Declining demand for hand carved wax

Rick…
I am in need of some CAD work…who did you use?
Mary

Well, the only guy that helps me, does the artistic things. He just uses Zbrush to make the shapes or textures I want. I created the original model from Sketchup first.

So if you are looking for technical CAD skills, like making a ring of a certain size or someone who can create mounts for stones in a 3d model… I don’t know anyone. But if you want to know the guy who enhances my models, then PM me.

A side note – lynda.com has some video instructions on using Rhino, if you’re a member.

(Rhino is what we use in the digital fabrication classes at my community college, especially for the 3D printer and the laser cutter. The classes are taught through the Art Department and their focus is to expose artists to the machines so we can use them to not only create art pieces directly, but even more for creating tools, forms, prototypes (esp. with the 3D printer) and create with them.)

Hi Trish,

yes, I agree…I find Dave Schultze to be an EXCELLENT Instructor, with an easy to follow teaching style.

seach Dave Schultze Rhino on youtube…

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjdgzmU_ONhdglAQ0z-PYcA/playlists?shelf_id=0&view=1&sort=dd

Julie

Thanks for the link, Julie.

There’s always something new to learn. :smiley:

(And I love that there is…)

the history of technology displacement is that if you romanticize the skill, tell its story and educate then you get to charge three+ times as much a few years in. best charles

Sort of like vinyl records making a big come back?

Charles,
Great reply, and Jo… please do the poll if you can take the time, Aside from your potential medical self prognosis.
I so want to hear your background.
You are a treasure, please share…

To the point (or question) of the diminishing talent base for wax carvers;
Like Jo, I believe that certain skill sets are useful to learn and refine, even if the current market isn’t screaming for them.
Wax carving and fabricating were the only ways to get there when I started (early-mid 60’s) my teachers were all tradespeople from the late 20’s to mid 30’s .
To this day, many of our projects are roughed out in wax, even if the final piece is to be fabricated.
It can help evolve a design so quickly, sometimes far quicker than a drawing (in my experience).
I use and love cad as a tool, there is a sublime perfection one can’t achieve any other way, and yet, that “Perfection” is staring us in the face in every display window of every jewelry retailer in our country.
Loupe it, find the growing lines that can’t be resolved or cleaned up, look inside, is it fully polished(?), is the Pave’ done with prongs raised, or a series of beads mushed over ? Are there clean-out holes for the diamonds? It’s a great tool with a bit of an Orwellian jinx.
(Brief rant I suppose)
The point of loosing carving skills might be more of application and a market exposure that clearly defines that which is hand carved vs. that which is done in CAD. Exposure creates demand, so, for the last 20 years we’ve been developing a tool (CAD) and products that reflect the fabricators we’d all like to be, or be paid to be. So with that perfection has come a predictability that is now sameness.
Now, you-all in this discussion are above the norm, know how to push boundaries and have done so.
So is carving being lost, outpaced the way most fabrication has gone, or , is it possible that we have to create a distinction (again) in the jewelry industry. Find a place to insert a skill, seemingly being lost, more likely being filed away in a dark, small, drawer.
So I’m posting two queries.
Were you to hand carve something, what might it be? I’m not asking you to do it, just share a thought that would touch, move and inspire you to carve.
The second,
If you wanted something carved, to whom would you look? How would you test their skills? How would you monetize the project?
As Charles pointed to, in essence, fewer people demonstrating a skill can demand a premium for quality.

As a possibility, rather than bemoaning a loss, let’s demonstrate a value.

Thanks for giving me the space to share a thought or 2.
Jim

What I’m looking for is a contact for old mine cut diamonds around 3.5 to 4mm. It’s to fit in a ring that dates back to late 1800’s early 1900

Thanks

John Scully
Designs by Scully

John- When we need old cut diamonds we go to our local pawn shops and
estate Jewelers.
-Jo Haemer
www.timothywgreen.com

Good idea. I’ll check on that. Thx

Hi John,
Can you put up a picture of the ring,
I might know of a few stones, need to see the shape of the opening though.
Thanks, Jim

Yes, looks like between half and ¾ carat. Measures approximately 7.2 mm flat-to-point and 2.75 mm deep.