Eurika Moment

Maybe "duh" is a more appropriate subject.

I started on another chain after making some mods to my homemade rolling
mill and found that changing the sequence made things a lot easier.

I had been rolling the wire, soldering jump rings, pickling, tumbling,
stretching into loops and weaving chain.

Turns out that stretching the loops work hardens them to the point where
they are very difficult to weave and bend using .050" wire. By stretching
the loops right after soldering and then annealing, picking and tumbling,
they are much easier to work into the chain.

I got tired of pulling on a pliers to stretch them and ordered a "bow
opener" from Rio today. Seems like the right tool but don't know if it will
work on these half inch .050" rings. and what on earth is a bow?

js

--
PHOTO OF THE WEEK: http://schmidling.com/pow.htm
Astronomy, Beer, Cheese, Gems, Sausage, http://schmidling.com

On Tue, 08 Mar 2005 21:01:27 -0800, in Xõ Jack Schmidling wrote:

Maybe "duh" is a more appropriate subject.

(Grin). it's been said that experience is the best teacher. One can learn all sorts of
principals and theories and ways to do a particular thing, but you're really learning
when you can apply that knowledge to real life. And sometimes, even for the most
experienced among us in jewelry making, you find yourself getting hit over the head with
what subsequently would have seemed obvious. "Duh", may feel appropriate, but I'd
suggest you simply be happy you've figured this out.

I started on another chain after making some mods to my homemade rolling
mill and found that changing the sequence made things a lot easier.


Any chance you'd like to post a pic to your web site of your home made mill? Love to
see what you've come up with...

I had been rolling the wire, soldering jump rings, pickling, tumbling,
stretching into loops and weaving chain.

Turns out that stretching the loops work hardens them to the point where
they are very difficult to weave and bend using .050" wire. By stretching
the loops right after soldering and then annealing, picking and tumbling,
they are much easier to work into the chain.


Be aware that tumbling will also work harden them some. If you must tumble before
weaving, then OK. But some chains can be just as effectively tumbled after weaving,
since the interior areas not then tumbled are not that visible. Up to you. But weaving
the loops directly after annealing them will be the easiest wire to work with.

I got tired of pulling on a pliers to stretch them and ordered a "bow
opener" from Rio today. Seems like the right tool but don't know if it will
work on these half inch .050" rings. and what on earth is a bow?

I always did that with two steel blocks, square, about 3 inches square and maybe an inch
thick. Extra bench blocks actually. The pile of soldered loops is on the table (a good
flat firm surface, maybe even another steel surface like a surface plate, works best.
With a block in each hand, just sliding them around the surface, you can simply "pick" a
loop with a corner of one block, put the other block up against it, slide the two blocks
parallel to each other to rotate the link until the seam is in the middle, next to one
block, then push the two blocks together. Squeezes the link into the flat shape you
need for weaving. I always found this faster than other methods, and good for even
fairly heavy links, if the wire is annealed dead soft.

Bow benders and bow openers are named after a task not often needed any more. Pocket
watches have that C shaped hanging bail that is pinned into each side of the part from
which the winding crown extends. That loop is called the bow. it's installed or
removed simply by opening it up, spreading it with the openers till the two hinge pins
are free of the tubes in which they normally ride. Installation is the reverse, with
the other pliers. Nowadays, they're used for opening all sorts of other loops, while
the benders are often found bending ring shanks or the like, not pocket watch bows. But
the names persist.

Peter


js

"Peter W.. Rowe,"


Any chance you'd like to post a pic to your web site of your home made
mill? Love to
see what you've come up with...

Actually, I was thinking of doing just that and actually working up a whole
page on the chain from casting the nail to weaving.

The roller is still in the cut and try stage and I just got back to working
on it.

There are only 5 working sets of grooves at this time in addition to about
as many that don't work right. This means that I have to adjust spacing
several times on each set before moving on. This is a pain but not having a
drawing or much but trial and error to go on, it is very time consuming to
disassemble it, turn another set and put it back together to see if it works
so I just have been grunting through it.

Be aware that tumbling will also work harden them some. If you must
tumble before
weaving, then OK....

I will have to check into that to see how much it hardens. It really is
nicer to weave tumbled rings as the final tubling does not reach a lot on
the inside. In time, it looks like a patina but at first it looks grungy.

I always did that with two steel blocks..., Squeezes the link into the
flat shape you
need for weaving.

Darn! I could have save $25. How much more simple could it get?

I got the bow opener and it works very well after grinding the end a bit
smaller but your method is much more satisfying.

Thanks,

js


--
PHOTO OF THE WEEK: http://schmidling.com/pow.htm
Astronomy, Beer, Cheese, Fiber,Gems, Sausage,Silver http://schmidling.com

"Peter W.. Rowe,"

slide the two blocks
parallel to each other to rotate the link until the seam is in the middle,
next to one
block, then push the two blocks together.


I fogot to ask about this. I have been putting the joint at the end of the
link but can't remember how I arrived at this. What is the reasoning behind
the position of the joint?

I posted a picture of the rolling mill as it is now configured.

http://schmidling.com/roller1.jpg

The is a JSP MALTMILL that has been reworked for this task. The rollers as
we purchase them are knurled so I had to turn these off. The other problem
is that for crushing malt, a .045" spacing is required between the rollers
requiring strange gear combinations and adjustment at only one end. I have
an unknurled set of rollers that I am saving till I figure out how this all
works and can change the spacing to near zero when I re-do it.

The silver "nail" in the pic is how they come out of the sand and the coil
is what I get out of the last groove. This requries 3 steps through a draw
plate to get it down to .050.

One more BTW, I compared some untumbled links with tumbled ones and your
caution is well founded. Tumbling hardens them significantly. Enough so
that I will quit doing this after anealing.

js


--
PHOTO OF THE WEEK: http://schmidling.com/pow.htm
Astronomy, Beer, Cheese, Fiber,Gems, Sausage,Silver http://schmidling.com

Jack Schmidling wrote:
"Peter W.. Rowe,"


slide the two blocks
parallel to each other to rotate the link until the seam is in the middle,

next to one

block, then push the two blocks together.



I fogot to ask about this. I have been putting the joint at the end of the
link but can't remember how I arrived at this. What is the reasoning behind
the position of the joint?

I'm puzzled by this comment too.
I've always positioned the joint so that its mostly hidden by the next link.

I make the chain from round links and then squeeze each link between the
(smooth) jaws of a small vice: this allows me to squash each one the
same amount, and also handles pretty heavy chain.
I've never had much success in twisting (is this what you call weaving?)
trace links into curb links - if the wire is more than about 1mm dia the
chain tends to 'tangle' up rather than twist. And twisting each link
individually is not very precise. I use a modified sash-cramp. I mounted
a U-link (Us pointing towards each other) on each jaw and added a swivel
link to the one on the screw end. I then made up two oval links from an
old wire coat hanger, each one rather like a large paperclip with equal
sized loops. One is threaded on the U-link and the other on the swivel
link. In use, each end of the chain is attached to a paperclip link and
the jaws of the sash-cramp are set to tension the chain. Then, with a
spanner (wrench) on each paperclip link the chain can be twisted with
ease. As the chain twists it tries to get shorter. You can control this
by adjusting the screwed jaw. Its not uncommon to have a link break when
doing this, but its easy to remove the chain from the paperclip links
and resolder the broken link. A chain that survives this is guaranteed
to have no bad links. You continue twisting until the chain hangs
straight when removed from the cramp.

--

Regards, Gary Wooding
(To reply by email, change feet to foot in my address)

On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 20:36:06 -0800, in ôõ Jack Schmidling wrote:

I fogot to ask about this. I have been putting the joint at the end of the
link but can't remember how I arrived at this. What is the reasoning behind
the position of the joint?

You can put the joint either at the end, with the bend when you first flatten it, or in
the center of the flat side, which will be equally bent after weaving the chain. Both
portions end up on the interior of the chain once the weaving is done, thus hiding the
possibly irregular joints from view. I always put the joint at the center of the flat,
as I think it gets less bending back and forth during weaving. It's straightened during
flattening the link, just once, then bent into a U while weaving. The initially bent
end also needs to have it's initial too sharp bend opened up again, an additional stress
the "flat" doesn't get. So putting it at the flat gives fewer broken joints.

For any readers who don't quite understand what this is about, Jack is weaving a type of
chain sometimes called "etruscan" or "roman". there are many variations and degrees of
complexity, of which the simplest is the traditional "foxtail" chain. All links are
soldered, or welded shut before the chain is assembled. from them.

Peter