My best investment ever: the rolling mill.
Firstly, it’s a beauty in itself (if you’re into plain steel, that is).
A few photos below as an attempt to prove that. If it doesn’t move you, that’s fine, too.
Secondly, as simple as it is, it can make so many things. A few photos below to show some examples. Imprints of lace and other fabrics, crochet pieces rolled flat (some to be shaped as tubes) and copper rolled so fine that it folds almost like a piece of paper.
For many years, I protected my rolling mill with an old plastic bag from Delhaize, the Belgian supermarket where I used to do all my shopping when I lived in Brussels. For sentimental reasons, I kept the bag until it literally fell apart. I like the multi-lingual message. It’s gone now, and only exists in my memory and in this blog post.
Very cool, thank you for showing this. And I love that bag! Good thing you photographed it. 🙂
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That looks like something I would injure myself with, trapped fingers! But it does make some pretty things 🙂
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Not recommended for making finger prints… 😉
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That machine looks like a lot of fun to play with. And I, too, have a couple of sentimental plastic bags used for storage! lol
Black and White: S for Shangri-La
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I’m glad I’m not the only one!
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It is an attractive machine! Weekends in Maine is correct, it brings to mind the penny rollers. I collect those things, and relatives send them to me too, which is cheating I guess!
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I wouldn’t call it cheating, you can see it as getting a slice of their travel memories too. I’m sure people are happy to send them to you!
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Vad roligt att läsa dina inlägg, tycker pappa Hans!
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Vad roligt att du tycker det, pappa! 🙂
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This tool reminds me of the souvenir penny machines at Disney World and other tourist destinations where you put in your penny and it comes out flat with a design. I bet there are so many cool things you can do with the rolling mill. Weekends In Maine
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That’s right! I think I have such a coin from the spot where The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany meet. I haven’t started rolling coins at home yet, though… 😉
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In summer 2019 I took an intro jewelry course at a local art center. The studio was well-equipped and of course included a rolling mill. I loved using it and tried impressing all kinds of patterns into metal. I think the teacher was amused. I did come up with a few nice things among others that were just chaotic but everything was fun to make.
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I can imagine (or perhaps I cannot even do that?) the designs you came up with! I’m sure it was inspiring both for the teacher and the fellow students to follow your experiments!
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I sort of went off track during the class (they made earrings, I made these weird faces or kind of collagey pin like things (with no pin on the back, I did not get that far). I was afraid of the torch but I eventually managed that. Sawing, well, I barely got started on that skill. I did really enjoy it and if I could go back I would be more interested in the things I was doing, or small sculptures, almost, than wearable jewelry. Oh dear.
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