cad/cam in jewellery (rhino, solidscape,roland)

I'm currently trying to complete a research
paper in which I discuss the difference, usage between the two methods-
subtractive (mdx-40) and the additive (T66) which are the ones most readily
available and the preferred here in South Africa jewellery market.I have
had the pleasure of working with both but for the purpose of research am
absolutely frustrated with what am finding info wise.Its mostly rather
overly marketed and factual with most unusable information.The little that
I have is the extreme basic (how big , how much, can ,cant) but I would like
to get the "real inside story" but always seem to land up on all the sort of
great industrial CAD/CAM sites.

Am basically discussing CAD/CAM usage in jewellery manufacture, the two
methods and the two specific machines- capabilities,benefits, dis/advantages
and how does one use it in ones workshop, and be aware of. Am not asking for
that particular information on a silver platter but can you at all assist my
in finding the right direction.I've cover their respective websites, the
international and local gold council, organisations and associations.I'm
feeling rather irritated with myself as I must be missing it all

Very few people are aware or accepting of the introduction of CAD/CAM with
the general feeling of ignorance or just refusal as they feel it devalue
their respective skills and knowledge.I'm happy to report that its improves
every day though slowly but feel that this is an issue to be address, as the
potential for growth is huge and benefits enormous.

can anyone assist
thanks in advance



----- Original Message -----
From: "Andrew Werby"
Newsgroups: alt.cad,rec.crafts.metalworking,alt.machines.cnc
Sent: Monday, April 09, 2007 9:45 PM
Subject: cad/cam in jewellery (rhino,roland,solidscape)



"Cliff" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 8 Apr 2007 22:31:14 +0200, "De Sousa"
wrote:

does anyone have anything exciting to say about cad/cam in jewellery or
just
in items of small scale?

[Sure; it's the happening thing in jewelry, and it's revolutionized the
world of small-parts making in general. With the rise of small powerful
(and ever cheaper) computers, makers of this sort of software and hardware
have found an exponentially expanding market for their products, and
prices have dropped accordingly. Now you can create just about anything
you can dream up, and produce it yourself at home or in a small shop.
Think of the awesome power at your fingertips! ]

looking particularly for info on Roland MDX-40, Solidscape T66, and just
in
general rhino

[I've got a Roland MDX-40; it's a great machine for cutting soft materials
like jewelry wax, bone, or plastic. With its built-in 4th axis, automatic
toolsetting, and included software, it makes the job of creating fairly
complex parts about as simple as milling can get. If you've got one of
those and Rhino, that's pretty much all you need to make patterns for
jewelry or (more or less) whatever you can model. Of course, with an
additive rapid prototyping machine like the ones Solidscape makes, you
don't have to worry about reaching all the surfaces of your parts with a
milling cutter, so you are pretty much unconstrained in your designs.
However these machines are expensive and demanding to maintain, so unless
you're really producing a lot of designs it probably makes sense to find a
service bureau that operates one (or the mechanically simpler Perfactory
machine from EnvisionTec) to produce your patterns for you.]

can anyone help?



[If you could be a little more specific about what you need, I'd be happy
to try...]

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com


Crossposted to rec.crafts.metalworking,alt.machines.cnc
--
Cliff