Choosing A Prototyping Machine For Custom Jewelry Design
Choosing A Prototyping Machine For Custom Jewelry Design
I’ve been working in the jewelry business for many years and one of
my passions is the creation of custom made wedding rings and engagement
rings. I enjoy the diamond business and selling engagement rings like
Tacori, Verragio and others like them but I really like creating
jewelry that is one of a kind or hand-made. I get a charge out of
allowing a customer to design their own ring and then watch the look on
their faces when the ring is complete. Recent advances in rapid
prototyping allow jewelry designers to create one of a kind designs to
laser precision and also save them time. In the end the customer gets a
better quality piece of jewelry and you have the satisfaction of
knowing it came from you.
There are many different types of prototyping machines and you
should know what the advantages and disadvantages of each are before
buying one. In a basic sense, there are two types of machines that you
can purchase. The first is a cutting machine that removes material to
create your prototype. The second is a growing machine that layers or
prints your model. Each technology offers benefits and each has
drawbacks, this article will help you determine which machine will be
best for you. With a cutting machine or a CNC mill you are going to get
smoother and higher resolution models. The material used in a mill is
jewelry wax which as you may know is the easiest and best material to
cast with. The draw backs on CNC mills is efficiency and undercutting,
let’s talk about milling efficiency first. The typical engagement ring
model will take about 4-8 hours to mill depending on the resolution
that you choose. This can be a bit of a problem if you are trying to
re-coup your investment in a jewelry mill. Of course the benefit is
that the jewelry model will be very clean, easy to cast, and higher
resolution. The other issue is that undercuts of complex jewelry
designs can’t be done using a CNC mill.
CNC technology involves the use of X, Y, Z axis and each jewelry
model that you create will have coordinates within those axis. The
milling process doesn’t allow for the tool path to enter areas inside
the gallery of prongs or under the shoulders. The coordinates may exist
in your model but the mill’s drill bit can’t reach them. A mill is
especially good for the following custom jewelry designs: signet rings,
sports rings, awards rings, and wedding bands. The reason for this is
because those types of jewelry don’t require undercuts but do require
high resolution to produce lettering and 3d relief work. Most jewelry
mills will be capable of doing 50% - 60% of all the work that you need
done.
The growing machines that are available use a process similar to
stereo lithography while layering thermal plastic or poly resins. Under
cuts are not a problem and any design that you can create can be grown.
The problem with the growing process is the stepping within the jewelry
models. Stepping is the movement of parts within a machine and an
example would be a servo motor. You can find servo motors in just about
any kind of CNC machine. Growing machines generally produce graining
lines on the flat surfaces of your jewelry models. The finishing
process requires that you file large amounts of metal in the casting
when removing the stepping.
This can be a huge problem when casting a grown model in platinum
because the metal so hard to polish, you have to remove large amounts
of platinum to get rid of the stepping lines. White gold isn’t as big a
problem when casting using grown models because the metal is easily
polished. The benefits to the growing machines are efficiency and
undercutting. Some of the growing machines on the market are capable of
growing 8 models per day while the CNC can do maybe 3. A growing
machine is especially useful when creating custom engagement rings,
custom wedding rings, and delicate or small pieces with undercuts.
A really well rounded jewelry workshop has both technologies
however, not everyone can afford to purchase both machines. In the end,
it’s important to determine what type of jewelry designs you’ll be
creating the most of and then purchase the machine that can handle
those jobs.
Andy Moquin has spent 16 years in the jewelry business buying and
selling over $20,000,000 in diamonds and custom jewelry. He can be
reached at: custom jewelry designjewelers buffalo
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