From the P's Desk

p schmidt · Post by **p schmidt** » Sun Jun 05, 2005 2:27 pm

actually i remade the wax a little thicker and cut at a higher speed this time. i used .45 end mill (harbor freight) set at ...xy 15mm/per sec...z down 8mm per...cut in at .5mm per pass ..total time 1.75 hours.as you can see from the pics. i milled it to .1mm of the table. i put masking tape down on the table and super glue the wax ontop of the tape (5 small drops) all i have to do to remove my model from the table is pop it off with a razor knife. with this delicate of a wax you would never get it off carpet tape without damaging or leaving a large amount of base to be removed by hand later.i mill my pieces as close to the table as possible so i don't have too much wax to remove ,then just peel the tape off the table for a clean surface ready to go again. a technique i highly reccomend! has anyone tried it yet?

p schmidt · Post by **p schmidt** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 12:50 pm

making one with 3 stones .. xy 15mm per/sec ..z down 10mm per/sec z cut in .5mm per pass ..milled to .1 mm to table...(40 min total)
just curious what do you guys allow for shrinkage i milled in mod.4 and increased the size by 10% the center stone is apx 16.6mm long increased to 17.8mm stone falls through i know shrinkage will not be 1.2mm i've heard just make it so the stone fits in that has been my past experiance any input

JewelryDoctor · Post by **JewelryDoctor** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 6:56 pm

Pat It has been my experience that when I am doing an orginal model for the customer I have never allowed for shrinkage. Now I might allow alittle extra thickness to certain areas but only like a 1/10 of a mm or so. Now if I am going to make a mold using regular molding rubber then I will allow for the 10%. Hope this helps.

Michael

Colin Creed · Post by **Colin Creed** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 9:20 pm

Hi Pat,

Another nice job on those waxes, they're looking really good.

I agree with Michael about the shrinkage, it's always going to depend on what the wax is for.
If I'm hand carving a wax for a Master that's to be moulded, I normally allow 10% for the shrinkage.
If it's for a "One Off", I'll allow about 3% for casting & clean up.
When milling a 2mm band, I'll tend to allow another 0.2 - 0.3mm for casting & clean up.

Remember also that the shrinkage factor when moulding is not uniform.
Thick areas will have slightly more shrinkage than the thin areas, within the same design.

hope this helps, Colin

Post by **jeff dunnington** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 9:16 pm

Pat you are doing some great stuff.
I think you got it!!!

Love to see some of the finished.

p schmidt · Post by **p schmidt** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 8:40 am

okay here's some pics
jeff, glad we can post pics again i rushed these out not real good photos buy interesting!

finished pieces from waxes on page two

p schmidt · Post by **p schmidt** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 8:45 am

more pics ..... experimental 2 piece waxes

cluster top

p schmidt · Post by **p schmidt** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 8:47 am

1 more 2 piece...draft finish

p schmidt · Post by **p schmidt** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 9:13 am

working on a jig so you can flip the piece over and still be centered... still a little off for right now (just an experimental piece)
this is the front and back view of the same wax (draft finish)..on a piece like this you would just cut the four tabs to release your model then finish the edges.

p schmidt · Post by **p schmidt** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 1:15 pm

colin, don't know how i ended ahead of you on my responce but ...thanks mate, these waxes are just quick experiments, all in rough draft..not made for anything in particular. just wanted to show you guys a different way of looking at things.you know if you made the settings as a one piece wax on the mill, the sides and back would be solid ...too heavy! too much gold!
you'd then have to carve the rest but hand.. so this is my version of some basket settings. (buy the way the top one is a cluster top i thought a guy like you would appreciate that one more ) i'd put a smiley face here but i don't know how to do that!
anyway just one more thing to rack your brain when designing your pieces.
if anyone needs to see the files let me know i'll post them.

Colin Creed · Post by **Colin Creed** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 1:28 pm

Hi Pat,

Really nice work, looks great. Well done!!

The wax for the 4 claw-double bezel setting came out well, what size stone did you make it for?

regards, Colin

Jwlrymkr · Post by **Jwlrymkr** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 10:33 am

Nice stuff Pat!
P.S. pretty fingernail polish too!

Ken

p schmidt · Post by **p schmidt** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 3:11 pm

here's a experiment to see how my flip over "L" stop works. i finally perfected it !!! the sample locket was milled on both sides including the tube hinge i added the pin just for the picture..

this is just a rough experiment i did'nt clean the edges up as nicely as i would have for a final product. ...i cut this in mod.player from a slab 5mm thick with a .45 end mill ...2mm deep cut per pass (z) at 8mm per sec. x/y then final.. the rough left alot of thick/uncut wax but the final cut easly handled it. i will try it in mod.4 with contour settings to compare the finish/fit.

p schmidt · Post by **p schmidt** » Fri Aug 05, 2005 9:14 am

here's some pics of a locket a little better than my last ...using my flip over stop/jig seems to work pretty well

McCay · Post by **McCay** » Fri Aug 05, 2005 4:44 pm

Nice... Be sure to post a picture of the finished piece when you get it assembled.

McCay

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