[wunderlich]

Hi Ford,

I probably know what you wants to do. But there a very few people owning such a thing and still fewer wanting to sell it.

For those who do not know what the point for the discussions is : Click here and you may see a Medaillon Copying Lathe

Cheers, Karl

[Leon]

For those who still not know what Ford wants to do
From the U.S.Mint site



Or is Ford into hobo nickels big scale?

[Patrick Hastings]

My connection is not good lately or I would look this up myself, but try looking up Patents for the lathe. You can generally get detailed mechanical drawings of such devices.
Regards,
Patrick

[Tim Blades]

There is a copying machine that goes back a bit invented by Benjamin Cheverton, if you Google it you can find a picture .
I have a photocopy out of a book by Carson Ritchie , it could do 3-D larger or smaller and was not very highly thought of, too easy........

I do casting for a sculptor /medallist who has worked for the Royal Mint in the UK (look for IRB under the Queens head).
He said that they used to have half a dozen and scrapped them when they went computerised, they sold them off and a friend of his bought one cheap.

I quizzed him about what they looked like and all he could remember, not being mechanically minded ,was that they had a lot of cogs involved . He said that you got a much better result than you do now with CAD/CAM. I bet the Science Museum would have one.

Regards Tim.

[Simon F]

Tim Blades, on Jan 22 2008, 10:10 AM, said:

I quizzed him about what they looked like and all he could remember, not being mechanically minded ,was that they had a lot of cogs involved . He said that you got a much better result than you do now with CAD/CAM. I bet the Science Museum would have one.

Regards Tim.

Interesting that the old way got the better results. funny how that pops up now and then!!!!

[wunderlich]

Thats True.


(Goldschmiedemuseum Wien)

Please notice the subtle working clothes.

Cheers,
Karl

[tsterling]

ford hallam, on Jan 21 2008, 02:29 PM, said:

Thanks fellas, for the help.

I just thought with a machine like this one could really make some BIG money , I mean, the mint just seems to make more whenever they need any extra.

cheers, Ford

I think you've got it backwards, Ford! It looks like this machine makes small money out of BIG! A good government project - take a million dollars (pounds) and make it do what a regular person could get done for 50 bucks (quid)...

On a more serious, note, you might ask the machine question on these engraving forums. Some of the greybeards over there might know more about it.
http://www.engravingforum.com/
http://www.igraver.com/forum/

[Dick Bonham]

Hi Ford,
Being a medalist (among other things) I have seen several Janvier machines carve dies. The machines are very large and expensive. They are also designed to do medals or coins. What you need is a three dimensional pantograph. They are simple and do a very nice job. I have only seen one carve gunstocks and it worked very well.
Dick

[Tim Blades]

Hi Ford,
I found a picture of the Cheverton machine, I think it would only be OK with fairly large items.

I don't know if you all would approve but if I have to do an opposite handed item when I have carved a wax, I use a Roland 3D scanner and Carving machine. It does the roughing out and I can then hand finish. Buy now while stocks last , they are going to stop making the scanners, I wouldn't be without mine , It saves me loads of time.

regards Tim.

[Patrick Hastings]

Dick Bonham, on Jan 23 2008, 02:02 PM, said:

Hi Ford,
Being a medalist (among other things) I have seen several Janvier machines carve dies. The machines are very large and expensive. They are also designed to do medals or coins. What you need is a three dimensional pantograph. They are simple and do a very nice job. I have only seen one carve gunstocks and it worked very well.
Dick

I know three people that have Machines like this. Three dimensional mills that use a pattern to guide the mill head. They can change the scale without electronics. I have only seen one of them run. They are all fairly old and basicallly retired, the machines that is but all still work. I personnally am interested in a CNC conversion setup for tooling and machine work for various hobbies of mine. I want to build all sort of machines. You can get a some nice mill set ups with high resolutions stepper motors, complete with computer and software for $10-12K these days. Shop Task has an interesting machine for the hobbiest. It is made in china, but the customer support is american and unsurpassed. Their machines are in so much demand that they will buy them back even years later for original purchase value less shipping (assumeing they are in good shape). Haveing the lathe built in saves space if you are lacking. Good hobbiest tools. I think I could do a lot with one and the prices are not bad at all. I ramble on.
Patrick

[Tim Blades]

Hi Ford,

I am carving a model for a pair of earrings at the moment, I will take some photos as I go and post them.
The model I am working on is about 20mm diameter, the machine I have will go up to 6"x8" which is plenty big enough for me.
I thought when I first saw one that they would put hand carvers out of business, but unless your work is pretty geometric it is still easier to work by hand, and make alterations as you go.

regards Tim.

[Tim Blades]

Hi All,

Here are some pics of an earring wax I have been working on, I had already started on it when this subject came up so the first pic is fairly well roughed out.

Next most of the detail put in and the back hollowed out.

An angled view , the white dot is 10mm diameter.

The wax is then put in the MDX-20 and fixed down with double sided tape. The pointer travels across in rows 1/20mm apart and is very gentle , you can scan plasticine without leaving marks. to scan this wax took about 15 hours, lower resolution is obviously faster.

This is the machine ,about as big as a printer.

A representation of the scan, note the double sided tape came out well!

The 3D file is 'flipped' to give a mirror image and then cut in a block of wax, you cannot see what is happening, the swarf piles up as it cuts.

the opposite handed wax with most of the wax dust brushed out.

The base wax filed off with a coarse mill file .

The pair together , ready to be carved to finish, and some carving tools to get into the crevices.

I hope you don't disapprove too much, carving good opposite pairs by hand is not easy!

Any questions please ask,

regards Tim.

[Tim Blades]

Hi Ford,

Roland have dealers in South Africa,

http://www.rolanddg.co.za/index.html

They are discontinuing the two relevant models,so press for a deep discount, read more on the MDX users forum on Yahoo. http://tech.groups.y...roup/mdx_users/

The MDX-15 has a work area of 6"x4", the MDX-20 8"x6" In the UK they cost about £2000 and £3000 respectively full price new. A lot of jewellery CAD users started with one and then moved on to a better(and more expensive) one, you get what you pay for.

You could ask on http://3dcadjewelry.com/phpbb/index.php?si...bd9c267eea59b69 and see if anyone wants to sell one , they only come up on E-bay very occasionally.

There are attachments such as a more powerful(and quieter!) motor, see http://fourth-axis.com/

I just think they are an easy place to start, even though they have their shortcomings. It's a shame you have moved from the UK, you must have been just down the road from me.

regards Tim.