Reinventing History

I wanted to talk through my design process a bit. Heres product number 4 - A replica of a Roman Ring with Latin Inscription from about 400 AD.

Products start as an image or bookmark to a reference item, which I sketch up, measure with calipers, and otherwise try to dial in for dimensions. I'm a software engineer, artist, and mathematician by training - I feel most comfortable with art when its measurably correct.

Next we create a 3d model. I'm using two open source softwares -  OpenSCAD and Blender3d right now, and will probably start involving Fusion360 soon.

We use a script to generate variations (for example different ring sizes). The original was a single size but I need the runes on some of our rings hold up from size 4-14 and are be evenly spaced. I use my background in software engineering to optimize here - makefiles and a build workflow kick off OpenSCAD CLI. In the case of this product I did two versions of the models - the fonts were not quite right on the first go round so we created a custom font.

Once the model is perfect I order a prototype and if it goes well I start manufacturing the item for sale. The prototypes - like all our jewelry - are created by lost wax casting. 3d printing wax models are encasing in plaster and then burned out. The hollow is then filled with metal such as gold.

It sounds pretty complex - and it is - but we're really honing in on the turnaround time. My first product of 2019 - the Roman Ring with Latin Inscription is shown to the right in a size 7 - it took about 3 weeks to go from concept to product in hand and is now available for sale.

As a related aside - some of you might notice that the selection is a bit sparse around here. My new years resolution this year is to add 52 models (one per week) to the BoneNE catalog, so watch this space ;)