CAD programs for jewelers can be crazy expensive! They can also save a custom jeweler’s business.

We can help you make the most of your CAD investment.

Joel McFadden and Precision Bench are teaching Practical CAD for Jewelers on August 26-27, 2017, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. This is part of the Precision Bench series of private instruction courses on weekends for craftspeople who want to sharpen skills without losing valuable time at the bench.

Using Matrix® as an example, Joel will cover both design and business techniques for incorporating CAD in a modern jeweler’s business.

Joel will demonstrate CAD from beginning of a model to the finished product. Students will learn to simplify the design process by avoiding Boolean operations, making setting as easy as possible, and optimizing CAD designs for finishing castings faster. Joel will give tips and tricks for how to use CAD for improved and faster hand engraving, producing organic jewelry and preserving handmade qualities in computer designed pieces.

Going beyond bench techniques, Joel will also integrate discussion about pressing concerns confronting jewelers who run a business, including selling and pricing CAD, generating renders using depth of field for marketing and presentations, and evaluating different growers and mills.

Registration for the course is $300 per person. Students can sign up at https://www.engraver.com/practical-cad-for-professional-jewelers/ or call Rob Mitchell at 215-696-9874. Students are encouraged, but not required, to bring laptops with their own CAD software to the class to enhance their learning experience.

Precision Bench ™ is a joint venture between Joel McFadden and Precision Artistry LLC. Together, Joel McFadden and Tira Mitchell teach jewelers, hand engravers, stone setters and other craftspeople modern bench skills with the latest tools and technology.

Joel McFadden has been a jeweler for 45 years. He started with his family’s business and currently runs his custom jewelry shop in Red Bank, New Jersey. During that time, Joel has lectured, consulted, and written extensively about jewelry techniques and running a successful jewelry business.

Tira Mitchell owns Precision Artistry LLC and runs Engraver.com. She has been engraving, teaching and demonstrating for over 20 years, and she sells bench supplies including EnSet hand engraving systems, Leica microscopes, Swiss tools from Vallorbe, and various other fixtures and finishing equipment.