Advanced Jewellery CAD Modelling in Rhino

Additional Information

Master professional jewellery CAD workflows in Rhino 7 and Rhino 8

Learn the manufacturing techniques, modelling strategies, and problem-solving skills used by professional jewellery CAD designers in the first Rhino 3D book which focuses on more advanced jewellery CAD modelling.

• 320 full colour pages packed with informative and easy to follow illustrations.
• Learn how to use standard manufacturing tolerances for most types of jewellery.
• Develop better problem solving skills with a holistic approach to CAD modelling.

The book is ideal for those Rhino CAD users looking to take their knowledge of 3D modelling to a higher level, especially those who work in jewellery and small metals manufacturing via 3D printing and CNC milling.

Compatible with Rhino 8

Although I wrote this book when Rhino was in version 7, around 97% of the techniques, workflows, and modelling strategies work the same way in Rhino 8. The interface has changed a little bit (and a couple new buttons have been added), but my students and I still use this as the textbook for my Rhino for Jewellery CAD Level 2 short course and masterclasses.

Learn from decades of collected experience

I’ve been teaching jewellery CAD for two decades. In this book I’ve collected lessons learned from teaching and working with more than a thousand jewellery designers and manufacturers in Hatton Garden and internationally.

Focus on problem-solving in CAD, not just learning recipes

• Build clean, correct-to-tolerance CAD models ready for 3D printing and manufacturing
• Understand how Rhino NURBS curves and surfaces work, and how to use this knowledge for better control
• Use holistic CAD modelling strategies to break down your design problems, letting you make more complex models than ever before.
• Understand the differences between solid, surface, and subD modelling in Rhino, and where to best apply each one.
• Produce professional quality renders using only Rhino’s own rendering tools. 

 

Who this book is for

This book is ideal for you if:

1. You already know the basics of Rhino CAD modelling, equivalent to the Level 1 Rhino 3D for Jewellery short course (or my own beginner rhino course)
2. You have worked with jewellery casting or CNC manufacturing before
3. You use any version of Rhino from 7 onwards
4. You want to design jewellery at a professional level

This book won’t help you if:

• You haven’t used Rhino CAD before
• You have never worked with jewellery before

In this case, I would recommend any number of other wonderful beginner Rhino 3D for Jewellery books.

 

What’s inside

An overview of each chapter:

1. Introduction – Computer setup considerations for efficient work
2. Efficient Solid Modelling in Rhino – Holistic modelling strategy for solid construction
3. Jewellery Manufacturing Tolerances in CAD – Essential tolerances for making all major types of jewellery using CAD/CAM, and exercises showing the workflow for making each.
4. Logic of NURBS Surfaces – How Rhino understands and builds NURBS surfaces, and how you can use this knowledge for modelling
5. Surface Decoration in Rhino – Advanced surfacing techniques for inlay and texture to take full advantage of Rhino’s surface modelling tools
6. Subdivision Modelling in Rhino – A discrete subdivision modelling strategy for Rhino
7. Rhino 7 Rendering Essentials – Understanding the options in Rhino 7 Rendering and how to optimise them

For more information on the book, read this book review from Gems & Jewellery magazine.

 

Freqently Asked Questions

Does this work with Rhino 8?

Yes. In fact, with the exception of the last two chapters (SubD Modelling and Rendering respectively), all of the techniques in this book will work as is with any version from Rhino 5 onwards.

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Is this a beginner book?

No. I’m assuming you already know the equivalent of McNeel’s standard Level 1 Rhino training.

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Does it cover jewellery manufacturing?

Yes of course. I don’t just talk about modelling jewellery, I discuss the tolerances you need to keep in mind when making models for casting and manufacturing in precious metal.

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Does it use plugins?

No. I set out to make the book to demonstrate how much you could do with only standard Rhino.

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Is this suitable for MatrixGold users?

In short, yes. MatrixGold shares Rhino’s same core command set, so all the commands in this book will work as is in MatrixGold. Even SubD will work as written, although you may need to manually bring up the SubD menus from the Window menu.

All that being said, MatrixGold has dozens of unique commands which provide users with other workflows and introduce entirely different techniques for modelling, and those would be beyond the scope of a book about Rhino CAD for jewellery.

If you wish to build your skills with MatrixGold specifically, I would recommend one of my MatrixGold short courses of masterclasses.

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Is this suitable for Matrix 9 users?

Mostly yes. Nearly all the core Rhino techniques outside of SubD and Rendering have remained mostly unchanged since version 5. So all of those tools and techniques will work the same way in Matrix 9 (which was based on Rhino 5).

If you would like to get good at using Matrix 9, I would recommend my pre-recorded Matrix 9 course or a jewellery CAD masterclass.