I'm a beginner, though with experience in silver and gold fabrication. I was wondering if anyone thought it would be worthwhile for me to dig out my old roller mill I used for silver smithing and try to use it to to forge weld some strips of 0-1 1/2" x 1/16" precision ground steel? My thought was to build up a small billet for knife making, but was kind of wondering if it is too slow and just a stupid idea. The mill isn't all that easy to get to at the moment, so I thought I'd ask before just trying it out.

Thanks,

dan

A rolling mill is great for drawing out steel but not so good for welding as the contact with the rollers will draw the heat from the billet too quickly. Welding is best performed with a hammer or a fast press.

A rolling mill is great for drawing out steel but not so good for welding as the contact with the rollers will draw the heat from the billet too quickly. Welding is best performed with a hammer or a fast press.

Many thanks. Figured as much, but sounds like it might be worth dragging out anyhow for drawing. I might be able to set the rollers so they are not parallel which might be helpful in beginning a blade. I'm looking forward to spending some time learning.

I forge weld all the time with my rolling mill. It's not a jeweler's rolling mill, though, and was built to withstand a bit more pressure. I'm not sure that a standard jeweler's mill would have the rigidity.

Jamie

I forge weld all the time with my rolling mill. It's not a jeweler's rolling mill, though, and was built to withstand a bit more pressure. I'm not sure that a standard jeweler's mill would have the rigidity.

Jamie

Jamie,

Is it hand cranked and geared? I think my mill would be stout enough, but the gear reduction is a lot, due to the pressure, so it is slow to hand crank.

dan

Many thanks. Figured as much, but sounds like it might be worth dragging out anyhow for drawing. I might be able to set the rollers so they are not parallel which might be helpful in beginning a blade. I'm looking forward to spending some time learning.

If the rollers are set so they are not parallel, straight stock will curve towards the side with the larger gap.
You can pre-curve the stock and roll with the curve towards the side with the smaller gap and straighten the stock.

Jamie,

Is it hand cranked and geared? I think my mill would be stout enough, but the gear reduction is a lot, due to the pressure, so it is slow to hand crank.

dan

It's geared down, but it's motorized. If you do a search for Mcdonald rolling mill you'll find other examples similar to mine. I haven't added the pictures back to the website yet.

Jamie