Wall Thickness Guidelines for Cast Jewellery (2026)
Lost-wax cast masters: 0.6-0.8mm minimum. SLA resin: 0.5mm (0.4mm ok for jaali). DMLS metal print: 1-2mm. FDM: 0.8-1.2mm. Add 2mm drain/vent holes on hollow pieces.
What is wall thickness in jewellery?
Wall thickness is the minimum metal thickness a jewellery piece must have to survive the manufacturing process (casting, polishing, setting) and daily wear without deforming or breaking. Getting it wrong is one of the most common reasons a beautiful CAD design fails at the casting stage.
The 2026 wall-thickness cheatsheet
| Process | Minimum | Recommended | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lost-wax casting (resin master → metal) | 0.6 mm | 0.8 mm | Below 0.6 mm you risk incomplete metal flow and pinhole defects. |
| SLA / DLP resin printing | 0.4 mm | 0.5 mm | 0.4 mm ok for detailed jaali; larger surfaces need 0.5 mm. |
| DMLS / metal 3D printing | 1.0 mm | 1.5 – 2.0 mm | Powder-bed fusion needs more metal to reliably fuse. |
| FDM (PLA / ABS) | 0.8 mm | 1.2 mm | Not used for jewellery casting; only for form study. |
| Sheet-metal fabrication (stamped) | 0.3 mm | 0.5 mm | Used for cheaper mass-market Kundan-imitation pieces. |
Why the numbers vary
The lost-wax casting process forces molten metal through thin channels via centrifugal force. Below 0.6 mm the metal cools before completely filling the mould, creating pinhole voids that show up during polishing as tiny black craters. SLA resin masters can be thinner (0.4 mm) because they are printed layer-by-layer with no flow constraint — but then the metal casting derived from that resin master still needs to satisfy the casting minimum.
DMLS needs more metal because the process fuses metal powder layer by layer under a laser; thinner walls don't accumulate enough fused material and crack under stress.
Special cases
Filigree / jaali work
Traditional Rajasthani jaali (pierced lattice) work can go down to 0.4 mm on individual struts, but only if the surrounding pattern provides structural support. A single unsupported 0.4 mm strut is fragile; a lattice of 0.4 mm struts is not.
Hollow pieces (chandbalis, temple jhumkas, kadas)
Hollow-cast pieces need drain / vent holes on the underside (2 mm minimum) so investment doesn't get trapped and molten metal can flow evenly. Wall thickness of the shell should be at least 0.8 mm for lost-wax cast pieces.
Temple / animal / one-sided relief pieces
For pieces where the back isn't visible (temple pendants, laxmi / ganesh reliefs, kolhapuri medallions), model only the front half then extrude inward by 0.4 mm to give the shell thickness. This is called a "one-sided shell" and yields a 40–60% weight reduction with no visual difference from the wearer's side.
Prong tips
Individual prong tips can go as thin as 0.3 mm at the very tip (where they claw over the stone) as long as the prong base is 0.6 mm+. This is standard for solitaire and halo settings.
How to check thickness in your CAD tool
- Rhino: use the
MinimumDistanceorWallThicknessAnalysisplugin to highlight regions below your threshold. - MatrixGold: has a built-in thickness analyzer in the "Manufacturing" tab.
- JewelCAD: use the "Analyze → Thickness Check" tool.
- Blender / Meshlab (for AI-generated meshes like Facetra 3D output): use the 3D-Print Toolbox add-on's "Thickness" check.
What Facetra ships in the CAD kit
The Facetra CAD kit mesh/README.txt includes this cheatsheet automatically — so the CAD bench operator receiving the handoff has the guidance in hand without asking the designer. Read how to prepare a CAD-ready handoff.