Jewellery students practice with rapid prototyping

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Sep 26, 2006

One of the UK's top jewellery schools has invested in a Unimatic Solidscape rapid prototyping machine for modelling and rendering students' designs in 3D in wax.

One of the UK's top jewellery schools has invested in a Unimatic Solidscape rapid prototyping machine for modelling and rendering students' designs in 3D in wax.

Holts, gemstone and jewellery specialists of Hatton Garden in London, are the only such company in Europe to offer comprehensive jewellery industry training and offer a range of courses from engraving and laser welding to lapidary and the use of CAD/CAM techniques for producing high-precision models of the most intricate designs.

"We chose the Solidscape for several reasons", explains Holt's CAD/CAM Tutor Becky Current.

"In my experience, it produces the best surface finish, there are no burn-out problems and the technique of wax layer build-up eliminates ash contamination that can be a problem with other resin-based systems".

"Add to that the fantastic resolution that gives wonderfully detailed results and we think it's the best on the market for our requirements".

The Solidscape series of high-speed model makers for prototyping and product development rapidly create accurate models by building up layer on layer of a wax that can be used to produce a mould using the lost-wax casting process.

The process is ideal for the making of jewellery, where the students' designs are produced using industry-standard CAD/CAM programmes such as Rhino3D, 3DesignJewel, JewelCAD, JewelSmith, TechGems and Flamingo.

The ultra-high resolution of up to 0.0127mm and the fine surface finish give good results straight from the mould, reducing the amount of machine cleaning and polishing that is required and enabling the most intricate and delicate of designs to be realised.

"I had used the Solidscape system before and knew its capabilities", explains Current.

"We wanted to demonstrate to students the capabilities of using the latest computer aided design and manufacturing techniques, taking their ideas right through to actual pieces of jewellery - and, of course, time is of the essence on our intensive training courses".

"The Solidscape is as easy to use as a computer printer, very fast and the accuracy and the finish is second to none".

The Solidscape range of machines uses drop-on-demand-jet technology that uses a dual material deposition to produce complex designs with the assurance of results that are geometrically perfect and, in many cases, unable to be produced by hand crafting or by milling systems.

Undercuts, overhangs and cavities are no problem because of Solidscape's dissolvable support material structure.

Model features can be fabricated with dimensions as small as 0.254mm and layer thicknesses from 0.0127mm.

Layer thickness and smoothness are maintained by horizontal milling after each layer deposition, the fine layer deposition avoiding the 'stair-stepping' that becomes visible in the final finish.

The model envelope is 6 x 6 x 6in, enabling students at the Holt School to model, for example, large pieces of costume jewellery.

After the part has been printed the nonintrusive support material is gently dissolved away leaving the final high-precision model.

No further finishing is needed.