[Jewelry making - Article 00545] - Re: [Orchid] Machinery for wax prototypes

[jack meyer]

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Dear Artcrazy:

    I'm assuming you're talking about America for RP service bureaus.
    But if you want to know who to ask in the UK, I'd be happy to give
    you that too. Let me know. 

    Right now are two approaches to CAM for jewelry: One way is to grow
    the model with a main material and supporting material. This is how
    the various kinds of Rapid Prototyping work, sometimes called Wax
    Printing when the machine uses wax. The other way is to carve the
    model out of a block of metal, wood, or wax. (CNC Milling). 

    As you've noticed, the RP industry becomes more competitive with
    every passing year. Every company is jockeying for position in the
    marketplace, and changing their machines quickly to stay
    competitive. 

    InVision has just recently reformulated their modeling material so
    their models can be directly burned out in casting, making them now
    a direct competitor to Solidscape's machines (which were, up until
    recently, the only machines that produced directly castable parts.) 

    As for developments in CNC milling, Roland is now selling a 4-axis
    mill with a swiveling milling arm (I think it's the MDX-40R). It can
    perform undercutting on rings and small hollow shapes. Also, another
    company has recently introduced a model lubricant for wax which
    makes for a cleaner finished piece. 

    The list of the most common machines on the market in the USA right
    now are: 

    a.. Solidscape T-66: a rapid prototyping machine, that "grows" parts
    in a delicate castable wax. Models are brittle, but you can literally
    make anything with these machines. 

    b.. InVision: similar to the Solidscape, but bigger and faster. It
    makes parts out of a proprietary plastic, which only just this year
    became castable. 

    c.. Viper: "grows" models out of resin. Tougher models with slightly
    better detail than wax RP machines, but the models aren't castable. 

    d.. Modelmaster CNC: a line of multi-axis mills for jewelry. Small,
    cheap, fast, but limited in production volume and flexibility. 

    e.. Roland JWX and MDX: Roland's jewelry mills. Riddled with
    technical problems (especially with software), but when it does work,
    it produces some of the best quality pieces of all the mills. 

    f.. Revo: Gemvision's proprietary machine. Works about as well as the
    Modelmaster, but is hotwired to interface well with Gemvision Matrix.
    Other countries use additional brands, but these are the dominant
    brands right now in the US. 

    In addition to these, you can get away with using some of the big
    boys from heavy manufacturing on some jewelry work (the ZCorp makes
    models out of plaster and can work small enough for jewelry.) 

    As for getting the best, as of the last time I checked (last week),
    CNC milling usually gives the best initial surface finish. Viper's
    resin is second, with the Solidscape's proprietary wax and
    InVision's resin material falling third. This trades off pretty
    evenly with convenience, as I would reverse that order for the speed
    of manufacture and the flexibility of the machine. 

    As far as companies to use, I've always had good luck with
    CADSmithing (www.cadsmithing.com) based in Gilbert, AZ. They offer
    several different RP and milling machines to choose from. Also,
    CADBlu in New York (www.cadblu.com) have great customer service,
    although their specialty is the InVision. 

    Cost can vary, being a bit cheaper for CNC Milling, more expensive
    for InVision and Solidscape. A range of $60-$100US is fairly typical
    for a single ring, depending on machine, complexity, size, and
    volume of models. 

    Hope that helps. Happy modeling. 

Best,

Jack
http://www.neujack.com
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