a charm. It will allow any number of special effect products and components to be added to my work. I began making dies in 1980. There are a ton of them. They are tool steel - and cover many topics. I choose one to restart the mill here at BPS. One from my faith series. This is approx 2" tall. A rugged pendant.





Gary

Wow, it's gotta be a lot of work making the dies for that thing, lots of detail, and carved in reverse.

So...is the roller itself sort of the evolved version of the hand-cranked "souvenier penny" squishers you see at zoos and such? It's got to take some serious pressure to squeeze a design like that into solid metal. And what metal do you use for the medallions?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2014 03:49AM by rotorhead.

Thanks Sean,

It does take a tremendous pressure. I did the math once and figured approx. 100 tons per sq. inch.

The metals: German Silver, Gold, Sterling Silver, Gold Filled laminate, Titanium, Allunimum, Brass, Copper.

When I stand back and look at the whole set of tools and skill sets - it brings a smile. From designing the machine, to building it, to engraving the hardened tool steel dies, it takes a bit of work.

I suspect people might question the effort, timing, purpose. My answer would be as follows: Work, R and D, Maintenance, Paperwork, Customer Relations, 2nd Shift, Overtime, Testing. I'm a one man band. Seperate life from Work. Make the Creativity show up during regular business hours. Make me feel strong when I'm in the shop and ache at 3am when asleep. Other people have vacations, hobbies, days off, "after work" hours. If I'm functional - I'm on duty. There's no time clock to punch. Security doesn't tell me to lock up and go home. Doesn't matter if its 11am or 11pm. When a machine needs to be overhauled - I can't call the mechanics. When Creativity throws its net over me - its got me.

Please allow me to quote my Uncle James Barnes - Uncle Jim passed too young. He was a Farmer, School Bus Contractor, and later (after a heart attack caused him to semi-retire) he ran his own retail Feed Store. A good Man. He told, about 40 years ago - "None of the work is going to get done until I do it, so; if I can choose when I do it, it eases the load a bit." . I'm sure there are opinions about how I go about it. I do my best. Hope you enjoy seeing the results.

Thks for reading.
Gary

That awesome Gary . I love it . Sean you are right about tonnage too incredible amount that compounds . Moving molecules has a smell to it ! I made a simple rolling machine out of a garage door opener ( big industrial 220v) it was made for small flat bar 1/4 x 6" MAX . It was only made for rolling ladder cage rings( hoops 1-5"R) on industrial ladders . The bearings I chose drive into the ends of pipe and were way undersized . But I still have and use it . Thanks for sharing with us Gary . He is risen should be next die !


PS. Sean did you notice there was NO stainless steel in his list of metals ? I'm just saying .... Hehehe



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2014 01:35PM by kurt wag.

Thank you Kurt. Would like to see your machine run.

(To the left of the cross, on that pressing - is a depiction of the empty tomb with a burst of light from it. Needs refining to make it more clear - thanks)

Yeah .... funny I missed stainless steel .... lovely stuff ..... Haha.

Gary

True, no stainless, good spot there Kurt. However, he DID mention titanium...

Well finally remembered to snap a photo of the rolling machine I threw together from an old 220v garage door opener ! It has a slow foward and reverse drive transmission whiched worked great for a power source . The axel on top roller has been drilled on each end for a thru bolt and a flat ground on it for a washer seat . The bolts have witness marks on them and index at a pointer that gives some control to bringing down the top roller to sandwich plate to be rolled in between the two fixed drive rollers on bottom . It only takes about 1/8 of a turn at a time once the plate starts to curl up . To get a nice round exact circle i just take diameter x 3.14 ( pie) for cut length and when the ends touch each other your good to go . 10 gage rolled really nice but when you get up around 1/4" thick it takes a few more times rolling back and forth to get it going . I loved see your rolling mill Gary and just had to brag alittle . Hope you like ! If you look close at the garage door opener motor you can still see the manual chain for power outages I stuck in a bag to keep it original . Never know if I might a garage door opener ! Haha

That's a sweet machine! Good job Kurt.

Neat to see. Need some of those power sources around - just in case!

Battery at 10% ... Ooopps. Gary

Nice rig there Kurt. When you're training up "the new guy", make sure that he gets to roll the next set of hoops manually using the chain.

Looks great Gary. I think I need to see that machine in action!

Invitation stands ....

Gary

Gary when do you plan on showing us the money press you secretly manufactured in the last weeks

Hi Rugar,

Yeah ... Made a penny Die. Only costs me 37 cents to make one!