Sorry for the bad picture. Visualizer crashes so I can’t save the picture correctly. i have the diagonal pattern, but since these diamonds are barely even 1mm they look unrefined.
It’s more for function than looks, being that with only 4mm of knurling total, a few large diamonds have to be squeezed into 4mm of space. (Looks better when you have many smaller diamonds and they “disappear” into the top and bottom edges. Also, after casting and finishing, they won’t be so sharp anymore.
Can you recommend another renderer since Visualizer crashes and sucks please?
Yep. Shackle Clasps that I want to print in wax and then cast in Argentium Silver. (A premium silver that has germanium instead of copper which makes it whiter and will not tarnish) That is why there is a unicorn symbol on them, it’s the hallmark for the premium Argentium Silver. It’s an amazing alloy that makes the low cost of silver as a precious metal retain the resistance to oxidization and tarnishing like platinum and gold.
I think I will try to see if people would like a premium clasp for making those sailor rope bracelets or using in beading jewelery, etc. I will also use one to make my own marine anchor chain necklace.
Now for your question of the threads… There is usually 1 to even 3% shrinkage when you cast metal alloys. So it’s better to actually cut the threads after you have cast models. Even if I were lucky enough to make these out of gold, the big dogs still cut the threads after. (You normally want less waste if you are using expensive metals like gold or platinum, but they still cut the threads and just try to recover the filings later. Full time jewelers actually send in their chairs after a certain amount of time to a refiner and get 3,000 dollars back due to the gold filings in the fabric). If you try to design the threads now, you may get more shrinkage on one part like the bolt, and then less shrinkage on the internal threads of the shackle… and then you have too much slop.
What I did was make the diameter of the bolt a little bigger than 6/32, and I made the hole in the shackle much smaller than needed. After casting, I can use the proper drill to open up the shackle holes, and the bolt will probably very close to the .1380 or slightly bigger for accepting the die to cut the external threads.
Shrinkage is the number one problem with casting. When they make molds, they sometimes make the molds the 1 to 2% bigger so that when they shoot wax models to be burned out and then cast… they get almost 100% of the size they want. But there are so many variables that effect shrinkage… the alloy, the size of the sprue button, the size of the sprue connections, the temperature of the flask… etc.
I’m throwing out my first knurl. It just looks weird since it’s too small for the large diamonds. Looks like a medieval mace!
So here is any early shot of my new knurl (thumbscrew) for the shackle bolt. They make perfectly vertical knurls without diamonds but thought I would give it a twist.
I didn’t like the Kerkythea renderer. So I will have to keep trying other renders.
I didn’t like the interface. I read it works excellent for free. But if I need to spend time learning it, I may hold out for a better rendering package.
I’m probably not patient enough is all. If I find some tutorials on line on how to use it, I may return to trying it.
thanks for all your help again.
I have a lot of models getting far along now thanks to you.
I didn’t soften my new vertical knurl. I think it will be perfect for what I want. These are very small, only 5mm wide and the vertical knurls are probably 4mm high. You can’t see it, but I already had squared the very edges of the knurl vertices.
Also, by the time you cast them in wax, cast them in metal, and then finish them with radial disks and polishing compounds… they would never still be sharp even if you had designed them sharp.
This is a casting TREE hate them . . Worked for T. Castings and had to remove the nubs on hard metal stuff mmmmmmmmmmm ! nasty words there LOL . . I made a way to make the parts easier and faster ! ! And they raised the price and lot the contract . . Oh well !
Ah, interesting. So how did you do it? I hear there are nice heavy duty bolt cutter style tools for snipping lots of feeders/sprues all day. But I can image that would still get tiring.
I only make a small number of jewelry items as a hobby, so I just cut feeders or sprues with a saw. But this creates a lot of swarf/shavings. High production casting places would never do that because they would lose more gold than if they just cut the feeders with bolt cutters, then only file away smaller amounts of the sprues.
