Yes, but a 60x40x100 build envelope could take a wee while.
The machines to do functional parts like that (direct metal printing) start at around £250k-£500k though.
Yes, but a 60x40x100 build envelope could take a wee while.
The machines to do functional parts like that (direct metal printing) start at around £250k-£500k though.
Sufficiently advanced technology
Thing is, this no more makes everyone a jewellery designer than it is a Star Trek replicator. They're tools, they've been around for decades and if you don't have a grounding in design then quite frankly it makes no difference what tool you use.
What interests me is mixing the tech areas - you can't do everything with casting, you need to know where to switch technologies. An example would be a ballerina ring - lovely fine wires supporting the setting which you can't cast, so you could do most of the work through a casting (with or without CAD), but you still need to add the wires on. I'm determined that there should be a better way than James' description of CAD turning skilled craftsmen into little more than bench techs.
I was so low tech for 30 years and then I joined a forum......! There lies the problem now, good job I have no interest in CAD or 3D photocopiers, the Durstons x2 and Swanstrom have been expensive enough, and all the other tools and all the labour saving devices that I wouldn't be without now!
I know about how 3D printing can be useful and do stuff you can't make or cast, but I fear there is some truth in what James says. Henry Ford did it with car building, it's only a matter of time now we have the technology to do it with jewellery. [/eeyore]
The internet is vile for making you want stuff you never knew about before. I keep finding these amazing stones and minerals I never heard of and I want them.
I don't understand the comments about CAD how can it make you less of a craftsperson ?
It can supplant the more traditional skills, but using it well is no less skilled.
Well designing a car is incredibly skilled. It's just the manufacture which has been de-skilled
Last edited by Dennis; 27-08-2014 at 02:48 PM.
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