Here is a quick video on Working with Draw Plates. There are tons of free content at JewelryMonk.com Make sure to SUBSCRIBE there so you don't miss out!
I have 18g SQ 2x that I am trying to convert to 18g round for chainmaille jump rings. First I ran it through my rolling mill Sq to take the sharp corners off and reduce it a little bit. Then I pulled it thru my round draw plate starting at 1.20, then 1.10, then 1.00. Lot of annealing in between. I found out that I need to use 2’ lengths because that is the max I can draw by holding the drawplate down with my feet and then pulling upwards. Sometimes I used beeswax and sometimes I used burrlife. Hard work and took me all day just to make enough wire for Full Persian bracelet. Argentium silver, no flux needed, and vinegar and salt for my warm pickle.
Sounds like quite the journey, how do you feel about it? There are easier ways, and shortcuts, but you accomplished something you set out to do. Congratulations. Doug
Ok but I disagree on the beating from behind as this normally has the opposite effect: it will create a wall of metal just behind the hole and you are stuck. Better make a properly tapered end and aneal it often. I make the taper with the mill rather than filing.
Great video, be cool to see you get it to a really thin gauge though. I imagine at a certain point you need to worry about breaking it. Not to mention what you're supposed to do when you can't tap it through anymore.
Hey Doug, your videos have been incredibly helpful, thank you! I'm following your process here attempting to eventually get 3.5 to 3.7mm round wire using silver. I've rolled my square wire down to 4 to 4.2mm and have been trying to draw it through a 4.1mm draw plate hole with no success. Using the DIY hand crank on 2x6 method. Continues getting stuck on square corners. Rewatched this vid and flattened out the edges like you say, but still no success. I'm curious on two things: 1) what size should our square wire be in comparison to the draw plate size we're pulling it through? Is pulling 4.2mm wire through a 4.1mm hole not small enough? 2) how intensely do you flatten the square wire corners? Are we going for a purely round shape or just a minimal flattening? Thanks so much!
Howdy Joshua. What I usually try to do is draw down as little as possible, so .1 increments is fine. I will file the end down quite a bit (round shape) so it goes through the smaller hole with ease, and gives me enough wire to grab onto easily. Make sure to anneal regularly. Hope this answers your questions. Doug
Gotcha, thank you! In addition to this, I figured out my drawplate's measurements were inaccurate by about 0.3mm 🤦🏼♂ along with remembering the distance from corner to corner is longer than the height/width of the square wire. So in reality I was trying to pull 4.2mm through a 3.7mm draw lol. Got it figure out and successfully drawn down. Thanks again for your help and amazing videos!!! Have a great Thanksgiving!@@DougNapierJewelryMonk
Pretty much followed this but have zero success with draw plate. Maybe it’s a cheap plate, maybe I’m doing something wrong, but instead of rounding and stretching the metal, it shaves pieces off, keeping the length the same but diameter get smaller. It also never really rounds it out, always keeping its square-ish shape.
I realise it's been a while since you made this video. I wonder if you could advise though? My 'wire' ends up bent after going through the rollers a few times, even with annealing. It doesn't stay night and straight like yours. Any ideas on this?
2 suggestions. 1. Anneal the wire in that area especially. ( don’t hold it by your tweezers when heating) 2. Make sure you are not trying to draw the wire too much at one time. (Small increments)
How to you get the wire to enter and pass through the next hole down once the wire is 1) Too thin and flexible to push from the entry side? And 2) Too soft for pliers to grab without tearing the metal when pulling?
Just file the wire a little more so it fits through the next hole enough to get a good grab on it with pliers. If it keeps breaking, you need to anneal the wire first.
Much obliged for sharing.I would really like to know the make or brand of the rolling mill you used in this video.I am constantly (and desperately) looking for a rolling mill for less than the price of a Durston.
Korin I like the tungsten better, harder and gives a better finish. Never heard of them shattering, maybe with drawing steel, but I just use them on soft metal.
@@DougNapierJewelryMonk thanks for the reply doug. i have been considering getting a tungsten as i have been having allot of issues pulling sterling through the steel one i have.keep getting stuck or just plain wont go thru without almost destroying the silver.funny thing asking about the tungsten breaking as i just broke one of my steel draw plates today trying to force the silver thru lol.any tips for getting a smooth draw?
Don't file, mill, or hammer! So wasteful, and if you ever use gold, omfg. You'd be losing so much over time you'd cost a business a fortune - or yourself if you're a hobbyist.
Its a crazy amount of time and work! Thank you for showing.
Cheers Doug. I enjoy rolling. Not used the draw plates yet.
I have 18g SQ 2x that I am trying to convert to 18g round for chainmaille jump rings. First I ran it through my rolling mill Sq to take the sharp corners off and reduce it a little bit. Then I pulled it thru my round draw plate starting at 1.20, then 1.10, then 1.00. Lot of annealing in between. I found out that I need to use 2’ lengths because that is the max I can draw by holding the drawplate down with my feet and then pulling upwards. Sometimes I used beeswax and sometimes I used burrlife. Hard work and took me all day just to make enough wire for Full Persian bracelet. Argentium silver, no flux needed, and vinegar and salt for my warm pickle.
Sounds like quite the journey, how do you feel about it?
There are easier ways, and shortcuts, but you accomplished something you set out to do.
Congratulations.
Doug
Ok but I disagree on the beating from behind as this normally has the opposite effect: it will create a wall of metal just behind the hole and you are stuck. Better make a properly tapered end and aneal it often. I make the taper with the mill rather than filing.
correct. I did file a taper into the wire, which I probably should have shown better. The tapping was to get past the plier marks from pulling.
Great video, be cool to see you get it to a really thin gauge though.
I imagine at a certain point you need to worry about breaking it.
Not to mention what you're supposed to do when you can't tap it through anymore.
If you keep annealing it every 2-3 pulls, and file the end smaller, you can keep going.I have drawn wire down to 0.25mm
Thank you for your contribution. from England
It really is my pleasure.
You are Welcome!
Thank you! Very helpful.
You are welcome.
If I'm trying to make for example a 5 mm Cuban bracelet what wire thickness do in need to achieve this? 5mm? Thank you . Awesome video!
hi, thank you ;)
You are welcome
Can You Use Jewelry Wire Through The Wire Plate To Achieve The Same Results🤔 Great Clear And Thorough Instructions😉
Depends on the type of jewelry wire. Steel is too hard, but some of the softer metals will do just fine.
Hey Doug, your videos have been incredibly helpful, thank you! I'm following your process here attempting to eventually get 3.5 to 3.7mm round wire using silver. I've rolled my square wire down to 4 to 4.2mm and have been trying to draw it through a 4.1mm draw plate hole with no success. Using the DIY hand crank on 2x6 method. Continues getting stuck on square corners. Rewatched this vid and flattened out the edges like you say, but still no success. I'm curious on two things: 1) what size should our square wire be in comparison to the draw plate size we're pulling it through? Is pulling 4.2mm wire through a 4.1mm hole not small enough? 2) how intensely do you flatten the square wire corners? Are we going for a purely round shape or just a minimal flattening?
Thanks so much!
Howdy Joshua. What I usually try to do is draw down as little as possible, so .1 increments is fine. I will file the end down quite a bit (round shape) so it goes through the smaller hole with ease, and gives me enough wire to grab onto easily. Make sure to anneal regularly.
Hope this answers your questions.
Doug
Gotcha, thank you! In addition to this, I figured out my drawplate's measurements were inaccurate by about 0.3mm 🤦🏼♂ along with remembering the distance from corner to corner is longer than the height/width of the square wire. So in reality I was trying to pull 4.2mm through a 3.7mm draw lol. Got it figure out and successfully drawn down. Thanks again for your help and amazing videos!!! Have a great Thanksgiving!@@DougNapierJewelryMonk
My pleasure@@joshuablew Glad you got it figured out.
Pretty much followed this but have zero success with draw plate. Maybe it’s a cheap plate, maybe I’m doing something wrong, but instead of rounding and stretching the metal, it shaves pieces off, keeping the length the same but diameter get smaller. It also never really rounds it out, always keeping its square-ish shape.
Sounds like a faulty draw plate.
I realise it's been a while since you made this video. I wonder if you could advise though? My 'wire' ends up bent after going through the rollers a few times, even with annealing. It doesn't stay night and straight like yours. Any ideas on this?
Penny, it might be your draw plate itself. Some draw plates are "out of round" and will cause the metal to deform a bit. (just a thought)
when i get the taper thruough my wire breaks constantly. how shall i avoid this. just at the pulling point. not mid wire. pls help
2 suggestions. 1. Anneal the wire in that area especially. ( don’t hold it by your tweezers when heating) 2. Make sure you are not trying to draw the wire too much at one time. (Small increments)
How to you get the wire to enter and pass through the next hole down once the wire is
1) Too thin and flexible to push from the entry side?
And
2) Too soft for pliers to grab without tearing the metal when pulling?
Just file the wire a little more so it fits through the next hole enough to get a good grab on it with pliers. If it keeps breaking, you need to anneal the wire first.
Thank you very much
my respects .
Much obliged for sharing.I would really like to know the make or brand of the rolling mill you used in this video.I am constantly (and desperately) looking for a rolling mill for less than the price of a Durston.
Not sure of the brand, but if you do a google search for "cheap rolling mill" I am sure you will find a few options.
2:25 what is the matter of this steel?,copper?,iron? which one
This may be a really stupid question, but, would you be able to run metals like aluminum bronze or Norris Gold the same way?
Any malleable metal should work.
Square wire?
If you have a square draw plate, yep.
What is good product for lubricate the silver in this process??? Thanks!!!
I use bees wax.
Do you do pull plate to make 20 gauge 999 fine silver wire into flat wire ~ and do you ship to UK 🇬🇧 ~ very very interested!
I use a rolling mill to flatten wire.
If I'm trying to make for example a 5 mm Cuban bracelet what wire thickness do in need to achieve this? 5mm? Thank you . Awesome video!
What kind of lubricant we use
Any oil or wax will work.
@@DougNapierJewelryMonk thank you so much for replying
Why did you only go in one direction for annealing it? Thanks!
huskyfluffy , It just helps to keep the whole piece at a consistent temp.
Hitting wire from back is not a good idea instead put the wire in plate hold the wire with tong and push while twisting it
Are these steel or tungsten draw plates?
Michael, I do have a tungsten draw plate, but this one is just steel.
@@DougNapierJewelryMonk are tungsten plates any better than the steel? I have heard of the tungsten shattering on people
Korin I like the tungsten better, harder and gives a better finish. Never heard of them shattering, maybe with drawing steel, but I just use them on soft metal.
@@DougNapierJewelryMonk thanks for the reply doug. i have been considering getting a tungsten as i have been having allot of issues pulling sterling through the steel one i have.keep getting stuck or just plain wont go thru without almost destroying the silver.funny thing asking about the tungsten breaking as i just broke one of my steel draw plates today trying to force the silver thru lol.any tips for getting a smooth draw?
Korin, anneal your wire and don’t try to reduce too much at a time. .1mm at a time, and anneal after about 3 pulls.
I’m subscribing on the grounds he is a Steelers fan.
Yes!!!!
@@DougNapierJewelryMonk looks on point and you’re vid on draw plates really helped with my work on jewelry now to practice.
Go Steelers!!!!
Don't file, mill, or hammer! So wasteful, and if you ever use gold, omfg. You'd be losing so much over time you'd cost a business a fortune - or yourself if you're a hobbyist.
Thanks Dr.
you don't have a clue
You are right Magic Man, I am sure you are always right.