Drawplate

[Worldway]

I just purchased a disc sander from Byrnes and thought I would include the draw plate in my purchase.  I know that it's good for making fake nails but I'm wondering what other uses it could have, if any.

Edited December 26, 2019 by Worldway

[kurtvd19]

Derek:

I don't build models with treenails but I do use the draw plate for making small dowels for strengthening joints just like in full size carpentry and attaching parts to the model so it's not just glue holding the piece in place.

Kurt

[DelF]

I've found I can use a draw plate (homemade in my case as the shipping and import duties make Jim Byrne's plate prohibitively expensive) to reduce the handles of commercial belaying pins to a proper scale appearance. My method is to chuck the pin in a lathe with the handle protruding, using a suitable small collet . I'm sure a small drill or Dremel-style tool would work equally well if mounted in such a way as to leave your hands free. As the lathe spins I push the drawplate against the belaying pin, aiming for the next hole down from the diameter of the handle. With very little effort the handle passes through the drawplate. I then just work down the holes in the plate until I get the final diameter I want - it takes literally seconds. 

 

I should add that I use a very small, low powered Proxxon wood lathe for this, not my larger metal working lathe. Nevertheless you need to take all necessary precautions when working with spinning tools - for example no long sleeves, keeping fingers well away from the chuck and so forth. 

 

Derek

[Worldway]

Thanks Kurt and Derek, a couple of fantastic ideas.

[Bob Cleek]

I have the Byrnes drawplate and was surprised, but not disappointed, to find when I got it that it is for rather small diameters. The cheapo Asian-made drawplates I have are for larger diameters, so that's fine, but certainly not likely to be as accurate as the Byrnes model. I'd snag another one from Byrnes if they made other models in larger diameters. The Byrnes one I have is really well made. The other two I have are from MicroMark and some other mail order outfit, probably made in India, and they are really very poorly made compared to Byrnes or professional model draw plates. Drawplates are available in just about every sectional shape imaginable, not just round. The Byrnes drawplate is a real bargain compared to the similar quality professional drawplates, the price of which can generate some serious sticker shock.

 

 https://contenti.com/draw-plates/steel-draw-plates

[druxey]

The drawplates that jewellers use are for pulling metal wire by compression/extrusion. The Byrnes plate is specifically for shaving down wood. They are not interchangeable.

[Bob Cleek]

2 hours ago, druxey said:

The drawplates that jewellers use are for pulling metal wire by compression/extrusion. The Byrnes plate is specifically for shaving down wood. They are not interchangeable.

I learn something new every day in this forum! I knew that jewelers' drawplates were for pulling metal wire, as you say. I never knew there was such a thing as a drawplate specifically for wood and one specifically for metal. I always thought all drawplates were all-purpose for wire or wood, depending on your mood. I've pulled wire and wood through the same drawplate and didn't notice any difference. Shows what I know.

 

How do you tell the difference between a wood and a wire drawplate?

  

[JohnLea]

I wrote "wood only" on mine when I got it.  (Sharpie.)

[JohnLea]

Although true,  wrote the above post as a bit of a joke.  After, I started wondering how I knew that.  I am not very intuitive. I don't see it on the Byrnes product page for drawplates.  but it may have come with instructions.   

[druxey]

OK. A jeweller's drawplate will 'squeeze' metal that has been annealed as you draw it through a parallel hole. The total mass (or weight) of metal being drawn stays constant; it simply changes shape. Byrnes' drawplate, specifically designed to remove mass, shaves off wood on each pass through the plate. The holes are tapered in such a way that the 'small 'side acts as a kind of cutting edge as you pull stock through from that side. A jeweler's drawplate will remove mass, but the hole is 'blunt', adding friction and causing material failure more frequently because of the greater traction force required to pull it through.

[Bob Cleek]

Okay, I get it now. It's about the sharpness of the smaller side of the hole's edge, right? I was aware of the mechanics, but I always figured that was why a metal workpiece was pulled through the plate entering on the "big side" and exiting from the "small side," while a wooden workpiece was pulled through entering on the small side of the hole and exiting from the "big side." (That also reduced the chance of the wooden piece breaking if it flexed too much when being pulled.) Am I right about the directions the metal and wooden pieces are to be pulled through the plate, or not? 

 

Now you've really got me going.  It's such a simple tool. I'd hate to be using it the wrong way. (This coming from a guy who's picked up two or three good planes that "didn't work" cheap at garage sales only because their irons were installed upside down!)

[Jaager]

To stir this pot a bit more and endanger the tongues poking in cheeks a bit more:

Ductile (can be drawn into wires)  , one of the characteristics of a metal, = something I had to memorize for some early science class and got stuck in my head ever since.

A jewelers draw plate is a way to do it.  I am imagining that a commercial mill heats the metal a bit when doing this.  Doing it cold is a whole lot of work,  Theoretically, one could start with a thick wire and draw any gauge that is needed.  Cooper and brass kinda offer resistance to this, making it not so much fun.

Jim's plate is not designed to draw metal.   I have Jim's plate and a couple of jewelers plates.  The tools that I use most often are a couple of drill gauges:

I can sharpen the cutting edge by rubbing the side opposite the lettering on a whetstone.  

A significant factor is the species of bamboo that the skewer people use.  Some of it is really hard, some is soft, and some like to split under stress.

Edited December 31, 2019 by Jaager

[Nirvana]

I have Jim's drawplate and another one from Mikro-Mark, I used the MM just once( did throw it away) while Jim's frequently.

Oil the drawplates, no matter the brand as they may start having surface issues later in their life.