Hi there this is really important to our business, we are trying to support our family through our workshop, anyways
Specifically what I'm looking for is..
gemstone setting and lost wax casting, cad jewelry design
What i hope to get out of it, is to improve my skills with setting and learn the ins and outs of casting including the equipment necessary(i dont want to purchase hobby equipment)
Any ideas folks, courses need to be like a week in length each and in english.
I'd prefer to pay an individual who has all the skills to do this, and apprenticeship would be great. Money of course is a hindrance but installment payments would work
I have no pointers about learning casting and CAD, but if you're serious about learning microscope setting you can check with Alexander Sidorov in Antwerp: http://alexandreschool.com
One remark perhaps: you can book one-week courses with Alexander, but I suspect this will only be useful to you if you have expertise with stonesetting already. You should also be aware that one week courses are not cheap: they come at a four-digit price in euros. Feel free to mail them and explain your situation in any case, they will surely help you decide. But just to give you an idea: I followed the three-month course and the first week is dedicated to learning to engrave using GRS pneumatic equipment.
There are other courses in Belgium, but as far as I know those are one-evening-a-week affairs that require one or two years of basic goldsmith courses before they even let you pick stonesetting as a specialized follow-up course. I guess these will not be what you look for.
You did not mention where you live, but why specifically in europe? I just looked up CAD jewelry design in google, and IGI seems to offer courses in India: http://www.igiworldwide.com/cad_design_course.html It might be worthwhile considering all available options
Mods, this might need to go into another section or multiple sections...
Thanks for those tips, I'm not a newbie, Ive been self taught for the last three years and spent well into 6 figures worth of equipment cnc included. 2 faceting machiness etc...
Maybe what im looking for is more of contacts / associates in europe, I say europe because I live in the south of france (i dont speak much french which is a major problem, but id be willing to have language exchange at the same time, perhaps there are things we both could learn from each other)
I really need a professional casting system(any recommendations i dont have tons of money but i can hget into the late 4 figure mark), i dont have , would love to have anyone in the area come over and have a look, and perhaps come to some kind of arrangement in terms of help
I feel I need help especially in the stone setting, i can set rounds cause there are tools that do that, but if i make a custom shape then I get into trouble etc...etc..
I do this full time and am getting semi steady sales, we need marketing help etc etc... we are a new biz...
I know a shop who moved to a vacuum-induction casting system by Indutherm. They used centrifugal casting before that, and were very happy with the improvements after the change.
To CAD design the wax, Rhino3D (possibly combined with the Matrix plugin) seems to be very popular. I have no idea which brand of wax printer they use, though.
I buy much of my equipment from a local shop Buko, who have dealers worldwide. There is one in Lyon too, for instance. They are sure able to help you with many of your questions regarding casting and design.
(Just to be clear: I have no business interests in any of the names and companies I pass along here. They are people I know and work with personally and I give their names here as you specifically asked for pointers to people you can contact.)
I am sure the moderators will move the post if necessary
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