Jack Davenport
Member
I just bought some gold wire from Hoover & Strong, about ten thousandts dia I also bought a draw plate from Rio Grande that will draw wire to about ten thousandts, how can I get this wire down to about six thousandts thick?
Gold wire
- Thread starter Jack Davenport
- Start date
dclevinger
Elite Cafe Member
Jack,
John B. has a great post about drawing wire down under the Tips section. I think you will find it very helpful. David
John B. has a great post about drawing wire down under the Tips section. I think you will find it very helpful. David
Jack, I had to make me a little drawplate, but that is a lot of trouble, only worth it if you do a lot of inlaying. I think there are some suggestions already on the forum dicussed not too long ago. Even the tiniest drill won't go that small I don't think, but I didn't drill all the way through making the draw plate. One of the suggestions was to double the wire and pull it through a larger hole and graduate down like that. Sounds good to me......check earlier posts or tips on the forum. I think you will find your answer...Ron S
Thierry Duguet
Elite Cafe Member
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2007
- Messages
- 359
Ask your self the question, why do you need a six thousandths gold wire. I seldom use anything smaller than 2/10 of mm wire but it does not keep me from having gold line (grass most often) which are just fraction of that size when finish.
Gold is very ductile, it will flow in your cut (and stay there if properly prepare) even if the cut is much smaller than the diameter of gold you are using. Remember that you are not trying to "pinch" the gold in the cut by hammering the lips of you line, you want the gold to flow in the bottom of the cut, the dovetail shape of the line is what hold the gold. I did make gold line which are often less than 1/10 of mm with my 2/10 mm wire and I do bother with 2/10 mm only because I do not want to lose too much material.
The secret of gold inlay in not the gold size it is how well you prepare the line
Gold is very ductile, it will flow in your cut (and stay there if properly prepare) even if the cut is much smaller than the diameter of gold you are using. Remember that you are not trying to "pinch" the gold in the cut by hammering the lips of you line, you want the gold to flow in the bottom of the cut, the dovetail shape of the line is what hold the gold. I did make gold line which are often less than 1/10 of mm with my 2/10 mm wire and I do bother with 2/10 mm only because I do not want to lose too much material.
The secret of gold inlay in not the gold size it is how well you prepare the line
Hello Jack D. and others.
It was good meeting you at Scott and Family Engrave-In.
Here is another way to do things, probably what Ron Smith mentions above.
Other than the way I previously posted to draw small wire by doubling it there are several other ways.
One way is to take a small piece of flat stock tool steel about an 1/8 inch thick and make a draw plate.
Drill a hole with a bit about 1/8 inch round NEARLY through the plate.
Take a small center punch and tap in the bottom of the hole until you see a SMALL bump on the other (undrilled) side of the plate.
Now, using a fine file or STONE carefully abraid the bump until a minute hole appears.
Test the hole with some very soft wire to check the size.
When you create the desired size of hole to produce your wire, heat the plate to red and quench.
I do not anneal it and it will last for years and you can make any sizes you want.
These are not too hard to make with a little practice and a couple of reject holes.
Should be a piece of cake for a knife-maker.
Hope this is some help to you and others.
There are many other ways ways to do this, just as Thierry says above.
But for me.....I don't like to fit two pounds of poo into a one pound poo ditch. Ha ha!
Best to all, John B.
It was good meeting you at Scott and Family Engrave-In.
Here is another way to do things, probably what Ron Smith mentions above.
Other than the way I previously posted to draw small wire by doubling it there are several other ways.
One way is to take a small piece of flat stock tool steel about an 1/8 inch thick and make a draw plate.
Drill a hole with a bit about 1/8 inch round NEARLY through the plate.
Take a small center punch and tap in the bottom of the hole until you see a SMALL bump on the other (undrilled) side of the plate.
Now, using a fine file or STONE carefully abraid the bump until a minute hole appears.
Test the hole with some very soft wire to check the size.
When you create the desired size of hole to produce your wire, heat the plate to red and quench.
I do not anneal it and it will last for years and you can make any sizes you want.
These are not too hard to make with a little practice and a couple of reject holes.
Should be a piece of cake for a knife-maker.
Hope this is some help to you and others.
There are many other ways ways to do this, just as Thierry says above.
But for me.....I don't like to fit two pounds of poo into a one pound poo ditch. Ha ha!
Best to all, John B.
Last edited:
Jack Davenport
Member
wire size
Neat trick John: this is the kind of thing my father used to help me with, you sound like you have some old gunsmithing tricks up your sleeve. Thanks Jack D. aka jacknife
Neat trick John: this is the kind of thing my father used to help me with, you sound like you have some old gunsmithing tricks up your sleeve. Thanks Jack D. aka jacknife
Tira
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Thanks John B. - I merged your latest tip into the Tips section thread that was already started on this topic entitled "Making Small Gold Lines & Broken Tips."
Weldon47
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Jack,
Here's another suggestion (as if you don't already have enough)! Take a piece of wire or sheet and flatten it out with a hammer until it is about the right thickness. After annealing you can trim of a pretty thin slice with either an xacto knife or a pair of scissors (I've used both). The "wire" you get won't be round but you can make some very thin inlay material this way.
Hope that helps!
Weldon
Here's another suggestion (as if you don't already have enough)! Take a piece of wire or sheet and flatten it out with a hammer until it is about the right thickness. After annealing you can trim of a pretty thin slice with either an xacto knife or a pair of scissors (I've used both). The "wire" you get won't be round but you can make some very thin inlay material this way.
Hope that helps!
Weldon
Yeah John, that is the way I did it too, but used a broach to increasingly widen the tiny holes to make a step down process like on a real draw plate. You can better control the size of the hole, but it is very tedious and like you said, You will get some reject holes. I numbered the ones that are good so I know which holes I can use. The step down from one hole to the next doesn't have to be in order, as long as you number the holes. Don't number the plate until you run wire through it to see which hole to progress to next. Good info John.........Ron
I have also used your method too, Jack. It works. I also use nail clippers to trim out tiny flecks or quickly cut out a small inlay, but like Thierry said, it is in the holding power of your undercuts, but Waisted material has to be re-processed. That takes a lot of time and if you send it off to have it refined, you have to save it a long time to get enough to make up for the trouble. I like to control all of that myself, so I do the remelting and drawing it back out in my shop.
I have also used your method too, Jack. It works. I also use nail clippers to trim out tiny flecks or quickly cut out a small inlay, but like Thierry said, it is in the holding power of your undercuts, but Waisted material has to be re-processed. That takes a lot of time and if you send it off to have it refined, you have to save it a long time to get enough to make up for the trouble. I like to control all of that myself, so I do the remelting and drawing it back out in my shop.
Thanks for that, Tira.
Welcome back from your classes, hope you enjoyed them.
Regards, John B.
Welcome back from your classes, hope you enjoyed them.
Regards, John B.
Jack Davenport
Member
wire
I talked to someone at h&s about that laser wire and they did could not give me any info on it any way I have my wire on the way and now have a draw plate, I just want to be prepared for lettering or anything, some mornings when I get up it seems that more and more of this is coming toghether and I just want to be geared to do the things that I want. thanks for the info
I talked to someone at h&s about that laser wire and they did could not give me any info on it any way I have my wire on the way and now have a draw plate, I just want to be prepared for lettering or anything, some mornings when I get up it seems that more and more of this is coming toghether and I just want to be geared to do the things that I want. thanks for the info
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