On Thursday 10th October we welcomed some of the entrants to the Goldsmiths Craft and Design Council’s “Design for Direct 3D Printing Award” to our facility in the heart of the Jewellery Quarter. This is part of our sponsorship of the award, providing the opportunity to enhance their entries by understanding more about Additive Manufacturing.
Kicking off the day
We welcomed the entrants on-site with a talk about Cooksongold and an introduction into our Additive Manufacturing. With the talk already sparking questions from the jewellers and inspiring them from the start we proceeded with the tour of our facilities.
We felt it was vital to show that not only are we a jewellery supplier but a true bullion refinery, assay and scrap business too as it highlights that we truly can offer a full solution within the AM and it highlights our extensive experience with precious metals and jewellers.
Cooksongold on tour
After our talk, we showed the entrants around our facility, starting with our state of the art lab that tests our metal, moving through to our manufacturing and logistics and even getting to hold a gold bar from our refinery. We also showed our powder atomiser, a key part of our 3D printing and material development capabilities.
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- Seeing the lab in action
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- A quick stop at our wedding ring production area
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- The jewellers taking in our manufacturing department
The world of 3D printing
Our final stop is our 3D printing area, where the jewellers got to see and feel pieces that had already been produced by our team – a key area for showing exactly what can be produced with precious metal AM. Jewellers were already forming questions around their design and the best way to approach their entries.
As part of their brief the jewellers are tasked with making commercial pieces and to highlight this, we showed them Marie Boltensterns latest pieces straight off the machine – her work is a clear example of exquisite pieces designed for the technology and a way to make them commercially viable.
Taking the time to understand how pieces are made with Additive Manufacturing
Designing for Additive Manufacturing
As an added bonus, our AM technician, Zoe Parry-Evans led a talk on designing for the technology, highlighting ways of enhancing designs as well as looking at how the design guidelines
Final thoughts
We’re thrilled to say the day is a success and many of the jewellers and the Craft and Design Council members present saying the day has inspired them. Brian Hill of the Craft & Design Council commented:
A big thank you for the very successful open afternoon at Cooksongold. Both Peter and myself thoroughly enjoyed this most informative session. An excellent education and interactive session with plenty of questions generated throughout the presentation and tour.
With many of the jewellers echoing Brian’s thoughts, we’re hoping to continue this and our sponsorship of the awards to support jewellers. Building on this, we’re taking part in the Birmingham School of Jewellery’s employability week by offering a similar tour and talk for the students at the school. We hope this continues to inspire jewellers to embrace 3D printing within their work.
All photos are available here.