Orchideans,
Another process the rolling mill is capable of is called "upsetting"
or thickening the edges of rectangular or half-round stock. You will
need a “combination” rolling mill with grooves as well as flat
rollers, or a grooved “wire” mill to do this.
If you are making a rectangular, or flat stock, and it is wider (and
thicker) than you want, providing it fits vertically, on it’s edge,
between the grooved rollers, you can make it narrower.
Whether you are making stock narrower, or just wanting to produce a
clean, smooth edge on your stock, running the stock vertically
through one of the largest grooves will narrow and smooth the stock’s
edges. The stock to be narrowed will have to be thick enough to
"compress" into itself, rather than “collapse” over on it’s side. I
look for the edge of the stock to be a similar width of the flat
spot in the lowest part of the of the large groove I am using. (This
is tricky to describe, I realize)
After a few passes of the rectangular stock through the groove,
tightening the rollers slightly with each roll, you will see the
stock becoming narrower. Anneal. When the right width is achieved,
you will then need to roll the narrowed stock a few times through the
flat rollers, very gently, steering it carefully, to regain the
original flat sides of the now narrower rectangular stock. If you are
narrowing or just smoothing the edge of half- round stock, you will
need to run it through the half round roller a few times at the end
of the process to reshape it correctly. Don’t forget the annealing
during this process!!
Jay Whaley