Rolling mill alignment

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hi everybody. I’ve been a long time lurker, enjoying all the
interesting questions and contributions others have made and I want to
thank all of you for contributing to my education. Now for my
question: I’ve owned a Durston flat rolling mill for shee for several
years and now notice that the rolls are out of alignment. How can I
remedy this situation? (Please note that I’m mechanically challenged.)
Roberta

2

Hi Roberta and Orchid members, When you say your flat rolls are out
of alignment do you mean that the rolls are not parallel. If so,
please see following instructions to make machine parallel. I do not
know which model you have but hopefully the following will help.
Remove the circlip (black ring) at the bottom of the centre shaft
(this is the shaft with a hand wheel or “T” bar). Lift the whole shaft
out with the centre gear attached. Rotate either outer gear by 1 tooth
(in the correct direction), relative to centre gear and replace the
shaft with gear attached. (Please note that moving the outer gears
clockwise will lower the roll and anti-clockwise will lift the roll).
As a test to see if rolls are parallel, roll out some material. If
material exits to the right then rotate left gear clockwise by 1 tooth
at a time until material exits in a straight line. If material exits
to the left then rotate right gear anti-clockwise by 1 tooth at a time
until material exits in a straight line. If any Orchid members have
any questions about Rolling Mills please contact us on
info@durston.com. We are having a new instruction manual out in
November and if anyone requires one, please contact us, or if you are
prepared to wait until January the instructions will be on our
web-site www.durston.com. Also we would take this opportunity to ask
if anyone would like to see any particular in our
instruction manual to let us know so that we can consider including
this.

Sara Durston Director W Durston Ltd. Progress House, Hospital Hill
Waterside, Chesham, Bucks. HP5 1PJ England. Tel: + 44 1494 793244 Fax:

3

Turn the T handle till you have the rollers touching & can go no
further. Remove the T handle on top of the mill (the middle Gear)

Now you are able to move each of the top gears by hand. You should now
try to allign the roller turning the gears to close any gap between
the two rollers. This way you allign & square the rollers. I you
have any problems call me at 18002214812.

Manufacturers of Karat Rolling Mills Kenneth Sing

4

Roberta: Check the top of the mill. There is a handle handle that you
adjust the distance between the rollers when rolling down stock. If
you lift up on the handle it should come free and then allow you to
turn each of the cog wheels individually. First close the rollers
until they touch at the narrowecst spot. Now remove the handle and
observe the allignment of the rollers ( the width of the space between
them) now turn the cog at the top of the mill on the side with the
widest opening. Turn the cog so that the space between the rollers is
as close as possible to being an even line or else just until the
rollers touch all the way across. If this does not work you may have
to have the rollers re-trued at a machine shop although I doubt it
unless you have been refinishing the rollerheads by hand on a regular
bassis. Please feel free to email if you need further help. Frank Goss

5

Hi, You should be able to life the handle off (on the top of the mill)
and rotate the ‘gears’ manually to adjust the distance between the
rollers. Make certain that there is a space between rollers (daylight
showing through!) that you can check as you adjust the distance
between them. You can also use a spark plug gap Feeler Gauge
(available at car parts stores, very inexpensive). Choose one of the
sections/feelers on the gauge and slip it between each side of the
rollers, near the outside edge. When the same feeler slips through
each side of the rollers with equal ease, the rollers are adjusted
properly. Hope this(originally suggested by Charles L-B) helps.
Linda

6

Hi Roberta If you remove the T-bar located on top of the rolling mill
by removing the O-ring lock which is holding the bar in place You’ll
be able to rotate the gears by hand and get the rollers in proper
alignment by closing any gaps and then put the T-bar in place again
and secure it with the O-ring lock. Marco

7

Roberta, place a piece of rubber band under each edge of the rollers.
Now close the gap and watch the gap. The rubber bands will provide a
tension on the rolls so that you are not watching a roll hanging in
the bearings. The gap should disappear evenly. As the rolls are
just about to completely close, you can detect a difference of less
than 0.0001" with the naked eye. When the gap blinks out evenly, the
rolls are even. Use the methods described in other post to lift the
center gear and adjust the outer gears. Just remember to use a
fresh rubber band each time you check the gap.

Don