Choosing drawplates

Jewelry Discussion
1

I am considering buying some drawplates in the near future, starting
will a round or multi-hole plate. I have heard that the best
drawplates are from Italy, is this true? Would it be best to purchase
a tungsten or one made from tool steel. I want to get the best ones
out there as I believe that a good tool lasts longer and performs
better. Any opinions, would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You in advance,
George Poblocki.

2

To George,

I cannot comment on Italian drawplates as I have never used them, I
have used some Indian made drawplates and was not impressed. I have
a selection various shapes and sizes of French drawplates made by
Joliot of Paris, they have served me well for the past 30 years, my
advice is to buy yourself a good set of drawplates right from the
start, as they will last you a lifetime if treated correctly. When I
first started my own workshop the first items that I bought to equip
my workshop were a set of Durston D2 Mills on a Durston cabinet
stand and an Italian made Cavallin Drawbench complete with Joliot
Drawplates. I bought a full range of five round wire drawplates that
could handle drawing wires from 6mm. diam. down to 0.25mm. diam. I
also bought a few single drawplates for square and rectangular
wires. Once again I use a wax candle as my lubricant when drawing
wires, just as I do when saw piercing.

James Miller FIPG.

3

I’ve got tool steel and tungsten drawplates - the tungsten ones are
definitely better; they are more accurate and give a much better
finish. I don’t have any from Italy, but Joliot (Paris) steel ones
are very good, though not as good as the tungsten. I’ve got some
steel ones from India; they are cheap and very inaccurate, but they
serve at a pinch for special shapes.

There are only two problems with the tungsten ones: they are
expensive, and I can only find them for round wire.

Regards, Gary Wooding

4

If you’re going to be drawing a fair amount of wire, I’d suggest a
drawplate with carbide inserts. They’ll wear very slowly, but I’ve
only seen them for round wire, and not in large diameters (over 10
ga.) Other’s may have different info as to carbide use/availability,
and for other drawplate shapes, I’ll leave that to other’s more
informed opinions.

Good luck!
Mike DeBurgh, GJG
Henderson, NV

5 
I am considering buying some drawplates in the near future,
starting will a round or multi-hole plate. I have heard that the
best drawplates are from Italy, is this true? Would it be best to
purchase a tungsten or one made from tool steel.

The Italian plates are high quality and very good. So are the French
plates. But even the really cheap plates from India (often found for
less than ten bucks) can have some uses, though the sizing of the
holes is often all over the map.) For round plates, especially if you
work with harder metals, or platinum, the carbide plates are
wonderful. Less friction, so less effort to draw, more precise
sizing, and the wire comes off the plate highly polished already.
There are quality differences in Carbide plates, though. The ones
from Taiwan are good. The ones from mainland China are much more
variable, sometimes a bit too thin. Drawing too hard a wire can
sometimes break the carbide die inserts on the Carbide plates, so
they do need some care. For shapes other than round, while the
carbide plates are longer lasting in terms of wear on the holes
(takes drawing a LOT of wire to wear down a steel plate, so this may
not be an issue), and the precise sizing is nice, they aren’t highly
polished, so there’s less advantage, and they’re not available in the
wide range of shapes good steel plates are available in. Again, for
platinum or other “sticky” metals, carbide plates are useful, but
whether it’s enough to justify the higher cost is a marginal
decision. I like em, but they’re probably a bit overkill for most
people (including me.) The round ones, though, I love em. On the
other hand, the first plates I got were french steel ones. That was
some 35 years ago, and they’re still just as good as when I bought
them, though they no longer look so nice and new. Good steel plates
will likely last you a lifetime. Maybe more. Good carbide plates will
leave you feeling pampered and luxuriously spoiled… :slight_smile:

Peter