Question about pressing and milling metals.

[Lost Road]

I'm a jeweler, and I have been cold forging my materials. I purchased a 50 ton press for a variety of duties, one of which is to flatten materials that I put through my rolling mill. After some work, the material becomes wavy. I need to make a foot to press the material after I anneal it and before rolling it further. I was thinking about taking a 3-4" hammer block and welding it to a ring, which would have a screw pin to hold it on to the ram. If this is not a good way to get what I need or if there is something that I should be able to bolt on, please let me know.

With regards to milling, I need to mill the end of ring stock, from 1-8mm wide and up to 3mm thick. Up to now, I have have filed the ends of every ring that I have made. The ends must be machined very fine. I know how to mill the end with a coarse finish, but can you give me any ideas as to how I can get a very fine mill. The material hardness is similar to that of brass. I also wonder if some kind of grinder and a jig would be better. I need it to machine about 2000 rings per month, so I am looking for a durable, consistent and reliable solution for milling the ends.


I appreciate the body of knowledge available on gj. Thanks for your help!

 

[Muggzy]

I'm a jeweler, and I have been cold forging my materials. I purchased a 50 ton press for a variety of duties, one of which is to flatten materials that I put through my rolling mill. After some work, the material becomes wavy. I need to make a foot to press the material after I anneal it and before rolling it further. I was thinking about taking a 3-4" hammer block and welding it to a ring, which would have a screw pin to hold it on to the ram. If this is not a good way to get what I need or if there is something that I should be able to bolt on, please let me know.

With regards to milling, I need to mill the end of ring stock, from 1-8mm wide and up to 3mm thick. Up to now, I have have filed the ends of every ring that I have made. The ends must be machined very fine. I know how to mill the end with a coarse finish, but can you give me any ideas as to how I can get a very fine mill. The material hardness is similar to that of brass. I also wonder if some kind of grinder and a jig would be better. I need it to machine about 2000 rings per month, so I am looking for a durable, consistent and reliable solution for milling the ends.


I appreciate the body of knowledge available on gj. Thanks for your help!

Can you give us a sketch of what you're trying to describe?

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[Lost Road]

Can't post a pic from my phone. I'll post soon.

 

[DenisG]

There are metal sectioning saws that are used in labs to prepare samples for mounting, polishing and metallurgical analysis (grain sizing, structure, etc). Something like this:
http://www.tedpella.com/Material-Sciences_html/XP_Precision_Sectioning_Saw.htm

2000/month almost sounds like you need automation, though.

 

[kazlx]

Grinder may or may not work very well with softer stuff. There are wheels for softer metals like aluminum. You could easily mill that on a small mill like a taig or sherline. You would even have enough room to load jigs and do dozens at a time with the right setup. They can be set up with DRO's, CNC, you name it, all kinds of gadgets. Depending on what you want, time you want to dedicate and how much money you want to spend, I think it's worth looking into. More than enough to mill soft metals a few thou.

Enco has 20% coupons all the time.
http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?...wI2H2xmE1fMCYuWcuc-JmUSxldh9yvcT6MaAvEk8P8HAQ

For the pressing, have you looked into an arbor press? Come in a multitude of tonnages, are cheap and can be operated extremely quickly, way more so than a hydraulic press.

 

[404]

Your question is professional enough that you will get good answers on the Practical Machinist forum. One of the members there makes presses for Jewelers. Some of them are a bit crabby but many of them are real smart. Do not mention any import or hobby machinery.

 

[Kevin54]

A sketch would make clarification better, but as far as machining a tool, no problem. Show me what you have and I can probably do it for you, as could some other members.

 

[AB9NZ]

Maybe a piston ring filer? http://www.jegs.com/i/Proform/778/6...7&cadevice=c&gclid=CP2ggfC63ccCFQ6BaQodEwYPVQ

 

[Lost Road]

The blanks are flat, when I mill the ends. I have a sketch of what I need, and I'm sure I can fabricate the parts and get some help welding it up. I need to wait for the press to get here to take some measurements.

 

[gte718p]

Chainmail?

 

[srmofo]

Parker surface grinders can be had cheap. With the right jig you could load many rings at once. All you need is the right speed, feed, grit, and wheel material to get a good finish.