I posted this over on Tool Time but image came out to big. Hope this is alittle smaller. Made this rolling mill last month. Has 1/4hp gearmotor with 410 in/lb torque and does not slow down when rolling the hot steel.
http://mdhoff.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/image007.jpg

I couldn't get the pic to come up, but since the subject of rolling mills came up, I have some questions, basically that I have wondered about, ever since I first heard of the rolling mills a couple of years ago.
I understand the dynamics of the rolling mill, but have had serious doubts about it's usefulness for any thing except random pattern damascus. The reason I say this is due to the manner in which a rollers would "draw out" the billet. It seems to me that any billet that was ran through the rollers would experience an elongation of the pattern. If your dealing with mosaic type patterns, as I do most of the time, then it would seem that after several trips through the rollers, the pattern would be distorted beyond recognition. Have you experienced any of this?
Sitting here thinking about it, one might be able to do an accordian fold, and the run the billet through to flatten it, provided the rollers are adjusted to a thickness that would be very near the "pre-rolled" billet's thickness. I might be off base, and folks may be using the rolling mill mainly for "straight" steels, but what have you found as far as the distortion of patterns?

Hey I was wondering the same kind of things. Everyone I have talked to who has used one doesnt seem to use it for that. I even called Kayne & Son who is building them now and they couldnt even give me an answer on how big of a billet you could run through it or how much you could draw one down in a single pass. All they knew when testing which they used a 5/8" bar was that it had to be at a welding heat to go through the rollers properly. Something about any cooler and the rollers wouldnt grab it. Which makes sense seeing how the steel is kinda sticky at that temp. But I am curious as to its full potential and I am sure it does have a place in the shop but it would be hard to replace the abilities of a press.

Sorry for the pic not showing up. Don't know how to make it smaller without Photopoint, but am still working on it. Try looking at my web page under Shop Tour for a pic of the rolling mill.
mdhoff.tripod.com/CustomKnives/index.html (http://mdhoff.tripod.com/CustomKnives/index.html)
I am just starting out forging so what you are talking about is over my head. I have rolled out cable both 3/4" and 1 1/4" and it takes several passes through the mill but you do get a nice even billet.
Mark