Last Class in the Series

Last night was the last class in the 9-week marathon beginning metalworking class at the Lorton Workhouse taught by Dana Evans. Students had many classes canceled due to the crazy snowy weather we had this winter but perservered and made some amazing projects!

This 2 inch wide panel was made by Tara. It's a work-in-progress, but she did manage to get all her soldering done in one class period. Last week she designed and cut out all the silver and copper pieces in the assemblage, including saw-piercing and stamping. This week she textured, soldered, oxidized, buffed and bent the panel on a bracelet mandrel. She'll finish the piece by riveting it onto a leather cuff on all 4 corners, adding a closure and calling it done. It's a really well-designed and well-done, graphic and bold piece!

Monique experimented with keum-boo this week! Keum-boo is an ancient technique of using a hotplate at 800 degrees to fuse thin gold foil onto silver. She may have singed some eyebrows in the process, but her stepdaughters will love their new star and XO (hugs and kisses) pendants!

Sharon created a fast bezel-set stone pendant this week- what a gorgeous eye-catching stone set simply, as not to compete for attention, in silver. She's also working on a chain to hang it from. Can't wait to see the final project complete!

Thanks to all my wonderful students for letting me "learn on the job" for my first teaching experience. You've been great guinea pigs!

Next week: "Learn to Solder in an Evening" projects!

Flurry of Finished Projects

This week produced a FLURRY of finished projects in Dana Evans' Beginning Metalsmithing class and Chain-making class at the Lorton Workhouse in Lorton, Virginia.


This gorgeous ring by Sharon features a Koroit boulder opal stone from Australia set in a handmade, unique and one-of-a-kind setting. The beginning metalsmiths produced their first bezel-set stone project this week! Sharon created the bezel out of bezel wire, soldered it closed (after many attempts!!!!!) and then soldered it to the silver base sheet. She then artistically arranged the silver wires to complement the internal design of the stone and soldered on a ring shank. She then oxidized and closed the bezel, and gave it a last buffing with fine sandpaper before calling it done!

This organic collage was done by Tara. It is completely original and comes directly from her sketchbook. She cut out, textured, and shaped the copper flowers and soldered them onto a base sheet of sterling that she also cut-out and textured. Sterling silver vines were also soldered onto the base sheet and the whole piece was oxidized and buffed to bring out the texture and contrast. A gorgeous and unusual piece!

This ring by Monique also is her first bezel project. She chose an Imperial Jasper stone cabochon and wanted to compliment the internal movement of the stone by creating an undulating pattern of sterling silver wires and balls. She created the bezel wall and then soldered it and the wires in stages onto the base sheet.

After creating and soldering on a ring shank, closing the bezel, and MUCH polishing, this beauty is done!

This delicate and beautiful chain by Joan is the last project in the chain-making class. This required no soldering, which pleased the students very much! 2" lengths of 20 gauge wire were bent and balled up, then folded and linked to create this deceptively simple chain. Joan even created the clasp! Nice work!

Susan created this intricately patterned and beautiful ring. A blue glass stone with flecks of gold, blue and black features in this ring bordered by a gorgeous twist wire which Susan soldered around the brass bezel which is also soldered to the base sheet. She then created the ring shank out of the same patterned twist wire soldered between 2 plain round wires, soldered it onto the back, trimmed up the base sheet, polished, and set the stone. Lovely!

This ring by Tara features a white-based triangular opal in the center whose fire is not fully captured by these pictures. She then designed a petal pattern specifically around the stone in 2 layers, all soldered on top of each other. After spending some time forming the ring shank and soldering it on, she polished the tips of the petals, oxidized and buffed, and set the stone.

Tara's ring is large and has a great presence. The oxidation contrasts very effectively against the white stone. Nice job!

This is a cloak pin by Casteen. It's a rather large pin and took her some time to make! Because it's large, she combined soldering with wire-wrapping to attach all her parts. She soldered stone bezels and wire loops onto silver, copper, and brass "leaves", and then used the soldered-on wire to wire-wrap at the ends of the large square copper wire support. She then tumbled the piece to add some shine, added the pin stem, set the stones and took a much-deserved break!

This is Monique's collage pendant. She used a mixed-metal look to add interest and contrast. A square copper wire was soldered on to a textured silver back sheet, and a brass "knot" and silver ball were also soldered on. A bezel was created for a citrine nugget, soldered on, and the whole piece was shined to PERFECTION before the stone was set and bail added. Did I mention how nice and shiny this piece was!?







All the students have worked so hard on technique and design. It hasn't been easy! Next week- final projects for the Winter session!

More Examples of Student Work

This week in the Lorton Workhouse Beginning Metalsmithing class taught by Dana Evans features some completed projects by Casteen:

This lovely hairstick was created by cutting, forming, soldering and bezel setting. A complimentary patina was created by using liver of sulfur. This beautiful collage illustrates how much creativity can be expressed by learning just a few skills and throwing caution to the wind!

This is an earlier work by Casteen in which she soldered different components together in silver and copper, and then completed it by creating and soldering a hand-made pin back onto the back side.

Stay tuned next week for more completed projects!

Continuing Hard Work

Last night's class work hard learning for the first time how to construct bezels. Students worked on continuing projects and some new projects, too. Take a look:


This is Casteen's finished ring. She started and finished in one night! She sized the bezel to the stone, soldered it closed, then soldered it to a base sheet of silver. Below, you can see the decorative ring shank she designed in silver wire and then soldered to the back. Very nice!

Back view of Casteen's ring.

Susan finished her "labor of love" pin last night too. She followed a sketch she'd done of a collage of hearts- and cut out each one separately in silver, brass and copper, before soldering them to a base sheet of silver. She then trimmed the back sheet and soldered on a handmade pin back to the backside. This pin is about 2-1/2" long.

Stay tuned next week for more finished projects!

Beginning Metalsmithing

Here are the first photos of projects completed by beginning metalsmithing students at the Lorton Workhouse. Class is taught by Dana Evans and so far students have completed 4 weeks out of a 9-week schedule. More pictures of projects coming soon!

This gorgeous pendant was completed by Sharon. This project uses the 2 main techniques learned so far- saw use and soldering. She balled up the ends of sterling wire to create the bouquet, soldered it onto a brass sheet which she had textured, and then cut-out the edge to form a lovely scallop design. A ball was soldered onto the bail, holes drilled, and voila! A work of art!

These lovely rings by Susan and Sharon also use the 2 techniques learned so far- sawing and soldering. Each strip of silver was sawn-out using a piercing and sawing technique, and then the ends were soldered together to form a ring. The students also learned how to use a mandrel to round their ring, and used various finishing techniques such as filing, sanding and tumbling to complete their projects.

These projects by Tara show her adeptness at using the jeweler's saw as well as soldering. The pendant was drilled and sawed out and a ring was soldered on to attach to a chain. The toggle was made entirely by hand and rings were soldered to the components for use on a chain.

Monique also used learned techniques in class to create these beautiful projects.The pendant was pierced and sawn out, and then textured using hammers. The toggle was also made entirely by hand, even with the addition of balled ends- using a "third hand" to complete. All the pieces were shined up using a tumbler. This pendant is ready to be strung with its new toggle closure.

Nice job everyone! NEW pictures next week- check back!

More Viking Knit Work

The Viking knit weave seems to be addictive! Ann had some leftover lengths of chain and made them into loop earrings. This is a Viking Knit necklace and earrings to match made by Ann- nice work!

The following chains are the first made by students at the Lorton Workhouse enrolled in Dana Evans' Chain-Making Class. The 5-week class will make: Viking Knit chains, Link chains, and a Folded Loop in Loop chain. Class isn't over yet- so stay tuned for pictures of the final chains soon! These sterling silver Viking Knit chains were started in week 1 (Joan and Barbara's chains). The ladies took the chains-in-progress home and worked on them over the next week to complete the desired length. These bracelet chains were assembled in week 2 and oxidized to bring out the contrast in the weave.


Week 2 of chain-making also included learning how to solder. Students made their own toggle clasps from sterling silver! They then assembled the chain with pre-made endcaps and used wire techniques to attach the toggles.

Weeks 3 and 4 were used perfecting soldering techniques while making some mixed-metal (silver, brass and copper) linked chains. It may look easy- but took many hours to attach and solder new rings onto the growing chain. Joan, Ann, and Barbara's chains are gorgeous!

The students even made their own S-clasps for attaching the 2 ends of chain together.

5th and final week: Folding loop in loop chains- check back for pics!