Accuracy in Jewelry - To Terry Ackland

Hi,
I'm one of the new lurkers on the group. Terry asked
why accuracy is important for an artistic craft such
as jewelry. Well, let me tell you since I routinely
make several jewelry articles a week with my desktop
mill. And I hand carved everything for years!
Imagine a ring with 37 stone seats ranging from 1 mm
to 2.5 mm diameter with a depth of 1.7 mm. Each stone
seat has four tiny pinpoint prongs that are .4 mm dia.
and 1.2 mm high. This ring was made on my mill while I
worked on other things. One finished, the stones were
very easy to set, thanks to the accuracy of milling.
Or imagine a coat of arms ring where the design is
incised in a ring top at about .7 mm deep with the
name about 1 mm high lettering raised .4 mm. I do
these coats of arms rings routinely and accuracy is
everything!
I am presently retrofitting my little Taig mill
with 180oz steppers and Gecko drives on all four axes.
I expect even greater accuracy with the microstepping
and, at the very least, the bigger stepper on the Z
axis won't have as much strain as the old 111 oz
stepper did pulling the Z axis motor and spindle up.
Some of the organic looking jewelry I design is
entirely built up by hand but having been a jeweler
for
some 35 years, I can tell you that CNC has made a
great difference in my life and I love the learning
process necessary in CNC!
Bill Reidsema