[Jewelry making - Article 00346] - Re: [Orchid] Starting a Production Line

[Lee Lyssimachou]

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Amanda

    As soon as I saw your original post I followed closely on all
    replies. I decided not to post my own thoughts until I got the
    general 'gist' of the advice given. Somehow I think that most of the
    posts are within the general atmosphere of what it is you need to
    hear but there are no specifics. Yes writing down a business plan is
    a good idea but before that, I think you must decide EXACTLY what it
    is you want to do and how to do it. From your original post it seems
    to me that you have a general idea about where and how to go about
    this. 

    You know it is very funny because I myself have recently started my
    own production line too. The reasons for this are quite simple. I
    started out in handmade one-of-a-kind pieces but unfortunately apart
    from the occasional wedding there wasn=92t much of a market for it. I
    live in Greece and in a small suburban place so it is very difficult
    to market this kind of work. I therefore decided that I needed a
    larger audience. So what I decided to do was learn wax carving and
    start my own production line(s) without actually abandoning my
    handmade pieces (on the contrary wax carving opened up more creative
    opportunities for me). 

    So my opinion is this. 

    First of all you need to see what your own capabilities are. What is
    the extent of your technical knowledge and expertise. Secondly you
    need to see what the demands (both in technical terms as well as in
    terms of finance, time etc.) are going to be for starting your own
    production line. Taking your own designs to a company to produce
    from start to finish will probably be a costly endeavor. And it is
    also not certain that these designs will sell. 

    Secondly =96 one thing production line jewelry has taught me =96 you
    need to see how you can make your production more efficient. What I
    mean is that you will need to have certain parts cast or make master
    pieces in order to save time. 

    One of the differences between one-of-a-kind pieces and production
    line jewelry is that in the first case you make the piece from
    scratch and you go through the whole process beginning to end.
    Whereas production line jewelry has the advantage of casting certain
    parts or pieces and thus you save time in the construction process. 

    I think what you need to do after you see what you are capable of
    making yourself and what not, is to decide whether to invest in the
    machinery and knowledge in order to do this yourself or to
    subcontract the work entirely to someone else. Now both options have
    their costs but it all depends on how you want to go about this. 

    If you decide to invest in the machinery I don=92t think you=92ll need
    to spend a lot of cash. I do my entire production by using a
    vulcanizer and a wax injector machine. The actual casting is done by
    a high standard professional caster =96 I had to search around a bit
    and reject the first one because of poor casting results. Therefore
    since I don=92t have to get into the job of casting my pieces I can
    pour more money into the equipment I have and need, as well as the
    materials and tools. My vulcanizer and wax injector are very high
    quality machines and that ensures the highest standards in every
    phase of production. The other, and perhaps more important, thing
    you need to do is expand your knowledge. You are very lucky in the
    fact that in the States you=92ve got some truly excellent wax carving
    teachers and instructors. My recommendation would be to go and learn
    wax carving. It will open many more creative doors for you. It might
    be a bit costly as far as the tuition goes but believe me it is well
    worth the cost. The next best thing, if you are not willing to go
    through the process of learning wax carving, would be to hire a
    professional wax carver and work closely with him/her. I don=92t know
    what other emails you=92ve received as far as offers are concerned but
    I noticed that Ms Mersky made you an offer. Check out her site. She
    does brilliant work. Once you get the master models ready then you
    can make any kind of modifications on them in metal =96 even to the
    extent of making an entirely different looking piece from the
    original. Depending on the arrangement you=92ve got with your wax
    carver you could probably keep the molds, make the wax copies and
    send them off to the caster. It would probably be a good idea to
    have several wax copies stored in stock so when the need arises
    pieces can be sent immediately off to the caster with minimum delay. 

    As far as your handmade pieces are concerned, it would be a good
    idea to have certain parts of them standardized (i.e. the findings
    or any other parts that can be modified in metal) and make molds out
    of them. Believe me the time you=92ll save on these little things will
    be a great help to you. 

    Well that=92s it for now. I=92m sorry for rambling on and probably
    tiring you and other Orchidians but because your case is so similar
    to mine I feel for you and understand the dilemma you=92re in. 

    I hope everything goes well for you and the best of luck with your
    endeavors. 

Lee Lyssimachou
Lee Feenix Art Workshop
Greece

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