I have been looking for ways to reduce the price points of some of my designs that I sell wholesale. The majority of my current designs are constructed out of heavy 18k yellow gold. While I love the look of heavier designs, the price points are making them a difficult sale. I am exploring designs that will reduce material and labor costs. My first design is this lace sphere that will have a small amount of enamel and several 1mm diamonds set in it.
Since the sphere is hollow, I split the design in two so that the mill has access to all the undercuts. I added some supports to the model and ran the first cutting pass on the mill with a 1mm ball cutter.
The second pass is done with a finer cutter that has a diamond shaped profile.
I am now connecting the two halves with a wax working tool. I will post photos once its put together.