JWX-10

Sometimes one type of milling machine just isn’t enough. Mark Bisler of Ideal Diamond Source in Richfield, Ohio, has been using CAD/CAM for two years. The diamond wholesaler manufactures a line of semi-mounts and purchased Gemvision’s Matrix to do custom design work and special orders. After a year of using the design program, Bisler purchased the Revo540. “I was considering a rapid prototyping system, but I had heard stories of jets jamming and systems going down more than they were up,” he says. “Four-axis milling has been around for many years, and even though I can mill only one model at a time, I have more control over quality.”

When Bisler realized that one mill just wasn’t enough to keep up with model making, he decided to purchase another mill. This time, he gave the JWX-10 a try. “I initially bought it for the performance and cost,” he says. “It’s less than half the price of the Revo.” At the same time, he invested in some platinum casting equipment that he later realized was not what he needed for his operation. So he returned the equipment and used the money to instead buy, you guessed it, another mill, a Revo.

Armed with two Revos and a JWX-10, Bisler runs all three mills 45 to 50 hours a week. “If someone calls us at 4 p.m. and they need a wax to cast a ring tomorrow, we can provide that kind of service.” Having had experience with both mills, Bisler has a unique vantage point to compare the pros and cons of each in a real-life scenario.

“Out of the box, the Revo mill was more user-friendly than the JWX-10,” he says. “Since the Revo is designed to run with Matrix—all the toolpaths, machine setup, and tutorials are written into the software—someone familiar with the CAD software shouldn’t have a hard time getting this mill ready for use in a relatively short period of time.” Bisler said he encountered some problems initially setting up the axes on the JWX-10. However, since the time Bisler purchased the mill, Roland ASD has added new CAM software and fixtures (both manufactured by ProtoWizard in Richmond, Kentucky), which Bisler says improve the setup and functionality of the machine so it is more user-friendly.

Len Klutts of Klutts Jewelers, a manufacturing retailer in Morgan City, Louisi-ana, thinks the JWX-10 and ProtoWizard are a match made in heaven. He was first introduced to ProtoWizard when the Max 10 cnc Mill he purchased was collecting dust in his back room. “It takes a machinist to write the toolpaths that drive the mill, and I’m not a machinist,” says Klutts. “When I got the ProtoWizard software and hooked it up to my Max Mill, I was finally able to produce jewelry waxes.” No matter what CAD system you are using, you can take the CAD file into the ProtoWizard CAM software and, in a few steps, produce the code the milling ma-chine needs to create your design. The ProtoWizard fixtures, which are designed specifically for jewelry model making, hold the wax in place. “I can build head settings with galleries and even write someone’s name on the side. The fixtures are that good,” says Klutts.

With his Max Mill up and running, why would Klutts want to invest close to $10,000 in the JWX-10? Well first, there’s speed. “It was like going from roller skates to a Cadillac,” says Klutts. “A complicated ring with galleries takes much less time on the JWX-10 than it did on the Max. There is no comparison.” And then there’s the noise factor. Klutts says he had to dedicate the back room of his shop to the Max Mill. The mill was so loud that when it was running, his son refused to work at the bench in the same room. His son gets fewer breaks now thanks to the JWX-10. “It’s like a little bee buzzing in the background,” says Klutts.

If you are working in a compact environment, such as a small retail store, the JWX-10 is ideal, adds Bisler. “It’s small and light, and it can be moved around easily. It’s a fully enclosed system so it’s really quiet, unlike the Revo. I can’t talk on the phone in the same room as the Revo when it’s cutting.” An enclosed milling area and portability also invite the technology to be displayed in the showroom. “It really dazzles people when you put it in the front of the store,” says Klutts. “It’s a great selling tool, and the enclosed milling area means it’s not a safety hazard like the open mills.”

The one drawback to the design of the JWX-10, says Bisler, is the cooling system. He favors the method used on the Revo machine. “The Revo sprays a coolant on the wax during cutting, which stops the particles of wax from clumping and getting caught in the tools,” he explains. “The JWX-10 has a fan blade on the rotary axis designed to blow away excess wax, but it’s not as effective as the coolant. Improvement of this feature could produce waxes that are even better than the high quality achieved currently.”