A CAD/CAM-designed bangle was the big winner at the 2012 JAA
Jewellery Awards in Sydney last night.
Designed and crafted by Martyn Brown and Martin Linning from
Jewellery By Design, the stunning bangle, titled Undulation, is
made from 9-carat yellow gold, sterling silver, titanium
anodised wire, white diamonds and custom-made laboratory-grade
glass tubing…
Though Linning says “CAD/CAM design is the future of the industry”
(with which I agree) a key word is “future”. Is there any indication
as to the ratio of CAD/CAM labour to hand crafting for “Undulation”?
For example was a gold smith involved in some hand crafting?
Is there any indication as to the ratio of CAD/CAM labour to hand
crafting for "Undulation"?
I find that in the CAD /CAM / MACHINING process, the labor varies
greatly just as it does at the bench. There are simple pieces of
jewelry that (if you need just one) it is about as fast to carve by
hand as it is to us as the CAD /CAM process. But then, there are
those pieces that are more complex that will take an hour of CAD /
CAM and 4 hours of actual machining. Lets say a class ring with a
lot of fonts and textured background… If you have carved one…or
fifty of these, then the CAD /CAM system has won out big time time
wise…and most likely has produced a better model. Better because
the fonts will be cleaner and more consistent than by hand carving.
As far as “Undulation”… it really doesn’t matter whether the
piece is undulated or not. CAD /CAM, nor machine really care. The
model is drawn, a tool path established, NC code is generated, fed
to the machine and the machine does as it is told. It couldn’t care
less what the style or shape is.
There are those times that as with many bench tools… CAD /CAM is
not required or really feasible to use. Part of the learning process
is knowing when to reach for CAD /CAM…just as knowing when to
reach for a file, graver, prong pusher or any other bench tool.
CAD/CAM/ MACHINING is nothing more than another bench tool. That is
the first thing I try to always get across to new users. It is just
a tool. Use it when it will save time, money, and when it can do a
better job by producing a better model and finished product for the
end customer.
Let me “cut to the chase”, Dan, if you don’t mind a pun. I would
like to make and market estimated 300,000 nephrite amulets/figurines
over 5 years. I can rough cut the stone on one of my diamond-blade
saws to whatever thickness is needed and ship the stone out or I can
purchase a machine. The amulets would be wearable in bracelets,
necklaces, keychains, brooches etc.
I could have a clay artist make them in clay here first and send the
clay models out to have someone with a CAD/CAM setup do the fine
cutting and return the finished product in batches or I could send
out the clay models to have the machinery set up for me and have the
machinery sent for me to operate. I’m inclined toward the latter.
In either case I have to know all costs in advance. I have almost no
hand carving ability so if the machine requires such artistic
ability then that won’t work. As above - an artist will do the
protypes in clay. I cannot learn to be an artist.
I can learn a new language for machine operation as I had no trouble
learning basic C programming.