MDX-15

For a small, independent, family-run retail store specializing in custom work, breaking from tradition to embrace CAD/CAM is a big step. Ken Sanders of Joe Sanders Jewelers in Lorena, Texas, can attest to this. After taking over the business his father started 30 years ago, Sanders took an interest in CAD design in 2004. “I wanted to get into logo jewelry with fine lettering—something nearly impossible to do by hand,” says Sanders. “But I didn’t have six months to learn a CAD program.”

Daunted by some of the pricier software and CAM options on the market, he discovered an alternative one day when flipping through an edition of Southern Jewelry News. “I saw an ad for the MDX-15 mill by Roland, which was being distributed by local reseller Jeff Dunnington of 3-D Wax Mill. The entry-level mill and 3-D CAD software were being sold as an easy-to-use bundled package for around $3,000 at the time.” Comfortable with the price tag and in search of a program with a short learning curve, Sanders visited Dunnington’s Web site to learn more. There he saw examples of detailed logo jewelry similar to that which he was interested in creating. After speaking to Dunnington and hearing about how easy the system was to learn, he was convinced.

And it’s had a tremendous impact on his business. “I use the mill just about every day now,” he says. “It’s incredible what kind of business we’ve generated with it.” Sanders notes that he now feels totally confident accepting jobs for detailed logo jewelry, such as a line of award rings he did for a local trucking company, because of the technology’s capabilities.

Considering the boost in business he’s seen with his new CAD/CAM capabilities, Sanders is considering upgrading to a “bigger and faster” mill. He is eyeing Roland’s new JWX-10 four-axis mill. Although Sanders recently purchased a rotary attachment for his three-axis MDX-15, he says it’s not the same as a true four-axis machine. “With the MDX-15, you have to compensate a bit for distortion,” he says. “For example, when you take a circle and you want to mill a head, you have to lay it out oblong as opposed to a true circle because the mill will distort it a bit and it will come out more oval than round.”

Although purchase of the MDX-15 comes with a spreadsheet of figures to plug into the machine to compensate for distortion, this extra step would be eliminated in a true four-axis mill, says Sanders.