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3 -axis machining of a brooch prototype Nowadays, the CNC milling machine is not applied widely in the jewelry industry. The major causes of this are the facts that Thai jewelers are not necessarily skilled in using the machine and the cost of the machine is considerably high. The objective of this research is to apply Computer-Aided Design, Computer-Aided Manufacturing and Computer Numerical Control milling machines (CAD/CAM/CNC) to jewelry manufacture. Since the investigated milling machine is a 3-axis machine, its 3 axes limit the machine workspace. Thus only certain designs of jewelry parts will be studied. A brooch is considered because it has texture on one side only. The research states that a 3-axis milling machine is suitable for a pre-cut or simple design metal part. As for a complex design, it is economical to cut a wax prototype with a 3-axis milling machine instead of metal. Small cutting tools are recommended to enhance the finished surface.
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Installation of a rotary indexing
table on a 3-axis milling machine for manufacturing a jewelry prototype (4-axis,
it seems) This
project aims to modify a 3-axis milling machine to have one more axis in
order to manufacture industrial products: a jewelry prototype. The method is to integrate
Computer-Aided Design/Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) and a 3- axis
CNC milling machine. A rotary indexing table will be attached
to the 3-axis milling machine in order to rotate a workpiece. Early, the
machine has only 3 axes (X, Y, Z) and its 3 axes limit the machine workspace
that is; only 3 flat surfaces in space can be milled. With a rotary indexing
table attaching, the machine will be able to mill radii, circular grooves and
circular sections. This increases the ability of the machine in working on
several designs efficiently (This is not new technology to apply though I 've
amazed some Thai researchers ) |
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5-axis machining of jewelry and machine
kinematics analysis and selection There are few methods used for making a jewelry prototype; the conventional method is handcrafting by a craftsman, which consumes long production time. This method is considered being eliminated. The new high technologies will replace. Another method is rapid prototyping technology (RPT), which is considered costly process. The study reported here has considered a third approach, which may be the optimum solution for jewelry prototype making; the use of Computer Aided Design (CAD), Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM), and a five-axis Computerized Numerical Control (CNC) milling machine to manufacture a finger ring. The study states that there is possibility of using a five-axis milling machine to mill a finger ring, but the typical five-axis milling machine is excessively large compared to a small finger ring. Therefore, several machine kinematics of a five-axis milling machine has been studied and finally the most suitable one has been selected. |
