Rolling mill for plates and wires (goldsmith tool).
A rolling mill is a machine or factory for shaping metal by passing it between a pair of work rolls.
Rolling mills are often incorporated into integrated steelworks, but also exist as separate plants and can be used for other metals, and other materials.
Rolling mills historically have been of several kinds:
- Depending on the temperature of the metal being rolled, rolling mills are typically hot or cold rolling mills.
- A slitting mill was used to cut flat bar iron into rods for nail-making.
- A tinplate works normally contained at least two rolling mills, one for hot rolling and the other for cold rolling single plates, prior to tinning.
- From the Industrial Revolution, puddled iron, after consolidation with a powered hammer (shingling), was rolled into bar iron using a rolling mill with grooved rolls. The grooves provided were progressively smaller, so that on successive passes through the rolls, the cross-section of the bar became smaller and the bar itself longer. By designing the rolls appropriately, it is possible to obtain iron or steel with various cross-sections, including I-shaped girders and railway rails.
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