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Because of the high cost of rapid
prototyping equipment and the high level of technical
expertise required to reliably produce perfect parts,
the trend is to use specialized third-party service
bureaus.
We offer reduced time and cost for jewelry
designers and their clients with state-of-the-art
technology. Our machines build wax
models from computer files using thermoplastics
that are perfect components for investment casting.
See
some of the machinery here >>
Our systems reduce cost and time-to-market by translating
CAD Designs into hard copy 3D models. These models
are so accurate that designers can go beyond concept
modeling to produce tooling grade patterns ready
for casting or mold-making.
Jointly CAD/CAM allows the design of jewelry using
a computer (CAD) and creates an exact hard copy
model of a jewelry piece using a computer controlled
manufacturing device (CAM). Our technicians utilize
all file types compatible with any CAM
device, which allows us to quickly generate a precise
wax model ready for casting.
Stereolithography and these other hard model technologies
are the future of the jewelry industry. Leading
jewelers effectively use CAM "service bureaus"
that specialize in prototype output.
Previous means of producing a prototype typically
took man-hours, many tools, and skilled labor. For
example, after a new street light luminaire was
digitally designed, drawings were sent to skilled
craftsmen where the design on paper was painstakingly
followed and a three-dimensional prototype was produced
in wood by utilizing an entire shop full of expensive
wood working machinery and tools. This typically
was not a speedy process and costs of the skilled
labor were not cheap. Hence the need to develop
a faster and cheaper process to produce prototypes.
As an answer to this need, rapid prototyping was
born.
One variation of 3D printing consists of an inkjet
printing system. Layers of a fine powder (plaster,
corn starch, or resins) are selectively bonded by
"printing" an adhesive from the inkjet
printhead in the shape of each cross-section as
determined by a CAD file. This technology is the
only one that allows for the printing of full color
prototypes. It is also recognized as the fastest
method.
Alternately, these machines feed liquids, such
as photopolymer, through an inkjet-type printhead
to form each layer of the model. These Photopolymer
Phase machines use an ultraviolet (UV) flood lamp
mounted in the print head to cure each layer as
it is deposited.
Fused deposition modeling (FDM), a technology also
used in traditional rapid prototyping, uses a nozzle
to deposit molten polymer onto a support structure,
layer by layer.
Finally, ultrasmall features may be made by the
3D microfabrication technique of 2-photon photopolymerization.
In this approach, the desired 3D object is traced
out in a block of gel by a focused laser. The gel
is cured to a solid only in the places where the
laser was focused, due to the nonlinear nature of
photoexcitation, and then the remaining gel is washed
away. Feature sizes of under 100 nm are easily produced,
as well as complex structures such as moving and
interlocked parts.
Techniques available:
Our technicians have been in the jewelry business
since 1983, operating in various branches of the
industry. We are some of the finest jewelry manufacturers
and jewelers in the industry.
With our fist-hand knowledge and experience throughout
the jewelry manufacturing process from start to
finish, we deliver quality. |