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Getting Started: Jewelry Basics and Beyond!
Looking to get going on jewelry and metalsmithing from your personal or at-home studio, but not sure where to start? In this virtual workshop, the instructor will walk participants through how to set up a basic jewelry making work area and introduce everyone to the tools and skills needed to get started making jewelry. Preliminary demonstrations and discussions will include: studio set up, soldering, filing, sawing, hammering, and cold connections to develop a grounded understanding of fundamental techniques.
From there, the class will move into making multiple styles of ring bands using both wire and sheet metal with the option to add textures, constructing bezel settings for stones, coins, or other small objects and attaching them to rings, and creating bails for the bezels, to turn them into pendants. Multiple chain options and earrings wires will also be covered. At the end of this course students can expect to have acquired a fundamental understanding of jewelry making and learned how to create and finishing numerous types of jewelry pieces.
This course will consist of four sessions on Tuesday 6/1/21, Thursday 6/3/21, Tuesday 6/8/21, and Thursday 6/10/21.
For more information about virtual courses, visit our Virtual Course FAQ page.
Please read the Materials & Tools tab!
Meet the instructor
Jennifer Wells is a studio artist and educator originally from the U.S but currently living in Italy. She holds an MFA, in Metalsmithing & Jewelry Design and has completed artist-in- residencies at: Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, TN, Pocosin Arts in Columbia, NC and the Jentel Foundation near Banner, WY. She has worked for several U.S based Craft Schools, in a variety of roles.
As an educator, Jennifer has taught for and been a visiting Artist at Universities throughout the U.S and for study abroad programs based in Italy. She serves on the Board of Vita Institute and teaches short workshops on various enameling and metalsmithing techniques throughout Europe and the U.S. In recent years she has curated multiple international exhibitions focused on jewelry and enameling.
Her works are in the collections of the Enamel Arts Foundation, Racine Museum, All Russian Museum of Decorative Arts, Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, Yale University Art Gallery, Crocker Art Museum and Private Collections.
Materials & Tools
The following supplies will be used for course demonstrations and objectives. A suggested item and/or vendor has been provided below for reference. Click the vendor name (in red) to be redirected to a page where you can find the item. The quantities needed for each item are listed first. If ordering, please be aware that some items may come in larger quantities than needed for this class. We recommend not opening an item's packaging until the day of the workshop. Student participation during or in-between class sessions is strongly encouraged but not required - observers are welcome.
Metal/raw materials (note that suggested quantities allow for numerous pieces to be made):
- 6"x6" copper sheet - 20g dead soft (Rio Grande)
- 4oz copper round wire - 18g dead soft (Rio Grande)
- 12" sterling rectangular wire - 1.5mm x 6mm dead soft (Rio Grande)
- 12" sterling half round wire - 11g dead soft (Rio Grande)
- 36" fine silver bezel wire - 1/4" x 28g dead soft (Rio Grande)
- 1"x3" sterling sheet - 22g dead soft (Rio Grande)
- 10ft sterling round wire - 18g dead soft (Rio Grande)
- 5ft sterling round wire - 20g half hard (Rio Grande)
- 1-3 x stones, coins, objects to bezel set - within 1" suggested
A soldering setup:
- 1 x fireproof area - steel sheet, tiles, etc. (Amazon or Home Depot)
- 1 x Solderite™ pad or fire bricks (Rio Grande)
- 1 x compressed charcoal block - optional (Rio Grande)
- 1 x torch - any jewelers torch will work (Rio Grande)
- 1 x #0 or #1 torch tip - if using Silversmith (Rio Grande)
- 1 x striker or lighter - Silversmith system has one (Rio Grande)
- 1 x soldering tweezers (Rio Grande)
- 1 x soldering pick (Rio Grande)
- 1 x 3rd arm (Rio Grande)
- 1 x cross lock tweezers (Rio Grande)
- 1 x paste flux (Rio Grande)
- 1 x copper tongs - for pickle (Rio Grande)
- 1 x 6” silver solder - hard, medium, and easy (Rio Grande)
- 1 x pickle - for non-ferrous metals (Rio Grande)
- 1 x crock pot or tempered glass container - for pickle (Amazon)
- 1 x tempered glass container or sink - for quenching and rinsing
- 1 x small brush - for flux
Hand tools:
- 1 x round nose pliers (Rio Grande)
- 1 x chain nose pliers (Rio Grande)
- 1 x flat nose pliers (Rio Grande)
- 1 x snips / flush cutters (Rio Grande )
- 1 x jewelers saw (Rio Grande)
- 1 x pack saw blades - 2/0 (Rio Grande)
- 1 x burlife / bee's wax (Rio Grande)
- 1 x bench pin (Rio Grande)
- 1 x half round hand file - #2 cut (Rio Grande)
- 1 x rotary tool - flex shaft, micro motor, etc. (Rio Grande)
- 1 x set of needle files - #2 cut (Rio Grande)
- 1 x half round forming pliers - optional (Rio Grande)
- 1 x center punch (Rio Grande)
- 1 x scribe (Rio Grande)
- 1 x ring clamp (Rio Grande)
- 1 x rawhide / plastic mallet (Rio Grande)
- 1 x riveting hammer (Rio Grande)
- 1 x chasing hammer (Rio Grande)
- 1 x steel block / steel surface (Rio Grande)
- 1 x small steel ruler (Rio Grande)
- 1 x sheet of sand paper - 220 to 600 grits (Amazon)
- 1 x calipers - optional (Amazon)
- 1 x dividers - optional (Rio Grande)
- 1 x sanding sticks / paint stirs (Rio Grande)
- 1 x parallel pliers - optional (Rio Grande)
Other/miscellaneous items:
- particulate dust mask
- eye protection
- drill bits - optional (Rio Grande)
- old tooth brush
- green scrubby pad
- ajax/bar keepers friend/pumice based cleaner