Prepare for 3d print, with CAD skills

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hello all,

I wish you all a happy new year, with new plan and new hope!

This year, I plan to learn 3d print. I’ve learned FreeCAD. I will use it as my CAD software. Here are my question and hope to have some advice from your guys.

Do I have to go to some 3d print training? Or, just buy a 3d printer to try myself?

I don’t want to buy a 3d printer right now, actually. I want to get some sense, or try some printing first. After that, I will know which printer to buy; and how to organise it. I searched some info. It seems there is no way to get some sense of 3d printing, if you don’t join a course.

Best regards!

Chimi

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We talk mainly about jewelry on this site. There are people who design and print jewelry models that will later be cast into a piece of jewelry or art metal. Is that your intention and the reason for your question? You don’t necessarily have to take a course for any of what we do. Many of us, myself included, are self taught. You might look for a maker space in your area. Three D printing has been a hot subject in many of them. Good luck…Rob

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Hello Chimi,

A maker space might be your best option. You’d have the opportunity to try the machines they have onsite and to talk with other members about equipment.

A quick search brought up this link for the UK

Good luck!
Pam

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Thanks Rob. I have a silver workshop. I hope to use 3d print for some of my projects in the near future. Thanks for your suggestion.

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Thank you, Pam! That’s what I am looking for.

I have a silver workshop in London. I hope to combine 3d print and silver making for some projects in the future.

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I’ve been where you are now trying to understand 3D printing and am still working it out, slowly.

For learning 3D printing, I have found online articles and reviews to be generally poor in regard to learning how the process works. There are almost endless youtube videos, and that’s where I had my ‘aha’ moment, finally understanding how the different type of printers work. You can search for specific machine comparisons as well, and good reviewers will point out weakness of some models.

There are other factors that matter. Resin printers require washing models and printer parts in a large quantity of toxic solvent (nearly 100% IPA - isopropyl alcohol - or more expensive brand-name solvents.) I find this a major downside. It is enough of a hassle that I think it will discourage me from using my printer as freely as I might like. There may be water-soluble resins that let you skip using IPA, but I don’t know for sure and they may not work as well. You’d have to investigate.

There is the burnout issue with resin models - the need for stronger investment and 13 hour burnouts. I’m dealing with a lengthy (and miserable) house renovation issue right now so I haven’t gotten to that stage yet but there are recent discussions on that here.

There is a different class of 3D printer that injects thin wax wire to build the model, rather than using a resin bath. I have not tried one, wish I had. I get the impression they are quite a bit slower, which for common jewelry-size pieces may or may not be an important issue to you. The output may be rougher, more pixellated than the best resin printers. The technology is advancing rapidly so you’d have to research that to know for sure. Again I have no experience with this type of printer, but if it can allow you to skip the solvent wash-up step that might make a big difference to you.

The wire waxes may - may, because I don’t know - be much more wax-like and make for easier burnout. Some models let you inject 2 (or more) different waxes, so the supports may be injected with a water-soluble ‘wax’ allowing easier support separation from the model without having to remove support nubs. Again, that is the impression I have, I don’t know for sure.

Probably the best printer in this class would be the Prusa. It is a good bit more expensive than the printer I bought, the Phrozen Sonic Mini 8K S.

If for no other reason, I suggest you look into the Prusa and compare it to a resin printer, just so you understand the differences, and see which might suit you better. There are other wire-feed brands but I think the Prusa is worth looking at to understand this type.

Slicing software is another issue to investigate and learn. There is some choice of programs for resin printers. Be sure the slicer that looks attractive to you supports the printer and resins you want to buy. I believe the Prusa software works differently. Worth looking into.

A lot of factors. Good luck!
Neil A

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7

I recently bought a 3D printer but I haven’t started using it for jewelry purposes. They are pretty cheap these days but the real cost is the time learning to model and the process of casting.

I use rhino to model as I have it from architecture school. It’s fast and easy. Feel free to hit me up if I can help in any way.

My advice is to tackle a very clear objective and in doing that you’ll learn everything you need to know and can comprehend at that time.

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Hi Neil,

Thank you so much for your detailed information. I got some sense about how it works from this link below:

Regarding which printer, I don’t consider it yet. My projects are silver (earrings, rings, necklaces, common stuff). I hope my printer will be less troubles as I am poor at maintaining it. Cost is out of my consideration. In this case, do you have more suggestion?

Best regards!

Chimi

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Hi Brennan,

Thanks for your suggestion.

I searched some information yesterday. For many 3d printing courses, they focus on cad software training. Since I know cad, I won’t take those courses. My plan is that:
1, Enhance my cad skill and know more special cad functions for jewellery modelling
2, Learn one slicing software.
3, There are some 3d workshops here which offer 3d printer training. I want to get training about how to operate 3d printer in a short distance
4, Buy one printer in the end

Kindly let me know if you have any suggestion.

Best regards!

Chimi

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10

I think you have a good plan. We all have to learn in the way that suits us best. I am the kind of person that tends to learn by just going for it and learning along the way, but that could feel a little bit chaotic and unstructured to others so I would take all the advice you get and make it into a program that suits what feels good for you. Ultimately, if you stick with the plan, you will learn.

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Hi,

another option- you could start by focusing on learning 3D software, and send your files to s service provider to have it printed, cast, even finished if you choose.

the software(s) and the printers each have their own learning curves…

printer technology continuously advances

different printers might lend themselves to different jobs better…

julie

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Thanks for your encouragement, Brennan!

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Thanks, Julie.

I searched more information. Overwhelming info made me tried. I have to calm down and think what to do next. For software, I will enhance my cad skills. As I don’t have a company now, those businessmen won’t quote for me or have a glance at me, I guess.

14

Hi,

once you have a CAD file and would like to have it cast…

if you are in the USA, you might try calling one or both of the beliw companies…they have excellent customer service, and are very
nice and helpful.

http://www.racecarjewelry.com/

julie

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15

I was going to say the same thing as Julie. It sounds like you’re in London, not the USA. There have to be companies in London that do this service for jewelry makers.

In the USA, we’ve used Shapeways and Quality Casting before. It’s super simple. You email them an .stl file and they send you back your object in metal.

At this point most jewelry casting companies have this service.

I’m in the USA and don’t know anywhere to recommend in London though. Maybe there’s some London Ganoskin members who can help you out?

One reason to consider this path is that 3/D printing technology is just like buying a computer or almost any other high tech device. Within 3 years it will probably be discontinued and within 6 years it will be obsolete.

We got burned a while back ago. Before 3/D printing became common, precision milling machines that carved wax were the rage. We bought a Roland milling machine for $15,000. What no one told us was that this machine was an older model and was about to be discontinued. Within 3 years it was considered obsolete and couldn’t be serviced.

A few years ago, I gave it away to some students because it wasn’t even worth $200.

At this point unless you have a very specific need to own a jewelry quality 3/D printer and have a big enough business to support it, you’re probably better off using a casting service.

That’s my opinion.

I will say that at my job, we just bought a FormLabs printer because we got a donation, (I teach at a college). With everything it was about $4500. We could have bought a higher quality, more expensive printer, but I got the Formlabs one because it seemed like the best value for what we need it to do. (just student work)

I hope all that helps!

Jeff

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Hi Julie,

I have to say sorry to you. It seems your suggestion is really practical.

Cheers

Chimi

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Hi Jeff,

Thanks a lot for your long long suggestion. I think this will be a better option as what Julie said. The cost of a printer is not a big problem for me. What I am worried is my weakness for machinery and maintenance once I run a printer myself. I believe there will be tons of hidden or visible problems if a printer is on. That will kill me.

Jewellery service in the UK is popular too. I didn’t search such service as Julie recommended. Now I know there are such special services and will search and try to contact some.

Glad to have a solution now. Thank your guys again.

Best regards!

Chimi

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