Mr. Binnion,
When an item is handmade the skill and attention of the maker is constantly required to insure the desired outcome. In other words the outcome of the work is always at risk and the the quality of the final item is solely determined by the makers skill. In the workmanship of certainty the form and quality of the part are a not at risk because the tool has replaced the maker in the control of the process.
Only to a point is this true. For a lot of individuals working in
CAD/CAM, design accuracy is the only thing the computer controls;
the designer still controls the full form of the piece. Realize, too,
that the machine never puts out a product that is of final high
quality (unless the designer/maker has very low standards). The maker
still has to put in hours finishing the milled product (or the
casting from the milled or printed model). Complex pieces will need
fabrication 1st and then finishing. And then there is the stone
setting if there any are in the design.
I’m not just splitting hairs here. The computer and it’s associated
machining hardware are not the only variables in the CAD/CAM to
finished jewelry item equation. There is still a considerable amount
of human interaction with the metal objects produced in this manner
and thus a lot of room for human intervention (expertise or error)
while bringing the item to final fruition. As CAD/CAM is performed by
the individual, classically trained jeweler, that maker needs to
“supply the skill and attention constantly to ensure the desired
outcome”.
I will grant you that, in the industrial manufacturing sector, there
are automated processes used for assembly and finishing the forms of
CNC produced objects and there are also automated setting processes
to place stones into the metal objects; but both you and I (and a
large number of skilled jewelers) would be able to still tell the
difference between a totally machine made object and one that saw
human intervention in its completion.
As Jeff Demand points out:
At the other extreme there are cadcam jewellery programs which allow the cut and paste of settings and shanks from included libraries... sort of like using a findings catalogue. NOT hand made.
Not all CAD/CAM needs to be that type of jewelry production. Indeed,
most CAD done by previously bench trained, skilled professionals is
“from scratch” creation of an object on the screen:- making and
forming of parts, tweeking their alignments or shapes, joining parts
together, sizing them, fitting stones, etc.; just as you or I would
do from metallic raw materials at our bench pins with traditional
tools. I very often have to “facet” a stone in CAD to recreate a
custom cut stone on the computer to use as the starting point of a
piece of jewelry for its counterpart that exists in reality. I need
to have faceting and CAD knowledge in order to import a 2D photo of
the stone and then rebuild it in 3D to match the existing real life
stone; it doesn’t just “pop-in” in 3D. Sure it could have be scanned
in and built from a point cloud; but where’s the fun and skill in
that. Not all of CAD/CAM is cut and paste technology…it also has
fun, creative, aspects which the user can control completely. CAD
tools are on screen buttons that cut, trim, bend, twist, shape pieces
to other surfaces, join, weld (booleans), and a huge number of other
operations available that correspond to the same tools at my bench:
pliers, saws, torches, gravers, files, mandrels, etc.
I have done bench work since I was a student in Metalsmithing 1 at
college in 1974; professionally since 1979. I didn’t start learning
CAD until 2001. I now use both methods, CAD/CAM and hand skills, in
my work; sometimes in the same piece, sometimes just hand skills
alone. I don’t think most of my CAD creations could be differentiated
from one of my hand carved/fabricated pieces, because so much hand
work still goes into the object before it is completed. Sometimes I
want the machined look to stand out, such as in a class ring (BTW, I
did a number of those by hand carving/casting to mimic machined work
prior to learning CAD). CAD is yet another tool on my bench which
gives me the ability to waste far less metal by visualizing my idea
in full 3 dimensions long before the gold or platinum comes out of my
safe. It gives me the ability to “clay model” a form (then, if
needed, mirror it exactly; in a way much easier than my dyslexia can
do it) prior to the first saw cut or the first hammer stroke.; but I
assure you, I still need to finesse the metal into what I envision
the finished work to be; the machines don’t just spit out a finished
work worthy of my hallmark.
Paul D. Reilly