Techno peasant and the dead horse

by kevinpotter on November 29, 2008

Every now and then I like to drag out the proverbial dead horse and beat the crap out of it, and tonight is the night. My wife calls me a techno peasant, my friends call me a luddite, and me, I just think I am “keepin’ it real. ”

I am sure that there are a ton of people out there using CAD, CNC and rapid prototyping to make their jewelery. Notice I didn’t say jewelers or goldsmiths.

I think these people are jewelry coordinators. They take a design and make a file, then download it to a CNC machine then the machine makes the piece- it even does the bead and bright work and pre-seats the stones. Then they preset the stones in the wax and ship the wax off to a casting house where it is cast and then polished by machine and it is ready. Minimal human contact- that’s great if you are making plastic forks or toothbrushes, but we are making fine jewelry. I like to look at pieces made by other goldsmiths, I can admire the craftsmanship and can see the years of skill that went into making the piece, sometimes you can see where they struggled to set a stone or had to make a compromise to get the whole thing to work.

When I look at most stuff made in the past 5 years or so, it is all CADCAM, CNC- it is so perfect. The designs are all melding together as well. Who would have thought that setting a couple hundred quarter pointers was a good idea? They must be pumpin’ this stuff out of factories in China and India because the retail price is roughly what the materials sell for. I have had the misfortune of working on this stuff, I am afraid to put it in the ultrasonic because all the stones will fall out and no amount of super glue will ever put them back in. 

I consider jewelry a craft, not an art. I am a craftsman, not an artist. Most artists wait tables and make art on the side. Craftsmen earn their living by their trade.  I am gonna stop writing now and get out my fire retardant so I am not incinerated by the flames that will probably be leaping off the dead horse that I have been kickin’.

kevinpotter

kevinpotter

kevinpotter

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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

John Donivan December 4, 2008 at 7:57 pm

Yeah, Kevin. I read people touting CAD in jewelry and how it’s just an extension of their design skills, and then I go to their galleries and the work is 99% always computer generated crap. I would agree that it CAN be just another tool in good hands, it’s just that mostly it hasn’t reached good hands yet… Learn to make jewelry first, then learn CAD and be a jeweler with a machine shop.

Lisa Krikawa December 3, 2008 at 11:07 pm

You’re still singing that song? I love cad-cam when it applies… but it can’t bead set or bright cut or millegrain for shit. I do that. I use it for what it does well. It is a tool, at that. Maybe all that animosity should be focused on learning how to use the stuff, then maybe you won’t be so blighted. You’re acting like my 5 year old who can’t figure out how to get something to work (“this thing is so STUPID, blah blah blah…”)…. lol, just kidding dude. Lighten up. And hey, to put it into context, thanks for teaching me how to carve waxes and cast for real, like 15 years ago or something. You’ll always rate high in my book 🙂

Nel Bringsjord December 3, 2008 at 10:06 am

How well one uses a tool is in direct proportion to his ability to believe he can. In another life, I used to use Auto-CAD but it has been years, almost decades since. I tried the trial version of Rhino two years ago but do not have the patience to try to translate the tutorials to something I can understand. Perhaps going to a class somewhere would be the ticket, but that can be costly and a health hazard since I am highly allergic to perfumes and it seems most people insist on wearing them, or washing their clothes with highly scented laundry products, and get really indignant if you ask them to temporarily abstain, as if the scents will make them any more attractive (trust me, it doesn’t)…but I digress.

If Leonardo or Van Gogh had computers and digital cameras, they would have found a way to use them too. It comes down to the fact that every generation has newer tools and materials with which to work and if one embraces those things early enough, it seems easier and more natural. It is difficult to get into the newer technologies when there is a narrative running in the back of one’s head decrying all this newfangled stuff and yearning for the good ole days. I know, sometimes it takes the jaws of life to get me out of my comfort zone. But it’s natural. This type of disconnect has been happening since the Bronze Age.

Andrew Werby December 2, 2008 at 2:16 am

Another planet? Is that where we’re receiving these computer transmissions from? It seems that you don’t have a problem using the superior communication abilities afforded by that complex piece of technology you have sitting in front of you as we “speak”, but you draw the line at utilizing its equally amazing design capabilities. Why is that? If you were consistent, you’d still be using a the quill pen (after all, penmanship has only declined since then).

I’m sorry your computer’s not guaranteed to last a lifetime. The really incredible thing is that it works at all. Chances are, even if your computer did work perfectly ten years from now, you’d still put it out on the curb with a sign marked “free”. I find lots of newer machines on the street all the time. What’s your point? It’s like we’ve rubbed the magic lamp, and awesome power to shape new forms is now at our fingertips. Sure, most people won’t use it to its full advantage, and will produce more perfect versions of existing designs with less effort, just to make some easy money. But that doesn’t rule out someone else appreciating it for what it can do that’s never been done before, and doing just that. I’ve seen it happen. And when someone comes by offering “New Lamps for Old” – take them up on it…

Andrew Werby
http://www.computersculpture.com

Alastair Mundy-Castle December 1, 2008 at 10:33 pm

The horse is not dead yet and more flogging is recommended. The exotic techno tools are interesting but for me they belong on another planet.

Where can we buy a computer that is guaranteed to last a lifetime? Will the new toaster or a washing machine function for more than a year before some weak link renders it useless? Whether we like it or not instant attraction and lower prices are the rule. If the item ceases to function then it is cost effective to buy another.

Exotic techno tools deliver, China and India deliver, and when the two combine then watch out! That people actually buy the products is the problem. A pair of needle nose pliers for $2… nothing to lose by getting them in case they work…no they don’t…OK so now they are tongs for hot metal. (Mental note – next time try the $5 pliers).

The ther side of the coin is that I can get a pair of pliers that are cryogennically hardened, precision finished, super comfortable for $95. Similar machines made them, but the people-care or human element in running those machines is vastly different.

We get what we pay for, more or less, sometimes. Buyer beware and do your homework.

Jeff Demand December 1, 2008 at 3:06 pm

Kevin,
Not really wanting to fan the flames on your horse bbq…
I enjoy and appreciate most of your writing but not on this.

It is a just bloody tool, and like all tools subject to abuse. I don’t use jewellery specific cad software but can usually recognize which was used for a particular design. Don’t blame the stove when the problem is the cook. I do a lot of cadcam work and will be damned if I let the software take control, I might sometimes earn less than minimum wage but this dumb box will do what I want.

30+ years ago when at school casting was a dirty word, and only minimally taught by masters who had less than a good understanding. Lost of pure student crap was produced but one lady did amazing work, I don’t remember if they failed her or she just quit 🙂

I can be quite creative and make shit with just a file (as I recall once considered a demon tool in the past) but refrain from blaming tools for my mistakes.

Got any spare fire retardant for me ???

Jeff

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