crafts - [ADVERT] Introducing AAICA LLC

To all silversmiths and whitesmiths:

I am proudly announcing the debut of my company, AAICA LLC!

At the present time, AAICA's main product involves working with TUFA
as casting aid for casting silver, pewter, and low temperature alloys.

What is TUFA?

TUFA is a naturally occuring rock that forms in bodies of fresh water
over millions of years. It is created by the slow precipitation of
calcium carbonate.

This is the historic method for silver casting used by the Navajo
(Dine') people residing in portions of the Southwestern United
States.

AAICA LLC resides in Apache County, Arizona, very close to the eastern
border of Arizona, where a lot of the Navajo jewelery activity takes
place.

AAICA hopes to relieve some of the thankless drudgery involved on the
part of those Navajo silversmiths who would rather design and use
molds than cut them. AAICA would also welcome anyone else interested
in supplementing thier cuttlebone or investment casting with Dine'
methods.

Anyone familiar with cuttlebone casting can easily make the transition
to casting with TUFA. Cuttlebone is also calcium carbonate, but
produced within the
bodies of squids. TUFA therefore presents advantages over using
cuttlebone:

1) Larger molds can be created out of TUFA blocks than cuttlebones.
2) Using TUFA instead of cuttlebone can help conserve oceanic
ecosystems.
3) TUFA presents an alternative for people who have religious or
philisophical objections to using animal products as a part of
crafting.

TUFA also presents advantages over the lost wax casting method:
1) Like cuttlebone casting, TUFA is a far "lower-tech" method,
requiring less expertise and less money for the beginner or small
crafter to begin using.
2) The particles of calcium carbonate that composes TUFA are on
average less hazardous to accidently inhale or ingest than the silica
that is part of some investment powders.

AAICA's business plan is to:
1) cut and square TUFA blocks to order for freehand artists
2) produce a catalog of off-the-shelf shapes
3) creating molds to 0.01 inch accuracy using a 3 and 4 axis CNC
milling

0.01 inch accuracy is all that is typically needed by the vast
majority of cuttlebone and TUFA users who presently work by hand.

BobCAD, BobArt, and Python are used for generating the necessary
Gcode. The Gcode is executed on AXIS running under Ubuntu Linux with
the Magma real-time kernel modification.

I will be on summer vacation between 10 June and 25 July, but I will
be happy to take bids for later jobs over this period. I will also be
very happy to entertain any or all suggestions or requests by
potential customers.

Thank you all for your time, kind consideration, and past
encouragement of me as The Eternal Squire.

Sincerely,

Andrew Jonathan Fine
Owner
AAICA LLC
(928)-587-1312