Jewellery finds its roots as old as the Neanderthal living in Europe. Since then, humanity has evolved into not only different materials but also different production techniques. Throughout history, we have seen the development of new production techniques that have helped create beautiful adornments. Each production technique results from years of innovation to achieve a desirable result. Among these techniques are CNC and Laser Cut Technology, renowned for their quality of pieces.
What is CNC Jewellery?
CNC jewellery is made using a computer-controlled machine that removes material from a solid metal block, such as silver or gold. The device follows a pre-programmed path and removes away the material to create the desired shape. This technique typically creates large, three-dimensional jewellery pieces such as bangles and pendants.
What are the Steps in CNC?
CNC jewellery making involves using computer-aided design (CAD) software and a CNC milling machine to produce intricate jewellery pieces. The main steps involved in CNC jewellery making are:
- Designing: The first step is to create a 3D design of the jewellery using CAD software. This design will serve as a blueprint for the CNC milling machine. Once the design is finalized, the next step is selecting the material for the jewellery. Common materials include gold, silver, platinum, and titanium.
- Preparing the CNC machine: The CNC milling machine must be configured appropriately before it can be used for jewellery making. Here the design file is loaded into the machine, and made sure the appropriate cutting tools are set.
- Milling: With the machine prepared, the jewellery piece is milled out of the selected material. The device uses the design file to guide the cutting tools, which precisely carve the jewellery piece out of the material. Milling uses rotary cutters to remove material from the workpiece.
- Finishing: The jewellery piece is carefully cleaned and polished after the milling process. Any excess material is removed, and the jewellery is given a final inspection to ensure it meets the desired specifications.
What Type of Jewellery Can be Produced with CNC production Technique?
CNC production techniques can provide various types of jewellery. It can be used to create rings, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, et cetera. CNC platinum rings are a crowd favourite due to their precision and beauty. At PureJewels, we are a stockist for Christian Bauer rings made using state-of-art-technology that uses CNC production techniques.
What are the Advantages of Using the CNC Production Technique for Platinum Rings?
There are various benefits of using CNC jewellery while creating platinum rings.
CNC machines produce high-quality platinum rings that meet industry standards. This is because the machines are designed to operate within specific parameters, ensuring that the rings made are of high quality and free from defects.
Every platinum ring produced is consistent in size, shape, and quality. This ensures that customers receive a high-quality product every time they purchase a platinum ring.
CNC machines offer exceptional precision, which ensures that every ring produced is accurate and consistent in size and shape. This level of accuracy is critical in creating platinum rings, as the metal is harder and denser than other metals and requires precision in the manufacturing process.
What is Laser Cut Jewellery?
Laser cutting uses a high-powered laser to cut through metal. The laser is controlled by a computer, which directs it to cut the metal in the desired shape. Laser cutting is often used for creating more intricate and delicate designs. It is always used to make jewellery where filigree or texturing is required. Laser cutting is often preferred when working with very thin metal sheets or creating fine details in jewellery.
What Type of Materials Can Be Used With Laser Cut Technology?
While making jewellery using laser cutting, various materials can be used. These materials are acrylic, metal, leather, glass, paper, et cetera. Of course, the result of laser cutting would defer on each material depending on the thickness and physical properties. However, intricate designs can be achieved with great precision with laser cutting.
What are the Advantages of Using Laser Cut Technology in Jewellery Making?
There are various reasons why laser cut technology has been a crowd favourite. Laser-cut technology helps achieve intricate designs that would otherwise take time. The intricate designs are also crafted with precision. Laser cutting in jewellery can be used on precious metals and other materials such as wood or acrylic. Laser-cutting metals also enable less human intervention and more safety. The machines used for laser cutting jewellery are safe for us, reducing the chances of otherwise injury. Laser-cutting metals are also beneficial as it does not deform the metal. Since only a part of the metal is heated due to lasers, the shape holds up. Laser cuttings also minimize the loss of material due to their high precision. Due to laser cutting, artisans can also carry out other laser cutting-related endeavours, such as laser engraving. Laser engraving is helpful to add a different sentiment through personal touch to a jewellery item. Laser engraving for jewellery will always be vogue and classic.
Using laser cut technology has opened up various avenues in terms of design. It has enabled artisans to achieve consistency and to push forward design.
Is Laser Cutting Technology Safe?
Yes! One of the reasons why laser cuttings are preferred is due to their safety. Laser-cutting jewellery happens in a controlled and small environment. There is little to no human intervention when the item undergoes laser. As it is exact, there is also minimal deformation of the material. Laser-cut technology also does not use harmful chemicals. The process is more eco-friendly, and thus there is less pollution of the environment and does not hamper safety.
Laser-cutting jewellery has a minimal human intervention. There is no constant changing position of or adjusting the materials. The machines of laser cutting technology require easy maintenance.
What is the Difference Between CNC and Laser Cut Jewellery?
At a glance, both techniques can seem similar. This is because both technologies use subtractive methods to achieve the desired shape. However, the significant difference is that CNC jewellery slowly removes the material from the metal by carving and slicing, while laser cut technology directly cuts it.
You must be wondering which is better. Is using laser cut jewellery better or jewellery with CNC productions? Is laser-cutting metal durable, or should we stick to CNC jewellery? The answer is that it depends on the design. Some designs are suitable for CNC for the finish they can provide. CNC can be beneficial where more oversized items such as bangles or pendants are required. While laser cut technology can be helpful where texturing or filigree is needed. It all depends upon your design.
Laser-cut technology has its limitations when it comes to metal thickness. If the material is very thick, it cannot laser it properly.
