A new technique for Opulent Ethics; wire erosion

In our last post we talked about our latest design inspiration for Opulent Ethics. We are currently designing and deliberating how to produce a range of pomanders. As part of this we have considered a range of techniques for producing various parts of the pomanders and we have decided upon a technique that Opulent Ethics have never used before; wire erosion.

We are looking to cut plates of silver into the exact same shape multiple times and after much research we have come to the conclusion that wire erosion is the way forward.

The process involves holding the material to be cut on a bed whilst a 0.3mm wire saw blade passes from top to bottom through the material cutting the required pattern. It works in a similar way to a cheese board and wire.

The thickness of the materials to be cut can vary massively which is a welcome change to laser cutting which, in Birmingham, is limited to 0.7mm in thickness. Also, materials can be stacked so you can cut the same shape on multiple pieces of material all at the same time.

The drawback with wire erosion is that holes need to be cut into the material to allow the wire to pass through. If not placed well this could alter the outcome of the design. Luckily, the company we have chosen to use, RF Bevan, are excellent at what they do and very helpful in tailoring your designs so that they work as efficiently as possible.

Our designs will be cut from 100% recycled UK silver and will be sent to RF Bevan next week when our materials arrive. But, in the meantime, we wanted to show some examples of wire erosion in use in order to demonstrate how precise and effective the process is.

Emily Richard has used wire erosion throughout her Torus range of jewellery to fantastic effect. This range, and others that Emily does, cuts slice forms using wire erosion before fitting them together in a range of designs. The outcome is a range of clean, precise, beautiful jewellery which is different to anything we have seen before.

Emily Richard Torus pendant 

 Emily Richard Segment pendant

Another jewellery designer and maker to use the technique is Kirsty Davies. Parts of her asymmetric Precious Pieces range was also cut by RF Bevan and the outcome is a playful but simple range of beautiful jewellery.

Kirsty Davies Precious Pieces pendant

Opulent Ethics is hoping that the outcome of our first foray into wire erosion is as successful and beautiful as Emily and Kirsty’s.

That’s all for now….