Jeweller - June 2021

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Designing the future | 2021 CAD/CAM REPORT
SPOTLIGHT ON
3D SCANNING
2021 CAD/CAM REPORT | Designing the future
utility and versatility. When revolutionary materials are combined
with the unique structures 3D printers can create, the end products
better meet the needs and expectations of consumers.”
Castable Wax 40 Resin – a 40 per cent wax-filled material – is
designed to produce results “similar to blue carving wax, the
traditional material used in lost wax casting,” according to Formlabs.
Gabriel has observed an “explosion in availability” of different resins:
“Most resin suppliers are searching for the ‘Holy Grail’ of a material
that behaves like a resin when printing and like a wax when casting.
“This is an ongoing quest and the results are varied; it becomes the
problem of the casting house to work out how to best cast these
various new materials.”
One relatively recent innovation in the CAD/CAM sector is 3D
scanning. The scanner creates a digital 3D model of a real-world
object which can then be used as the basis for future designs.
David Gabriel, director Lenrose, explains the process: “We apply a
non-reflective coating to the object that is to be scanned that does not
damage the piece. This allows the scanner to register and scan the
surface. The scanner uses a very soft light source to scan, and there is
no damage at all to jewellery or gemstones.
“In general any piece of jewellery or gemstone can be scanned but as
with every process there are size and geometry limitations.”
Gabriel says preparing pieces for scanning usually takes longer than
the scanning process itself, which he estimates is about 15 to 20
minutes per piece.
Right: Moulds of
wax cast designs.
Below: Computeraided
design in
action. Image
credits: Palloys
As CAD/CAM technology has matured,
innovations have been incremental,
centred on making software interfaces
more accessible, as well as improving
the affordability, accuracy, and
efficiency of existing products, rather
than drastic change
“We started scanning about three years ago,” he continues. “The benefit
to our customers is that we can better produce CAD models to their exact
specifications. Many gemstones have unusual shapes, so we scan the
gems and then produce CAD models that fit the gemstones exactly.”
He adds, “When fitted wedding bands are required it is much easier to
scan the engagement ring and simply CAD the fitted band to suit – you
just know it is going to fit perfectly every time. There are so many varied
applications; it really makes life for everyone so much easier. It has
really been a tremendous advantage to us and allowed us to take on
more complex jobs that otherwise would have been impossible to do.”
At Chemgold, Darren Sher notes, “Improved technology in printing
allows finer and more intricate pieces to be printed and cast easily,
when using the correct software and machine.
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“An increased number of lower-priced 3D printers are entering the
market, which are suited to jewellery businesses that want to view
the prototype before production or be able to print the wax or resin
themselves and send to us for casting.”
However, the majority of Chemgold’s customers still prefer to send
CAD files for printing.
Larry Sher explains, “In the last three years we have purchased
numerous wax jetting printers which have a better surface finish and
are faster in production, allowing us to have more throughput.
“We have also purchased many more DLP [digital light processing]
printers, which enable us to print a wider range of materials. This
has made us far more versatile where we have all the technologies
for 3D printing jewellery, including SLA [stereolithography].”
At Palloys, Botha says 3D printing is now “much more accessible and
convenient for all users”, explaining, “We have seen advancement
from FDM [fused deposition modelling] to DLP printers, and
now LCD [liquid crystal display] printers are available, and more
importantly, affordable.
“More and more jewellers are experienced with the technology, it is
fantastic seeing the industry progress digitally.”
In addition to resin and wax printers, Lenrose also makes “extensive
use of 3D scanning to further enhance the quality of CAD designs”.
Best-known for its use in motion-capture for films and TV, as well
as medical prosthetics manufacturing and robotics, 3D scanning is
increasingly being applied to jewellery in order to generate digital
models of real-world pieces.
Some of the most common applications include scanning unusual
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