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A New York jeweler uses CAD/CAM technology to maximize design possibilities and manufacturing efficiency
Featuring Tom McLaughlin, Lennon’s Jewelers: Clay, NY

Seventeen years ago, Tom McLaughlin left his home in Florida to help Lennon’s Jewelers open the doors of their new store to the community of Syracuse. Lennon’s was already a well known name in Utica where the original store opened 1945, and the owners sought to continue t he family tradition of quality merchandise and customer service in their present location. McLaughlin was living the dream that started back when his father showed him an article that led him to take a course in jewelry manufacturing. It was the best decision he had made in his life at that point.

McLaughlin, now a partner at Lennon’s has been repairing, designing and manufacturing jewelry at the retail level for 23 years. His role at Lennon’s has expanded to include design, manufacturing, custom jewelry sales as well as supervising the shop. Throughout his career, McLaughlin has kept abreast of better ways to do his work—learning new techniques, updating equipment and networking with other jewelers.

It took McLaughlin about 5 hours to design and lay it out using Gemvision’s Matrix software (he finds the ‘timer’ feature a big help in keeping track of his hours for estimates/billing.)

This Matrix rendered image shows McLaughlin’s design with diamonds and a white bezel set in yellow gold. The Matrix software allows the user to designate the metal color and finish, type and cut of gemstones and other features to deliver realistic images of finished jewelry. McLaughlin uses alternative stone and metal selections for his designs to build a virtual design inventory.

The wax for the featured ring (above) was carved on a Gemvision Revo 540 4-axis mill. It required a 2-part procedure and took nearly 5 hours to complete—a fantastic savings of time over hand carving the model.

About a year ago, he was introduced to Gemvision’s Digital Goldsmith 2D design program and later to Matrix 3 Dimensional Jewelry design software. He was hooked—he knew immediately that Matrix was the ultimate tool to facilitate design and manufacturing and the direction to take for the future. McLaughlin testifies, “Matrix has enabled me to close more sales for custom orders, reduce the amount of re-works due to misunderstandings and has enhanced our manufacturing process”. Here’s an overview of how McLaughlin is using Matrix and how Lennon’s Jewelers has benefited:

Tom McLaughlin just finished a 14-karat white gold ring with channel and bead set diamonds and a bezel set pink pear-shaped sapphire. There are 24 (1.7 mm) diamonds bead set in the sides of the ring. Even McLaughlin, who is a master craftsman, was amazed by how quickly the job was done. Since he was able to build parameters for the gemstones into the Gemvision Matrix design file and create precise settings, everything literally fell into place. “Because the beads were created in the wax, I was able to complete the setting in less than half the time it would have taken me if I did them from scratch”, says McLaughlin. “The position of each channel set diamond was also pre-determined in my design to simplify setting and notches were made to fit the pear shaped bezel, which made soldering easy, too.”

There’s an ongoing loop of McLaughlin’s finished pieces and virtual inventory displayed on DVD. It is constantly playing on a large TV in a comfortable customer seating area adjacent to the sales floor with a window to the in-store shop. “Our customers are friends, neighbors and the new-kid-on-the-block and we involve them as much as we can. I think they really like that. With the onslaught of internet jewelers and mammoth-sized chain stores,independents like us need to find ways to attract customers and stand out. We offer what they can’t, and we do it with trust, professionalism and fun—our store excels in fun”!

McLaughlin confers with his business partner Sheila Hovey regarding a design for one of her clients. Lennon’s customers love Sheila and recognize her from the store’s TV spots and radio (for which she does the on-camera work and voice-overs). Her knowledge of the industry, fashion sense and natural business savvy help her in managing overall operations, including inventory, personnel and the sales floor. Sheila has seen the positive change in their business and how customers perceive the store now that they’ve added Gemvision Matrix technology and believes in the enormous potential for CAD/CAM at Lennon’s.

Lisa Fedor, a goldsmith with over 20 years of experience works in the shop with McLaughlin. She knows that using CAD/CAM can set Lennon’s apart from other stores and is thrilled to work with the Matrix jewelry projects. “I love the detail you can achieve”, says Lisa, “and the finishing work is done in no time
and turns out beautifully”.

For information about Tom McLaughlin and Lennon’s Jewelers contact Tom McLaughlin or Sheila Hovey by e-mail at lennonland@aol.com or visit our site at www.lennonsjewelry.com

Here are the basic steps for the 2-part wax milling procedure used to create the feature ring above.

1. For this project, the “C” shaped holding device, the metal plates and a 15 millimeter block of carving wax will be used. The wax block and plates are fit into the holding device.

2. The Matrix design file was converted to a Revo mill file then loaded into the Gemvision Revo computer. The holding device is secured to the mill.

3. Once the Revo file was loaded, the mill was started. The image of the ring in the upper right corner of the monitor shows the tool path of the cutter over the wax.

4. The cutter removed wax and created the detail from one side of the carving wax block. The holding device will turn 180 degrees and the mill will cut the detail of the ring on the opposing side.

5. The mill has completed the first part of the cutting procedure.

6. The wax ring was removed from the block and secured to a hub.

7. The hub is positioned in a holding device which rotates in sync with the cutter. This image shows the cutter removing wax from edge to edge.

8. With the second and final step completed, the wax is removed from the hub. It’s ready for minor hand finishing. The incomparably smooth finish left by milling produces beautifully detailed castings. Minimal pre-finishing work is another time-saving advantage as a result of Revo milling.

Wax milling procedure by Mountain Mann Milling.

Originally published in JCK Magazine, this article was sponsored by Gemvision Corporation and writen by Mark and Lainie Mann. All photos and illsutations by Mark and Lainie Mann. © 2005-2007 Mann Design Group.