1/4" Brass beads

[jmeineke]

Yes that looks about right, just break the sharp corners at the centre and other sharp edges

I haven't gotten around to making the new die set yet, but I thought I'd show you the results of just milling out the exit a bit more like you suggested. Like I said, a lot less waste and less hammering. One of the pics is the finished string after running through the final rounding die and then annealing.

[jmeineke]

Still need some final shaping, but this is what they look like so far. I'm going to put them in a tumbler as well to give them a uniform finish. These will be used in a Rosary.

[pkrankow]

Thats going to be a unique rosary.
Phil

[John B]

Still need some final shaping, but this is what they look like so far. I'm going to put them in a tumbler as well to give them a uniform finish. These will be used in a Rosary.

Hi, There still seems to be excessive flashing on the forged strings,

This may be a combination of the beads being too small, the metal available for the ball being slighly more than required, and being overstruck. (copper is that easy to form, it probably seems quicker to just give it a whack or two, I would anticipate possibly six light blows as it is being rotated after each blow, may improve things)

What I mean by overstruck, is excessive force used and not enough rotation to form the the ball as a sphere.

The picture of the item show is more like that of a drop stamped item that is then placed in a second op tool to remove the flash, which will leave a shear line which could make the item appear to be a casting.

Nearly there, but not quite.

[jmeineke]

Hi, There still seems to be excessive flashing on the forged strings,

This may be a combination of the beads being too small, the metal available for the ball being slighly more than required, and being overstruck. (copper is that easy to form, it probably seems quicker to just give it a whack or two, I would anticipate possibly six light blows as it is being rotated after each blow, may improve things)

What I mean by overstruck, is excessive force used and not enough rotation to form the the ball as a sphere.

The picture of the item show is more like that of a drop stamped item that is then placed in a second op tool to remove the flash, which will leave a shear line which could make the item appear to be a casting.

Nearly there, but not quite.

Yeah, I'm not taking my time on these; I'm hitting very hard and not rotating enough and also just eyeballing where it looks about right. I end up nipping / grinding / filing the flash off and then take the hammer to them.

The work that's left is going to keep me busy for a while - still have to get them to their final shape, drill them, make the chain and the center and the cross. I've never made a rosary before, let alone my own beads, so we'll see.

If I attempt this again, I'll definitely be changing my tooling and technique.

Thanks for all your help.

[jmeineke]

I decided to make a quick top die to use with the existing bottom finishing dies I welded to a small welding table. I made it out of some NAK-55 (not too hard or too soft at 40 HRC, easy to machine... been looking for an excuse to use it....). Anyhow, I'm pretty happy with the results. About 15 to 20 hits, rotating the bead after each whack, and they come out looking pretty good. I put them side by side with the rough ones for comparison. Second pic shows the dies I'm using for finishing - the two bottom dies are drilled to different depths (the second one tended to trap the bead until it was more rounded. The other die doesn't go down far enough to trap, but had the right curve to keep the bottom from flattening while hammering).

[John B]

I decided to make a quick top die to use with the existing bottom finishing dies I welded to a small welding table. I made it out of some NAK-55 (not too hard or too soft at 40 HRC, easy to machine... been looking for an excuse to use it). Anyhow, I'm pretty happy with the results. About 15 to 20 hits, rotating the bead after each whack, and they come out looking pretty good. I put them side by side with the rough ones for comparison. Second pic shows the dies I'm using for finishing.

Well done, 12 out of ten for determination, maybe you shold change your id to Perce E Vere! lol

Now you have solved this problem, and have the tooling, you could try this

Forge your bar to size, (slightly smaller than the finished diameter of the bar)

Cut off a piece the length of the diameter of the ball (Shear, saw or other)

Place this pellet in the bottom tool, and coin it in the tool, you should get a finished ball.

My Apologies, I totally missed this method at the start of the problem solve by classically ignoring the size of job in the first place, I should have known better and taken ALL the details into consideration, I must have had a Doh! moment.

If we learn by our mistakes, we learnt a lot here, Congratulations for sticking with it.

[jmeineke]

Well done, 12 out of ten for determination, maybe you shold change your id to Perce E Vere! lol

Now you have solved this problem, and have the tooling, you could try this

Forge your bar to size, (slightly smaller than the finished diameter of the bar)

Cut off a piece the length of the diameter of the ball (Shear, saw or other)

Place this pellet in the bottom tool, and coin it in the tool, you should get a finished ball.

My Apologies, I totally missed this method at the start of the problem solve by classically ignoring the size of job in the first place, I should have known better and taken ALL the details into consideration, I must have had a Doh! moment.

If we learn by our mistakes, we learnt a lot here, Congratulations for sticking with it.

lol. I like that id.

So you're saying draw it down to under 5/16" before cutting? Maybe instead of drawing down more I could just cut the pellet to around 9/32"and then coin it?

I'm starting out with 3/8 and drawing it down to 5/16" (the size I'm making the beads - originally I was going to do 1/4" but decided I wanted them a bit bigger). I don't think I have a 9/32" drill bit to make that size die.

[John B]

lol. I like that id.

So you're saying draw it down to under 5/16" before cutting? Maybe instead of drawing down more I could just cut the pellet to around 9/32"and then coin it?

I'm starting out with 3/8 and drawing it down to 5/16" (the size I'm making the beads - originally I was going to do 1/4" but decided I wanted them a bit bigger). I don't think I have a 9/32" drill bit to make that size die.

For simplicity and energy saving (I like simplicity and energy saving, particularly when it is my energy I am saving) use your existing tool and cut the pellet shorter, (all you need is the pellet to seat in the cavity) what you are looking for is a pellet the same volume as the finished item that leaves no flashing, just a complete sphere


Even if it is not a complete sphere but leaves a couple of flat spots, you could turn this to your advantage and use the flat area to spot the drill if you going to string them as beads.

(Think we are on a roll here again Perce E.Vere)

[jmeineke]

Well, here it is - finally finished it. I think it turned out pretty good. I may end up redoing the wire - I nicked it up pretty good in some places. I'll probably make a hand-made crucifix to put on it at some point, but for now I'm just using one I had on hand.

Thank you all very much for your help on this. It's been a heck of a learning experience.

[ianinsa]

Great thread, final result looks good.If you have a fly press and use similar tooling it will take a lot of pt out of this. good work
Ian

[fciron]

wow! You really got the beads finished out nicely from the earlier pics. Looks good, congrats.

You should certainly make your own crucifix. Visually it's the focal point of the piece, so it seems a shame not to have your work there.