Hi Graham,

I was only a small step in this project, the client is nto mine nor is the design, I was simply the prototyper in this case so I am unable to tell you how long the design took but I can tell you thsi ring has been worked on by three people so far to bring it to completetion, i will post Colins remarks below on that.

As for my bit, hmm 30 minutes for pathing, an hour of wax setup and about 5 hours on the mill all up then about an hour of post milling cleanup.

Colins remarks

Hi Everyone,

I'm extremely grateful to Bert & Chris for their assistance with this project, so a really Big Thanks goes out to both of you!!

OK, here's the basics of this:
A Retailer that I'd previously done some CAD/CAM work for had a Customer wanting a Crest ring to be made.
The Customer supplied their ideas & info on how they wanted it to look & the overall size they wanted it to be when finished.
Apparently the Customer knows someone that'll cut an Onyx the shape of the Shield & also carve the Crest details onto it too.

So having sorting out most of the "iffy" details, I consulted Chris on the making of this model, especially as he'd be milling it.
Chris & I both agreed this model was best suited being made with ArtCAM.
Chris had a very similar project made by Bert, so I asked Bert if he would be interested in doing this model for me.
Luckily for me Bert said "yes", so a price was agreed upon & Bert proceeded to work his magic on this design.

A couple of screen captures from AC later & then Bert supplied me with a 3D PDF file to check out the completed model.
This model then went straight onto the Customer who finally decided it was good to go.

So this job was conceived in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, Australia...
...to be created by Bert in the USA...
...to then be milled by Chris in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, Australia.
It truly is a "Global Marketplace" & this is a "Global" piece of jewellery.

So once this wax is supplied to the Retailer, that'll be the last I'll see of it unfortunately.
If I'm really lucky, I might just be able to score a photo once it's all completed...if I do, then I'll be sure to post it here.

Here's a collection of the various screen captures & renders that flew back & forth across the Internet for this job.

regards Colin

[/qoute]

I'm so used to seeing perfection, so I've just got to ask the story behind the marked area....

dropped the piece onto my workbench while coring it, basically the ring get cut with no fgnerhole then i file it up by hand. irksome job.. if you check the dragon ring from a few posts ago very carefully you wil also find one ding

these things still hae to be cast and tumbled tho and the 0.005 cast finish and 0.005 tumble flattening tend to be a great equalizer

Simply......friggin amazing, my friend    ..... that appears to be a huge ring

Dave

Chris, I wish I could do the same thing as you do.


Wonderful work my friend.

Jeff

thanks guys, things been slow actually, may need to jump into another industry at some point in the future.. any tips? hints, what can i do other than jewelry that I can apply my skilset too guys?

anyway, that said here is the kind of job milling was made for...  Lucky Caro was cutting

render


wax




my $50 usb webcam.. does 10x 60x and 200x

10x

60x milligrain

60x 50 micron stepover back of pendant

60x 20 micron stepover front of pendant

thanks guys, things been slow actually, may need to jump into another industry at some point in the future.. any tips? hints, what can i do other than jewelry that I can apply my skilset too guys?

I think we have been here before Chris.

Nobody ever got rich working for the man and nobody ever got rich working with their hands.

Sorry buddy but you just have to use your head.

Tweakie.

Chris,

check out the field of micro machining, this is a boom industry mainly for space and medical sectors but plenty of money for the ones that can do it.

Don't tell everybody though 

Graham

A sneak peek into next job, one more for colin, oversize head and shank for a LARGE amethyst.
This is the stone, usb jack for proportion





The shank is not worth going into detail on, just a pic, simple flip cut



SOme pathing imagery

Half the job to be cut


Roughing the rotary pass


Finishing the Rotary Pass


Top Down Roughing


Top Down Finishing



Melt some tube!




Hook some oversize wax into the lathe




Surface it


Load into Mill


Roughing




[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJYVsiIG8h4[/video]



Roughing COmplete


Finishing Starts


Finishing Finished.. 5 hours later....



Rotate Fixture upwards 90'


Zero out X and Y


Zero out Z


Top roughing


ROughing done!


Change cutter and rezero fo final pass


[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrQqIWpYYsk[/video]


Finishing pass done!


Cutoff Profile operation


and she is done.. phewwwwwww

You make it all look soooo easy Chris. 

Tweakie.