[Jewelry making - Article 00349] - [Orchid] Cad Cam Foibles

[Daniel Ballard]

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Hello All,

    I spend a lot of time at casting shops in Los Angeles, some of which
    are trade casters who cater to custom retail shops. As cad cam gets 
so
    much more common I am seeing and hearing of some specific mistakes
    that are cost folks good money. Most of these come down to one
    version or another of making the molten metal fill a thick area,
    stream through some designed in bottleneck, and fill in thick areas
    beyond that. 

    I'd like to just point one out I have seen lately- Diamonds in
    unusual places like the ring shank- When the complete holes for the
    diamonds are in the model to cast, the metal has a hard time flowing
    past all the tight spots around the holes or into prongs. 

    An alternative is to merely put a dimple in the area, to drill later
    after casting. The dimple will assure you the drill will not wander
    about when you start the hole. 

    When a design calls for a lot of voids, like say the right hand ring
    concept, It's often wise to plan on significant hand fabrication
    after casting rather than doing it all in advance in the design. It's
    a balance I guess. Maybe that next call will be asking about growing
    the darn model around the stones! Just kidding I hope.... 

Daniel Ballard
Precious Metals West
National Sales Manager
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