David’s posting contains an excellent summary of the options for
both beginners and professionals. Like him I started at the
“bleeding edge” of a new technology. In my case I was one of the
first 3D Studio users in Scotland, providing technical animation.
Tying this together with video cards, frame-by-frame video
recorders, tape motion drivers, and all under DOS, was a most
frustrating, but ultimately rewarding experience. I made a few
mistakes by swimming upstream but I survived, thanks mainly to the
advice and support of the early BBS discussion groups. Most of the
others setting up this sort of low end animation studio were based
in LA and there was no possibility of local support.
Moving on a decade and a bit I have decided to venture into
producing jewellery. On a family holiday in Greece a couple of years
ago we were discussing the general purpose, or lack of such, in
life. My son somehow came up with the suggestion of making
jewellery. A couple of days mulling over the suggestion and it all
fell into place. I can certainly do 3D, as an experienced engineer I
should be able to get to grips with the manufacturing process, and
as an occasional web developer I should be able to handle
e-Jewellery Jewelery design experience - that would just have to be
gained.
Another year on and I have been producing and selling jewellery
online. Not much, but the commercial work is busy and paying the
bills, and the jewellery development costs. I have no space or
desire to cast metal from home so have used services both to cast
and finish and to date have been modelling direct from 3D Studio Max
to Rapid Prototyping service bureau. This works great but the costs
of the RP service are significant, and if you don’t like the first
result it’s going to cost to try again.
After quite a bit of lurking and gathering I decided to
try CNC milling. I knew of the ModelMaster/Mini-Tech options but was
wary of investing a considerable sum into something which is going
to remain a development cost for the foreseeable future. I had also
read somewhere - “if you are doing high precision jewellery wax
milling, you are not using a Sherline”. But I decided to look on the
purchase as a learning investment and went for a 4-axis Sherline
Mill, along with the other bits and pieces required to cut and
measure.
4 months on and I have absolutely no regrets. Yes it is difficult to
set the Sherline up. Yes it is difficult to get accurate results.
And yes it is relatively slow, but for someone who has had to watch
many thousands of video frames being laid down one by one to tape,
it is a relatively benign operation. I am still of course working in
3DS Max and driving the CNC through Mach3 and Meshcam, both of which
are suitable budget products and highly recommended. I am cutting
with 0.1mm tools and achieving results better than expected. I have
concentrated on getting good results from simple designs, but would
now be confident of tackling just about any 4-axis operation.
I have also learnt a lot about the design considerations and
limitations of milling. I may, for a number of reasons, go to RP for
final production for some items but the milling process allows me to
experiment with little financial penalty.
I also agree with Dave that the Sherline would not be suitable for a
busy commercial workshop. It just won’t work fast enough and the
man-hours required to setup and keep accurate would just add too
much to the production cost of each item. To date I have been
working with the CNC mainly evenings and weekends. I have promised
myself to take time out at some point this year and develop a much
wider range of products. The Sherline would be up to this, but if
producing jewellery ever became a full time occupation, something
like the ModelMaster or Mini-Tech would be top on the list.
However, like many others, I have caught the CNC bug. Through the
usual sources I now have a collection of precision ballscrews,
slides and bearings, a set of Geckodrives, small servos, power
supplies, and even a precision rotary stage ready to roll. I have
hooked it all up and the trial runs give the sort of speeds and
operation I expected. I now have to design and make (on the
Sherline) all the bits to clamp everything together. I hope that my
engineering experience stands me in good stead, and that the results
will be up to something like the Modelmaster. OK its not very
sensible, but when was sensible fun…
Martin
www.scottishmist.com