Product review: Ring Genie by Chris DeCamillis

[rod]

Official businesses have to follow rules about exporting and that is understandable, but have a US friend buy and send it to you informally. I do not want to encourage anyone to break the law, but clearly regulations are in place to stop massive impact on a country's economy and jobs, which clearly our wee tools and the occasional DVD are not going to impact.

Typical covering letter...

" Hey, Buddy!

you forgot to pack this funny little gizmo in your bag when you left, so here it is ..."

 

[Marrinan]

Chris, if I can be any help here in the USA personal message me or contact via email at rrrf68@gmail.com and would be happy to be a contact here in this country-Fred

 

[Christian DeCamillis]

First and foremost, Thank you all for your kind words. I just want to let everyone know that I am in the process of setting up distribution in Europe. It will be completed by the end of the month. I didn't want to take orders here in the US for europe, since this process will begin soon. As far as Australia is concerned I just sent something there before Chrismas and it was no problem. I will be glad to take an order and figure out the logistics, and a credit card for payment will suffice. I would ask though PLEASE. if you are from another country or have any special inquireies, send me an email. The link is in Sam's review.You can also send a PM. Sam has made it clear that we can make an announcement of new products, but doesn't wan't the forum to be used as a place to make sales, unless it is in the classified section. I don't think that if someone uses a tool and want's to give it a personal review there is any problem as long as we don't get into tool wars. I don't belive there is a problem here yet in this thread, but the potential may exist. Sam if you have any comments so we all understand please let me know. Again Thanks to everyone Chris

 

[Sam]

No problem at all, Chris. Thanks for your concern though. Announcements, reviews, comments, and discussions are always welcome. Order taking, etc, is to be done privately, which you have done.

Ring Genie is getting a lot of interest

~Sam

 

[Kevin P.]

Chris, I may have missed this but why plastic and aluminum collets. I assume they have different uses?
Thanks
Kevin P.

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Chris, I may have missed this but why plastic and aluminum collets. I assume they have different uses?
Thanks
Kevin P.

The plastic one are if one wants to drill a hole in the ring without damaging the aluminiums.
The video explains it.

arnaud

 

[Gemsetterchris]

First and foremost, Thank you all for your kind words. I just want to let everyone know that I am in the process of setting up distribution in Europe. It will be completed by the end of the month.

That sounds great :thumbs up: , maybe you can also include your video(s) into the euro distribution aswell.
So, how about a narrower benchmate versio, useful for the more jewellery orientated that do not yet have or use an engravers vice. Possible?

I can see the benefits of your machine, not necessarily time saving wise so much, but at least the accuracy of certain tasks will be much easier

 

[Christian DeCamillis]

Chris, I'm not sure what you mean. It could easily be adapted to the benchmate by drilling and tapping a hole in the bottom an then using the bottom of the collet holder of the benchmate that has a hole already tapped.Then just use a piece of threaded rod to join them. There are other possibilities as well. Chris

 

[Sandy]

Chris,
Congrats on getting it out.

Sandy

 

[Gemsetterchris]

I was just thinking that if the part that fixes in the clamp was abit narrower it would also fit benchmate clamps straight out of the box thus being more "universal".
Not everyone has the time or skill to start modifying bits of rod with taps & dies... and usually hopes a 500$ bit of kit does not require "modding".

Maybe it would be unbalanced like that?

 

[Marcus Hunt]

I just want to let everyone know that I am in the process of setting up distribution in Europe.

Oh dear! Here we go again with the European rip off. The reason most of us want to deal direct with the US is that even after shipping and duties (and the extra hassle) importing stuff generally works out somewhere between 20 - 35% cheaper than through a European distributor. This may be slightly less now the £GBP has weakened, but no doubt there is still a saving to be made. The only time buying through an agent or distributor is worth the extra cost is where there may be warranty issues and consumer protection is required. I can't see this problem with a tool like this.

 

[Eddi]

Great tool Chris!
I want one, but I am in Iceland, so I´ll have to wait a bit. Hope it will not be more expensive for us here out in the Atlantic.

Eddi

 

[RoycroftRon]

I received my ring genie today... What a great tool. The quality in hand meets if not exceeds my expectations. Layout is a breeze.

Wow.

Thanks Chris!:thumbs up:

 

[bjr72]

ring wobble

If you look closely at the video, as the ring rotates, it wobbles - so your beautiful layout line is useless unless you first ensure that the ring has absolutely no wobble before tightening the fixture. I think for the price of a small mini lathe machine, this should be clearly explained since this jig is all about accuracy and repeatability.

You could use the side marker to closely examine the wobble, I suppose, but that would leave a mark on the side of the ring. You could also use the overhead fixture as a guide as you rotate the ring to adjust the wobble.

Think about truing a bicycle wheel. You need a reference that shows you how much the wheel is out of true.

Accuracy will also depend on the roundness of the aluminum collets, as well as the inner shape/roundness of your ring. If the ring shifts slightly as you tighten the collets, you've got wobble again.

My 2 cents on layout.