Hamish Lonsdale
24th Oct 2007, 09:23 PM
Friends, I need some help.
My wife’s current hobby is making jewellery items from wire, slit and formed into round links like chain mail. These she can buy at huge expense.
I obtained 10m of painted copper winding wire for electric motors from a mate, made up a mandrel of the correct ID for the desired product, engaged backgear on the Myford and wound a perfect coil. http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/images/icons/icon7.gif
Then the trouble started. I needed to slit the coil along its length to produce many small rings.
I started by making a chuck mandrel that held an HSS circular slitting saw working with the coil held in a Record machine vice shimmed and set up on the cross slide. It did not work, as the clamping pressure needed to hold the coil distorted and damaged the wire.
Next I tried clamping the coil (mandrel included) in the vice, and using my jewellers saw to slit it longwise. A lot of hard work, and a very rough job was the result together with a blunt saw.
I next tried the Dremel with a cutting off disk, but this heated up the wire to the point that the coating changed colour.
Has anyone got a suggestion as to the proper method of slitting? Any other solutions?
Best wishes, Hamish.
My wife’s current hobby is making jewellery items from wire, slit and formed into round links like chain mail. These she can buy at huge expense.
I obtained 10m of painted copper winding wire for electric motors from a mate, made up a mandrel of the correct ID for the desired product, engaged backgear on the Myford and wound a perfect coil. http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/images/icons/icon7.gif
Then the trouble started. I needed to slit the coil along its length to produce many small rings.
I started by making a chuck mandrel that held an HSS circular slitting saw working with the coil held in a Record machine vice shimmed and set up on the cross slide. It did not work, as the clamping pressure needed to hold the coil distorted and damaged the wire.
Next I tried clamping the coil (mandrel included) in the vice, and using my jewellers saw to slit it longwise. A lot of hard work, and a very rough job was the result together with a blunt saw.
I next tried the Dremel with a cutting off disk, but this heated up the wire to the point that the coating changed colour.
Has anyone got a suggestion as to the proper method of slitting? Any other solutions?
Best wishes, Hamish.