Aluminum blocks
Categories: Products; Jewelry; Projects and equipment
Word count/read time: 350 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) and 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.
I made seven jigs based on starts 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.
Delrin (high-tech plastic) was a good material for testing the concept.
With a printed template as a drilling guide, I got pretty close to perfection
even on my drill press. So close that it was imperceptible to the
eyes of the beholder, but they were prototypes.
The new aluminum block versions will last a lifetime and were made on a CNC mill
so the precision was unwavering.
The pins are stainless steel
because they must not oxidize or they won't fit into the holes.
Speaking of which, the holes were so accurate that the
pins had to be sanded to fit, and fit they do.
My alternative was to enlarge all 1000+ holes in the jigs.
While a manual mill could have manufactured these, it
would have been beyond prohibitive. Like several work days, no thanks, not interested.
Besides, each hole required two drilling operations,
the first a pilot divot and quasi-countersink prior to the main hole.
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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