Small Portraits on jewels and EDM

[Mustafa Umut]

I want to make 3 cm2 small portraits on jewels with edm.
I need 3 things :
DIY machine
Extreme detail and sculptural natural curves.
Computer control
I want to use artcam .
I want to learn can I change electric power to get less or more discharge per shot and survive from vertical axis movement control and can I program artcam for this ?
If not is there any software for control electric current and 2 , 3 axis control from design ?

[greybeard]

The only thing I know about EDM is that you must have an electrical path between the electrode and the surface you are machining.
If the "jewel" is non-metallic, how do you get the current to flow ?

Regards
John

[jptech]

As greybeard said, it will not work because the jewels are not electrically conductive------------John

[Tale]

Maybe it is good to start like this:

1. Make 3D CNC toolpath , using Artcam Face Wizard
2. If models are unique, machine directly a desired material on your CNC machine
3. If you wish to produce hundreds of copies, make negative form electrode from cooper or graphite on your CNC machine, and find someone who have EDM to make suitable tool for mass production.

I'm using Mach3 as controll of my small gantry CNC. Mach3 have a plenty of addons for easy programing, included as internal Wizard and LazyCam standalone module.

Best regards,
Mirzad Talic,
Split, Croatia

[greybeard]

I think we need Mustafa do describe what he means exactly by "jewel".
If he means "gems" like diamond/saphire/ or even semi-precious stones like opal/jade, then EDM is a non-starter.
If, however, he means "small decorative objects" that are "jewel-like", then that has possibilities.
Over to you, Mustapha.
Regards
John

[diecutter]

Mustafa, If you are trying to cut an image into a hard jewel such as ruby, etc., I have read of it being done using a ram type ultrasonic machine using diamond slurry and a metal negative master. This is very similar to ram edm but much slower. As greybeard says the workpiece has to be conductive for edm to be used.