I designed a line of jewelry (all still only on paper) for a store my
friend works at. She showed it to her boss and they want it. That’s
the good news. The bad news is I am a rookie business person in need
of advice on many subjects. I also need advice and about
CAD/CAM. (I’ll start there…)
I know a local jeweler who has the whole cad/cam system and I’m
wondering what sort of ballpark price to expect to have him 'grow’
the models. Many of the models will be identical, just different
size/scale. Is there a comparable alternative to use for designs that
require crisp lines and lettering? I’m going to need many models so
I want to approach it the easiest way, but economically.
I have my sales/use tax info but what other sorts of licenses or
legal documents do I need to do business on this level?
How does copyrighting really work and do I need to contact someone to
safeguard my designs?
Even though the initial line is taylored to this store, I want to
maintain ownership of my deigns, etc. I need advice on contracts!
How do I go about getting a name (legally) for the business?
It really is a small line, but I want to avoid the pitfalls that
would prevent it from growing. I know I will think of a million more
questions. Thanks for your patience and advice. --Julie
The bad news is I am a rookie business person in need of advice on
many subjects. I also need advice and about CAD/CAM.
(I'll start there...) I know a local jeweler who has the whole
cad/cam system and I'm wondering what sort of ballpark price to
expect to have him 'grow' the models
Hi Julie, My suggestion would be the following… Try and pick
someone who really knows model making and has production capability
(we do) . Most of the time, A jeweler may be able to make a workable
model on cnc for you… but is it up to manufacturing standards …
sometimes yes… sometimes no. The majority of models that we receive
from other people are not completed correctly and require rework in
many cases… sometimes the model has been made too thin … others ,
so thick that the cost in gold becomes prohibitive to manufacture and
resell . often, the logo’s and quality marks are not in the models
… or if they are, they are not deep enough to go through mold
making, casting and handpolishing with out loosing some detail.
Sometimes a seperate plate with logo’s and quality mark needs to be
soldered into the model. All , and more than what is listed above
goes into producing a good model for lost wax casting. If the person
doing the casting/finishing is very good and is given an excellent
model to work with, then the results will also be excellent and the
cost of producing the design in small , or , large volume will be
lower … If there are a lot of little problems in the model and they
are not rectified, then it all may be done after the casting and this
adds to your finishing costs… this is why we go over our customers
models very carefully and make suggestions to them if we did not make
the models … often, we do the modifications for them if they don’t
have the ability to do so… all of this though does add to your
costs… so the model becomes a very important step not to be taken
lightly.
Daniel Grandi Racecar Jewelry Co. Inc. We do model work, casting
, finishing , machine engraving , soldering, assembly, enamel, and
many other processes for designers and people in the trade. Contact :
sales@racecarjewelry.com
Is there a comparable alternative to use for designs that require
crisp lines and lettering?
Hi Julie,
Rapid prototyping can be a good way to go, but sometimes it distorts
lettering if the model isn’t set up on the machine correctly and the
correct orientation can triple the cost in some cases. I’ve learned
this the hard way. RP models also have a bit of an inherent surface
texture that has to be sanded off in the casting.
CNC milling may be a good alternative, it’s ideal for designs with
lettering and crisp lines. The waxes are cut very cleanly with smooth
surfaces, minimizing post-prototyping finishing. The ModelMaster CNC
system that I use, was engineered specifically to make jewelry. It
cuts along the vector lines of a letter, carving wax or other
materials without losing detail or compromising on hard to reach
angles such as the inside corners of the letter “A”.
ArtCAM can “tell” the machine where the letters are…some CAD
systems do not isolate discrete vector lines and some generic CAM
systems use a sewing machine approach, criss-crossing the design as a
whole, rather than cutting details and lettering on a separate
toolpath, which does makes a difference in overall clarity and
crispness.
This is probably a whole lot more than you wanted to know 
but
let me know if I can be of help.
Jesse Kaufman
JDK JEWELRY
CAD-CAM Technology
Handcrafted Originality
www.jdkjewelry.com