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Looking for someone to mill detailed jewelry boxes from .stl
Hi, so first off, I apologize if this is posted in the wrong place. I'm a 3d jewelry designer looking to create a line of jewelry, each piece with it's own unique box. I''ll attach an image of something similar to what I need done, but dimensions will vary from project to project. To be honest, I'm not sure if what I'm looking for is possible. I need them to be intricate, detailed, clean and made in an array of different woods. If anyone thinks that this is something that they can do or can point me in the right direction, I'd really appreciate it.
Thanks,
Jake
Re: Looking for someone to mill detailed jewelry boxes from .stl
If you bought a Taig or Sherline mill from us (and maybe some software), you could make those yourself; as intricate, clean and detailed as you want. I think you'd find, though, that it would make more sense to mill a master and mold it than to make each box individually.
Re: Looking for someone to mill detailed jewelry boxes from .stl
Quote:
Originally Posted by
awerby
If you bought a Taig or Sherline mill from us (and maybe some software), you could make those yourself; as intricate, clean and detailed as you want. I think you'd find, though, that it would make more sense to mill a master and mold it than to make each box individually.
Really I guess one could dream
From the photos I see a 5 axes machine would be needed to be cost effective
Re: Looking for someone to mill detailed jewelry boxes from .stl
Quote:
Originally Posted by
awerby
If you bought a Taig or Sherline mill from us (and maybe some software), you could make those yourself; as intricate, clean and detailed as you want. I think you'd find, though, that it would make more sense to mill a master and mold it than to make each box individually.
Thanks, but I'm not looking to purchase a mill. The last mill that I used was a 4 - axis wax mill for jewelry and I later swapped to 3d printing everything. My first thought was to print the boxes and mold/cast them, but I need the finals in wood.
Re: Looking for someone to mill detailed jewelry boxes from .stl
OP: What would you expect the upper limit of your budget to be?
Also, on cosmetically sensitive parts like this, surface finish is a BIG contributor to the cost.
How many? Are these molds, or finished pieces?
Your questions are so open, it does not encourage answers. It encourages a barrage of questions. Anyone capable and interested in your parts will need a LOT more information. Starting with any budgetary guidelines.
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Re: Looking for someone to mill detailed jewelry boxes from .stl
They'll be very expensive, as they'll take many hours of machining with very small tools to get fine details.
How big are those?
Re: Looking for someone to mill detailed jewelry boxes from .stl
Quote:
Originally Posted by
rx8pilot
OP: What would you expect the upper limit of your budget to be?
Also, on cosmetically sensitive parts like this, surface finish is a BIG contributor to the cost.
How many? Are these molds, or finished pieces?
Your questions are so open, it does not encourage answers. It encourages a barrage of questions. Anyone capable and interested in your parts will need a LOT more information. Starting with any budgetary guidelines.
Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
I see what you mean, thanks for being honest. Ideally, I'd like to make 10 different unique boxes over the course of 2-3 months, and anywhere from 25-50 of each at around $150 - $200 per box - finish ready. Boxes would range from (4.5 x 4.5 x 2 in) - (6.5 x 6.5 x 2.5 in) I don't know if that's realistic for the amount of work that would be needed, so please correct me if I'm wrong.
Edit: Also, if if wasn't clear, they will be finished pieces, not molded.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ger21
They'll be very expensive, as they'll take many hours of machining with very small tools to get fine details.
How big are those?
The one pictured is 4.5 x 4.5 x 1.25 in
Re: Looking for someone to mill detailed jewelry boxes from .stl
As a reference:
I have the capability to make them in my garage shop but would likely pass at $200/ea.
Couple of reasons:
The programming time is not trivial for designs like that.
The cycle time will be very long - even with fast machines.
The scrap is usually high with cosmetically sensitive parts - especially wood which chunks and chips without warning depending on factors out of my control.
That can happen 2 hours into the part - and it is scrapped.
It either needs 5 axis or at least some fixturing to be built. When I had 5-axis machines, they needed about $150/hr to be interesting. Budget buster.
All in - it would be hard to justify spending the time on them for me and my expenses are VERY low compared to a traditional shop. With that said - it could fit certain situations where a machine is idle and they have an eager new programmer that needs a learning project.
If you are inclined to pull this off - a small ball screw based CNC with either linear rails or really nice gibbs could give you an economical option. That does not say anything about the learning curve for the machine or the software needed to make it happen. Expect a solid learning curve before closing in on your expectations.
Re: Looking for someone to mill detailed jewelry boxes from .stl
Looking at your images, I don't see anything that couldn't be done with a 4-axis mill (and some fixturing). If you eliminated the carving on the sides, or carved the sides first before assembling the boxes, you could get away with 3 axes. As the previous poster points out, this would be a marginal job at best for someone hired to do it on their machinery, especially if they had payments to make on it, but would be more economically feasible for you to do on your own, if you got a mill that was relatively inexpensive in the first place.
