laser opens the doors to infinite possibilities for the design once thought to be too complex for efficient manufacturing. The unique laser CAD software employed in the laser allows perfect replicas to be produced from a photograph or hand drawing – allowing the jeweler's imagination, and the speed of light, to have complete control over the shop's design capabilities. The YAG laser employed cutting system is optimal for fine cutting in metals, replicating intricate detail with precision and ease.

Test Case: Platinum Dragonfly Wings

The project chosen to determine whether the tool would be appropriate for jewelry application was a recreation of a set of dragonfly wings in 2mm-thick, 99.5% platinum sheet. Platinum – a heavy and highly dense material

– is harder to hand-work than other precious metals and requires a dedicated set of hand tools to prevent contamination to the platinum material. Craftspeople usually begin working with platinum after they've gained experience in working with other precious metals. The special properties of the medium, teamed with the particularly detailed design, were deemed a challenging test of the cutting laser. The process began with a printed black-and-white hand drawing of the dragonfly wing. The hand drawing was scanned into a bitmap image. To create a motion control program for automated cutting, the picture was then converted from the bitmap raster format to a vector format. This was done using a standard off-theshelf, raster-to vector converter program. The vector program allows the "ins and outs" within the design to be recognized for cutting. Next, using post-processing software, the vector drawing was converted to a machine code program to be used in driving the automated servo axis of the cutting table. The laser cutting workstation is designed so that

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