Nomad 883 Pro for Jewelry making

[EAkakpo (Nikitia Akakpo)]

I want to chat with someone who uses the Nomad to make jewelry. Please help!

Thank you

[Radiation (Josh)]

I’ve made a few keychains and necklaces and a fancy dogtag. Also seen other people use the nomad to mill wax for casting. Anything in particular you are wanting to know?

[bpedit (Byrne Pedit)]

I’ve only done flatwork so far, the Nomad is awesome for this. It is precise and repeatable, I’ve used it with metal, wood, mother of pearl and more. The Uffington horse pictured is about 2x real size, any irregularities in the profile are intentional. Excuse the imperfections in the enamel work, it’s my first.

In the jack rabbit box inlay, the moon is about the size of a dime. With care, you can use bits as small as 0.18 mm. The engraving on the hare was also done with the Nomad using a spring loaded drag bit. The inlaid snag was done with straight bits, more amenable for jewerly than the currently popular V method folks here use with wood. With care, a perfect fit, no matte lines (as we used to call them in the days of film SFX).

[EAkakpo (Nikitia Akakpo)]

Hi Josh, Thank you so much for the quick response. I am contemplating between buying the Nomad or the Bantam to cut intricate patterns in flat sheet of metal preferably brass and or Silver. I have heard great things about the Nomad and I was hoping if you could advise me as a fellow jewelry maker what to expect and that to avoid. Respectfully! Thank you

[EAkakpo (Nikitia Akakpo)]

Wow Byrne, your work looks fantastic especially your enamel work. My question is why would you recommend the Nomad to Bantam as a jeweler. The parts I want to cut on brass or silver are very intricate. So as a fellow jeweler which tools or clamps should I buy along side the Nomad.

[WillAdams (William Adams (Carbide 3D))]

We have a couple of threads where jewelers have discussed using the Nomad:

Cutting pure silver for jewelry

I’m using a Nomad for cutting recesses in pure silver and then applying vitreous (glass) enamel into the recesses. There have been some challenges and a learning curve. But I’m now to the point of getting some pretty good results. I cut the recess about 1/2 the depth (0.025") of 16 gauge (0.050") fine silver. I use a 1/8" end mill (#102Z) for the larger areas followed by 1/16" (#112Z) and 1/32" (#122) to define the sharp interior corners. I hold down the silver sheet with the blue fixturing wax…

Engraving on jewelry

Can the Nomad engrave on small pieces of jewelry? I own a Shapeoko XXL, is there a way to set it up to engrave on small pieces of jewelry? If so what is needed such as “bits, Spindle, etc…” Any info helps. Thanks.

Brass, bronze and silver jewelry

Hi there! I am a former sustainability consultant and newly jewelry designer. I quitted my job in May to become a full time jeweler I purchased a Nomad 883 this spring and I recently launched my first jewelry line using the Nomad. You can see below a picture of the final jewelry. For some unknown reason, I can only post one picture because I’m a new user . I use mostly brass, bronze and silver sheets, 0.8mm thick. The Nomad really allows me to replicate multiple and ident…

Jewellery details from the Nomad?

One person has posted about this: and there’s been some more general discussion (search on jewelry, gold, silver…) — mostly it seems to “just work”.

New ring I worked on today

Hi @Rasser00, Beautiful piece. Can you elaborate on the “sulfur in liquid” part for making the knot stand out ? Also if you have other pieces of jewelry you have done with your Nomad, I would love to see them, we don’t get to see many of those around here.

Best way to cut 1mm silver

Looking for ideas to cut 1mm silver in my Nomad. Sheet are no big maybe 40 by 80mm max. Need to be flat on the bed. Which table and clamps recommend. My main use with Nomad is jewelry made by silver and gold. Some ideas please.

Some necklace designs for an art show I am a part of

[image][image][image]<img src="/uploads/default/original/2X/4/40e56d564546eff890301f46d7f12c7d6d89709b.jpg" width=“690” height=“461” Hey all. This forum has been incredibly helpful for me in my process of learning the Nomad and I wanted to say thanks. Pretty much have been using the nomad exclusively to make jewelry since I first got it in May and am showing what is going to total about 90 pieces in an art show. Wanted to show you some examples. If you are curious about some of my other wo…

Timascus? Mokume?

Yes, I’ve cut Mokume with my Nomad. Works great; easy to cut, similar to when I cut Sterling Silver. I used 24 gauge Mokume that I purchase through Reactive Metals.

as well as:

https://carbide3d.com/projects/001-heart-necklace/

Unfortunately, jewelers have been quite private in their work and not many have commented on it (we sell the machines through Rio Grande, and I don’t think we’ve gotten more than 3 support tickets from purchases there).

[Radiation (Josh)]

Oh, I’m coming at it from the I like making things with my robot, hey let me make some jewelry bits.

Cutting patterns in flat sheet stock is pretty straightforward. Either machine should get you there (though the Nomad is like 1K cheaper.
Winston put up a video on doing some stuff in silver:

and

Brass is pretty easy to do. I haven’t done silver yet. Brass projects have been wax seal stamps and branding irons so far.

Most of the stuff I see jewelry related is instagram tags. This person has a nomad 3 and has done some wax casting:
https://www.instagram.com/c.l.greye/

This person has done a bunch of random stuff as well:
https://www.instagram.com/jwirth66/

More people:
https://www.instagram.com/tom_sterling_hand_engraving/
https://www.instagram.com/rawsculpture/

[bpedit (Byrne Pedit)]

If you’re working with flat pieces, the principal hold down method used by many folks here, me included, is to use masking tape and cyanacrylate glue (CA).

Tape one piece to the underside of your stock, tape another to the spoilboard. Burnish both tapes to insure good adhesion. Trim the tape on the stock if you want but leave enough to help peel it away when done.) Run a few beads of CA glue on one of the tapes and press together.

Since I typically work with small stock, I’ve customized the spoilboard. I removed it and machined the underside to accomodate 4 T-nuts. From above, with the spoilboard installed, I can then attach, with inset screws to that main spoilboard, smaller boards which are easier to replace and tram. These mini-spoilblards can be customized. Glue an L-shaped piece onto one to act as a fence if you need to return a piece to the Nomad, this can facilitate orientation. I also buiilt a plexiglass moat atop another for machining mother of pearl keeping the MOP under water (dangerous dust).

Oops, sorry I missed the Bantam part. I have no knowledge of the Bantam. I went with the Nomad after extensively searching for a machine that was Mac friendly. Be sure to check out support as well as the machine. The folks on this forum are very helpful, Carbide support is also top notch.