Gyrogami Blog - Precious Metals, Jewelry, Artwork

Ode to the Drawplate

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Categories: Instruction and information; Projects and equipment

Word count/read time: 444 words; 2 minutes

Drawplates are used to make wire. Crappy ones are plain steel. Better ones have carbide inserts which is what I use. They have successively smaller holes to slowly decrease the diameter of wire. In a shop setting there are only so many metals suitable for this DIY equipment: precious metals, copper, and sometimes other base metals.

They are used for reducing the diameter of tubing, too. It is more difficult than pulling wire since there is often much more metal being compressed. This is what drawbenches are for since it is not feasible to pull it by hand.

Another use is for chain making. While metal drawplates are required for making wire, they can cause damage in the other applications. Raw Viking Knits chains are too airy, large, and weak to serve any function. The drawplate compresses and homogenizes a chain into something quite appealing. There can be oodles of flaws in the undrawn chain - people are even lazier with these chains than for chainmaille - yet it still comes out looking good, at least to the untrained eye.

Ideally these drawplates would be wood or plastic. Wood works well since there is little pressure as the weave passes through the holes provided the holes have small increments. Don't skimp here; get oak or something serious or else you'll be buying another when it cracks.

Loop-in-loops are a different story. I've split oak drawplates so forego the wood. Fortunately, a well-made chain doesn't need to be molested by a drawplate. I make high-quality, nearly perfect chains so drawplates are only used by special request. All of my clients have left the chains untouched once they understood what was going on. Besides, relying on a random process to "fix" the chain is an invitation to disaster.

I made two drawplates out of Delrin using a CNC mill to precisely bore, shape, and position the holes, one side of which must be tapered. They will work for both Viking Knit and loop-in-loops. The increments are as small as 0.002" for the tiniest holes to 0.010" for the larger ones. With 151 holes ranging from 1/16" to just over 1" there should be the right size for every occasion. I can't believe how much time it took to arrange the holes...even with a program it was excessive. Measure countless times, reposition repeatedly, get it to fit neatly into the pieces. This plastic ain't cheap!

While I was at it I made a 33/64" to 1" mandrel holder rack. It's essentially a drawplate minus the tapered holes. This high-tech plastic is quite useful. Perfect for making prototype jigs, it also protects delicate surfaces during hammering or clamping.

Posted by M: May 2, 2024

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