Rolling mill motor

I would definitely love to see some photos of a traditional roll mill.
 
To put things in perspective as far as power goes, IIRC, Ray Kirk has a rolling mill powered by a small block Chevy engine. :D
 
I know guys with 25-30hp rolling mills, and while I'm sure they *can* do a lot heavier work than mine, in the size of billets I (and they work) it doesn't really translate to much more, actual work done, at least, in my experience. On the other hand, they're much more industrial, heavy, and rigid machines than mine with lots of nice features.

The other thing to bear in mind is, I got lucky and found a bit of a weird machine, that happens, after modifications, to work really well for my application, with a small footprint, adequately sized motor for my work, and nice large, wide rolls. However, rolling mills for steel/plate are few and far between, extremely rare machines, so you often, take what you can get.

As to Ray's machine, considering you can often buy a nice SBC for cheaper than a new, good quality, 5hp motor, it's a no brainer. If I lived off-grid somewhere with limited power options, you'd better believe I'd be running have my machines off of them. ;)
 
Thank you for the input, I look forward to seeing your mill. The changes I mentioned are nothing super major. Still going McDonald style but tweaking a few things. One feature I have designed into the mill is auto adjustment. We are hoping this will speed up the process between heats and make things abit easier. Then when you get thinner you flip it to manual mode and you can adjust it by hand by how ever much you want. But it sounds like I might need to snag that 7.5hp gear box combo, it has an output of 68rpm I think.
 
Before I got back onto making knives, I had the deal of a lifetime ... and gave it away.

I still kick myself for giving away a huge jewelers rolling mill. It was chain drive with a gear reduction, and powered by a 2HP motor. It had 12" wide and 8" diameter rollers. The thickness adjust wheel was about 24" round. It was originally from a factory that rolled sheet stock back in the early 1900's. It was crazy overkill for anything I needed, and weighed a ton (almost literally). I was given it and all the old power equipment abandoned by a century old jewelry store that closed and sold the building. The new owners gave me a week to haul everything out. There were two other good size rolling mills for sheet and wire, so I had no use for the monster. I called a friend with a machine shop, who said he would take it. He brought a flat-bed truck, four bug guys, and a pallet jack. He moved all the stuff I wanted for me and delivered it. When he died ( 30 years ago), I think the machine was scrapped.

Dave Catoe and I still use the powered smaller mill I got for rolling makume.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top