BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Given as gifts. When I worked at the Jelly Belly Candy Co. I canned some silver dollars with some jelly bellies on the can line one night. Vacuum packed for freshness,haha. When kids hit a certain age money can be the best gift as it is a universal gift certificate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teenylittlemetalguy Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 Just surprised me there was a run on them will have to see if I have the same delays in the spring. Jelly belly eh? I probably had some of your handy work. Heck you probably fed Mr. Reagan as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinobi Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Wouldn't mind having a rolling mill myself! But I would need to reclaim some space first... Do you find that it want to make the coins oblong when you run them through, like the penny smushers at fairs? Or is it so slight and concentrated on the raised imagery that it doesn't affect the perimeter? Posing this to anyone; IIRC the reeds on a half dollar are much larger and deeper than on a quarter, any thoughts on grinding them off beforehand to possibly mitigate opportunities for cracks to start in them? especially because fresh rolls picked up at the bank are likely to not have much circulation time, and the valleys will be fresh and crisp with sharp angles. Or is that again a solution to a non-existent problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teenylittlemetalguy Posted December 14, 2014 Author Share Posted December 14, 2014 My mill was an inexpensive offshore model but good enough for a What I need. You could make ovals if you keep feeding it through the same direction but small changes in height and changing the feed direction mitigates the issue enough. I hope to try the half dollars in the morning. Will see how the got for me, I am planning to roll them out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windancer Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Great thread! I am now anxious to try the half dollars myself :)More pics, fellas!Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Wouldn't mind having a rolling mill myself! But I would need to reclaim some space first... Do you find that it want to make the coins oblong when you run them through, like the penny smushers at fairs? Or is it so slight and concentrated on the raised imagery that it doesn't affect the perimeter? Posing this to anyone; IIRC the reeds on a half dollar are much larger and deeper than on a quarter, any thoughts on grinding them off beforehand to possibly mitigate opportunities for cracks to start in them? especially because fresh rolls picked up at the bank are likely to not have much circulation time, and the valleys will be fresh and crisp with sharp angles. Or is that again a solution to a non-existent problem? Good point about freshly minted coins, the sharp details certainly might be factory made cold shuts. Do you think half an hour in a tumbler would solve the (maybe) problem? Tristan, I have a garage sale tumbler you can borrow if you like. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teenylittlemetalguy Posted December 14, 2014 Author Share Posted December 14, 2014 I hit the garage early this morning and I have to say I think I am done with quarters. I cleaned them but did not flatten them. Using two whole rolls in one stack I did not get appreciable gaps When they were lined up. When some got out of line the gaps where big enough to concern me. So I spent time being sure it was straight. I don't think the pattern on the face will be an issue. I have a few very tiny, small cracks but I know why they are there ( operator error), the rest is nice and solid. A real time saver to use them. The $20 stack is my biggest so far. And I have to say it did not feel good hitting my foot when it slipped from my grip. After trimming the ends and pattern development I was 12oz, I think I could get that up in the 13-14 range without much trouble. All in all I am pleased with the materials performance. And need to order more rolls... I think i also see what I really need more than a power hammer is a hot roll mill like a McDonald. I could seriously get some work done with it. frosty thanks for the offer, but I think I am good. Someday I will borrow that so I can work on my idea for a better local made flux for Damascus though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Any time you want to use it give me a shout. Don't you have an air over hydraulic jack? Why not make a little forge press? It'd be faster and easier than a roll mill. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teenylittlemetalguy Posted December 14, 2014 Author Share Posted December 14, 2014 Yeah, I am just unsure what size of steel to use for a 20 ton frame. I have some c channel I could use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windancer Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Aw Crap! I am jealous of how good your last giant stack came out :) Great job.Can barely wait for the bank to open tomorrow so I can try the half dollars and doint the initial weld in the vice.Thanks a million to all for contributing to this post!!!!!!Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinobi Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 That's a mighty fine billet you cranked out there!! Love to see what you make from it :) Hard to speculate about the tumbler's effects Frosty, seems like it would be inclined to round off edges that shouldn't be which would give oxygen another avenue to penetrate the weld, and might not be thorough enough to get the valleys of the reeds where cracks would spring. Plus it would scratch the faces up pretty badly which would also fight solid welds (at least that's what the books recommend avoiding...). I'd maybe skim them across a grinder to knock it back to a flat uniform edge beforehand, but that might be overkill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 How scratchy the finish is depends on the grit you use. I thought the idea was to smooth out the sharp corners in the stampings. A shot across a grinder is going to leave scratches according to the wheel or belt grit. You can get tumbler media as fine or finer than belts. Not saying it'd work but might be worth a try. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinobi Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 well, yes, a grinder will leave its marks on the edges when you take off the reeds, but they will be considerably smaller than the reeds themselves, to the point that they may just melt themselves away in the fire (220 is kind of my 'default' grit too, so that's usually what my experience is based on). the scratches we want to avoid would be the collateral damage to the faces of the coins in the attempt to clean up the edges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinobi Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 the composition of the halves is the same as the quarters, and they are just about twice the mass, so its pretty much a wash between the two. the easiest way for me to darken the nickel but let the copper come through naturally is to flame up the entire billet until you get the nickel to oxidize to blue/black and then let it cool. I don't usually quench it off because I don't want to risk blowing the finish off, I usually lay it on a piece of copper or steel as a heat sink and do something else for a while. then put it in some pickle, I use skaylex, and let that sit until the acid cleans off the copper. the nickel oxide is some tough stuff and is generally unimpressed by the acid and will stay dark. I picked up some liver of sulfur last week but I haven't played with it yet. that would be a way to blacken the copper, but I don't know how it will treat the nickel, as nickel silver is a predominantly copper based alloy (especially in quarter/50's). head over to the alchemy and formula section as well, I know there have been several great discussions about patinas and recipes there that are really interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teenylittlemetalguy Posted December 15, 2014 Author Share Posted December 15, 2014 even with the weight being the same it is nice to get more mass per weld. not to many people have wasted time welding dimes for the same reason 1/2 dollars make more sense than quarters. what the the liver of sulfur does is different at different dilution ratios. used straight it will turn it all black very quickly, if you dilute it you can get a brown color to slowly effect copper but the nickel alloy is also effected because of the copper in it. at some point you might find a sweet spot that darkens only the copper but i was not patient enough. I gave up using it on mokume and prefer the ammonia method as it is fairly quick and turns just the copper, but am very interested in anything that works. if you learn something please let us know. Here is a little tip i accidentally learned. if you use isopropyl alcohol to dilute the liver of sulfur you can just let it evaporate and go back to full strength. also with alcohol i also noted a thick dark scale on the nickel but it still darkens the copper as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teenylittlemetalguy Posted December 15, 2014 Author Share Posted December 15, 2014 I've enjoyed this thread and have tried a couple billets myself. I was thinking the half dollars would cost more that using quarters but, when I looked it up, the half dollars are the same weight and material as the quarters. I'll have to make a new set of clamps now, I don't think a stack of halves will fit in it. Are you using something to darken the nickel or is it the camera angle? I've been try some things to make the nickel show up better but can only seem to darken the copper. on this i used diluted liver of sulfur, the nickle has been slightly effected. compare the finish on this to my other post on the HEI MATAU. '?do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>> in it i used the ammonia fumes and you can see the nickel is much brighter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinobi Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 Rats!! B of A just called and said they can only order half dollars in batches of 1000$ minimum, and I don't think I want to make that kind of commitment :P they are also not interested in shelving the remainder of the load in the vault for me to only grab 100$ or so from them =/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windancer Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 Yeah, the poor, downtrodden banks VS their nasty, demanding customers. They pay.01 percent inerest on my CDs, but charge 7.7 percent on my credit card. I feel just awful for them:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teenylittlemetalguy Posted December 16, 2014 Author Share Posted December 16, 2014 Sounds like "customer no service" strikes again. I agree with Dave, the poor banks, how ever will they afford Ivy League colleges for their kids.. Might just be a bank issue. My credit union was perfectly happy ordering me two rolls. I should have gotten more. Started a project with the billet but I am superstitious about ever discussing project specifics before I am done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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