Aluminum blocks
Categories: Products; Jewelry; Projects and equipment
Word count/read time: 358 words; 1-1/2 minutes
Thankfully it's not because I smashed some body part, and amid the cursing
everything went hazy and blurry as the pain threshold exceeded my limit.
Because that does happen on occasion.
These are physical stars minus the 10,000,000deg temperature and some other
minor details. They were designed for a dual purpose. Using common metals like
aluminum or copper makes simple holiday (tree) or other decorative ornaments.
Made with silver, they are great jewelry whether earrings or pendants. At
a maximum size of about 2.5" they won't be gaudy or intrusive.
There are seven jigs based on figures with three to nine rays or sides. The
extra holes allow doubling up, secondary points between the main ones,
smaller shapes, complex designs, and more.
Trying to do the math on possible shapes? Let me know how that goes.
I made prototypes in delrin (high-tech plastic) on my drill press.
With a printed template I can get darn close to perfection.
So close that it would only matter to me, imperceptible to the
eyes of the beholder. Which is why they are prototypes.
The new aluminum blocks will last a lifetime.
Stainless steel would have been stronger with a higher cost and heavier weight
but it was truly overkill in this application, hopefully.
The pins, however, are stainless steel
because they must not oxidize or they won't fit into the holes.
Speaking of which, the hole was so accurate that the
pins had to be sanded to fit, and fit they do.
My alternative was to be a glutton for punishment and enlarge
all 1000+ holes in the jigs.
While a manual mill could have manufactured these, it
would have been beyond prohibitive. Been there, done that with my drill press, not interested.
Besides, each hole required two drilling operations,
the first a pilot divot and quasi-countersink.
One carbide-tipped specialty drill bit with coolant hole was $70 alone!
Programmed into a CNC machine, they were exponentially faster than
anything I could have churned out. Everything is perfectly aligned and positioned
no questions asked. Making these jigs removes one more
project from the to-do list, which now rests at infinity minus one.
Posted by M: October 9, 2023
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