THE 5 Cs OF CUSTOM

Steve Satow

 

 

1.  The customer is satisfied from a basic counter sketch you provide that you have a solid idea of what they want.  They are confident with your reputation from other designs you have done for previous customers and they leave you with a small non-refundable deposit to cover your time for a CAD rendering.  You decide the deposit amount based on your estimation of the complexity of the design.  If you’re only tweaking a preexisting design this charge can be waived at your discretion.

 

 

2. The customer returns and approves your CAD design.  It may take a little adjustment or they may love it right away.  Either way you have an infinitely adjustable and duplicatable file now.  One that the customer can see from any angle they desire.  I have seen absolutely beautiful artist sketches that took longer than a CAD design, that the customers walk away from because they didn’t have the vision to see what the finished piece looks like from all angles.  Worse yet they approve it based on a one view sketch and refuse the finished piece because they didn’t imagine it was going to be that thick etc.  At our discretion we can have the pieces milled, grown, inject a preexisting mold if it’s a tweaked piece that we made a mold of, or if a finding exists that matches the one, or all of the pieces, order it.  If preexisting parts can be used for part or all of the article, the time invested in the CAD drawing can’t be looked at as wasted time if it helps closes the sale and reduces the need to redo a piece to satisfy a customer.  Some customers may request to see a finished wax model before it’s cast.  Either way this is the time to get at least half down now in a non-refundable deposit to cover your costs.

 

 

3. Casting the pieces, have them cast, or order the casting from a vender.  Any combination can be used to bring the piece together as cost effectively as possible.  Many places offer milling and casting of your finished CAD model in a very time effective method.  This does get slowed considerably if the customer wants to view the model before casting.  This is where in house milling is a great asset.

 

 

 

 

4. All the castings and stones are ready to be finished, set, and assembled for our project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. The sprues are quickly removed from the bail by simply clamping them in the Benchmate and filing them.  This is all that’s needed if you use a 6 in. knife edge wheel with gray star to gently round the edges and polish the grooves.  Then a finish buff with the same type of wheel and the rouge of your choice and your part is ready to go.

 

 

 

 

6. A tapered head like this is a pain in the rear to file a sprue off.  This multipurpose clamp makes it easier and faster.  Order several sets of pins.  Cut them to various lengths.  Roll out 12 gauge copper electrical wire to make copper shields that fit over the pins when they are spaced at different intervals.  This allows them to bend and take the heads’ shape as you tighten them.  The copper is dead soft from silver soldering them and a quick quench in the pickle.

 

 

 

7. This side view shows a slight break in the taper at the top of the head.  It allows it to be clamped so the sprue can be filed off the bottom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 C's of Custom continued