Recommendation for a rolling mill

Thanks Mathew
Ill hold on till I see what @RioGrande offers them at.

Everyone.

I have the solution. Do exactly what I did… Call Rio Grande and ask for a “Open Box” or “Floor Model” Durston Rolling Mill.

I purchased a 130mm sweet ass Durston for like 800 bucks or maybe even less. The Durston appeared brand new when I got it.

So save about 300 more, and 900 bucks will get you a open box or floor model Durston.

The YouTube channel does not work. I love Durston Rolling Mills and have one but was curious about your new products.

Oh yes sorry. try this,

Hi Rick,
I cannot seem to get the link uploaded so please type in YouTube
Durston Rolling Mill
it should be near the top. it will show 14 videos uploaded.

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Fyi the Durston Agile F130 is now available at Rio for $849. I really thought it would be price comparable to the Pepe line based on what was said above, but what do I know.

Can anyone offer a fair comparison to the Pepe spec-wise, other than the added 5-1 reduc gears?

http://www.ottofrei.com/Store/Pepetools-Best-Built-Rolling-Mills/Pepe-189-00A-Ultra-Series-130mm-Flat-Rolling-Mill.html

I’ve owned two Durstons. A C-100 without gear reduction and 9 grooves for rolling square wire. The deepest groove was near the middle of the roller. This being my first mill I used it hard, rolling full thickness ingots (7 gauge) without first forging them. It was really brutally hard work trying to roll the ingots. So if you get a mill, no matter what you get, take some advice and pre-forge your ingots down to 10 gauge before you start rolling. One day I was rolling a newly cast ingot and I heard a “snap” and suddenly my mill wasn’t rolling so well anymore. For someone to say that the rollers are going to break because the deepest grooves are in the middle of the mill is ludicrous. I ended up breaking a gear, which when I tried to replace ellicited a great deal of confusion from my supplier and Durston themselves. A snapped gear? Yes, gears can snap, but that’s just it, a gear will snap before a roller will break and if a snapped gear is such a novel occurance you can imagine a broken roller is a near impossibility. As for rust, I have two highly active pickle pots within 6 feet on either side of my mill. My new mill is a Durston C-130 with 11 grooves. Despite it residing in an environment that regularly reaches 60% humidity and being exposed to the two pickle pots, there is no sign of rust or corrosion on the mill or the rollers. It is in pristine condition, as was my C-100 which, after I replaced the broken gear was sold. The purchaser was impressed at its condition, the rollers looked like brand new. I cover the mill with a cloth shopping bag when not in use. The rolled surface of the metal does not require any additional sanding to bring it up to a high shine, just the usual tripoli and rouge at most, or a brass brushing. I’m not a metalsmith with scads of knowledge or experience behind me, but one thing I’ve learned is that you shoud buy the best that you can afford. There is a huge difference between the lower end mills and mills such as Durstons. I wish I would have had some foresight when I bought my first mill. I bought one that was too small and didn’t have gear reduction. My new Durston C-130 is a joy to use and although I don’t need to forge the ingots down with this one, I do anyways. Rolling is a slow repetitive process of roll down a little, anneal, and repeat until you get to 14 gauge and then rolling down to thinner gauges starts to get a lot easier and faster. I also have a covered plastic container filled with dried saw dust and shavings. Any metal that is going to be touching the rollers first goes into the saw dust after its been dried. The saw dust further dries the metal. Good luck with the purchase of your new mill, take care of it and it’ll take care of you. When I lost the use of my C-100 which was the only mill I had, I was completely a loss. Once you have a mill you won’t be able to think about what you ever did without one.

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Have to whole heartedly agree with you.

I love my old Durston D2 mill which I bought from the Durston factory some 30 years ago and it has served me well.

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OK I will tell you without being biased.
For the AGILE F130 the obvious is, as you say the 5 -1 gearbox.
Then of course you have a Durston. - which is like no other piece of equipment for holding its value,
If you decide to sell it in 30 years time you may get what you paid for it.
For the Agile C130, There are 11 square grooves, 60mm of flat and 5 half rounds on the roll.
and of course the 5-1 gearbox.
The price is very good and I did hear that Rio Grande may have these on a special price on Monday.


Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you
Matthew Durston
Durston Rolling Mills

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oh I forgot the link sorry. Please see

Thank you
Matthew Durston

Hello, everyone,

Otto Frei currently has some Durston’s on sale.

Otto Frei Durston sale

Note that I have no affiliation with OF, just passing along some info.

Tricia

Note From Ganoksin Staff:
Looking for a rolling mill tool for your jewelry projects? We recommend:

Hi Matthew. I am curious about the strength of the DRM F130 and the Agile F130.
Can I get a deeper texture from a roller plate using the DRM F130 vs the Agile F130?
Is the DRM more powerful? or easier to use?
The specs seem to be the same except for the weight and the handle or wheel on the top.
Thank you so much.
Rebecca Corrin