Final Day of Metalsmithing II

Today was the last class in a series of 5 for Metalsmithing II at the Lorton Workhouse, taught by Dana Evans. Some beautiful projects!

Daphne's gorgeous pendant is large- she etched a piece of silver and then soldered on a frame to give it presence. She then chose a cool glass cabochon (called dragon's breath) which reiterated the swirly design theme and made a bezel for it. The bail is also hand-made, stamped with a similar design theme. After oxidizing and buffing, it's time for a chain!

Maureen's ring features a stunning Imperial Jasper cabochon. She stamped the design along the edge to give it detail and personality. Great job!

Kathy's etched pendant features a beautiful glowing moonstone. She added glass drops below for a stunning piece!

Tosha's pendant features a really cool heart etching. She cut, filed and soldered on jump rings, then bezel-set the leaf-shaped stone below. Now it's ready for a chain- beautiful!

Molly's mixed-metal pendant features an etched silver piece soldered onto a copper base. She trimmed/filed the edges, then created a bezel for the glass face stone, and tumbled it shiny. Awesome job!

These are also Molly's- spear earrings. She textured a top plate of silver and soldered it onto a base shape of silver. She then poked holes and created earwires- done!

Nice job everyone!

Today's Finished Projects

Today's finished projects include some beauties! The students are very fond of etching, as it does give one instant gratification. One more class left to finish things off- stay tuned to next week!

These to-die-for earrings by Daphne were done in 2 parts- the upper part with the coin pearl, and the drops with red faceted glass gems. After bezel-setting each and soldering each to a backplate, Daphne trimmed up and added the ball-trim around the top stones. She then soldered wire attachments along the back, set the stones, and formed the earwires and attachments. Great job!

Kathy loved this etched pattern- after etching on brass, she soldered each to a copper backing and buffed the tops (leaving a cool coppery "window" effect), then created earwires and wore them home!

Nicky's far-out etching inspired her to add a brass square backing to her stone- beautiful!! Kudos to Nicky for creating bezel after bezel to "get it right" even though it's frustrating for things not to come out right the first time!

See you all next week!

Metals II Projects Completed

These projects are some of the first done using stone-setting skills learned by students at the Workhouse's metalsmithing class- taught by Dana Evans.

Maureen not only wanted to stone-set this lovely piece of quartz, she wanted to use a stepped bezel- not easy! Then, to make things harder for herself, she hand-formed the twist wire split-shank and soldered it (carefully!) to the back of the open-backed stone setting. BRAVO!

This piece, also done by Maureen, was etched using a copyright-free design from a Dover book. She then oxidized the piece to bring out the low-relief etch, and hand-hammered the edge for a decorative textured look.

These lovely labradorite earrings are also by Maureen. She constructed the stone settings and soldered on a wire to the back that she then formed into integral earwires.

Kathy's big ring was a big success! This piece of labradorite (hand-cut by yours truly) was set in a scalloped bezel, soldered onto a base plate, and decorative rope trim added. A ring shank was then measured, formed, and soldered onto the back using a third hand. Last came finishing and setting and finally, wearing!

This ring by Tosha came about when she wanted to use both stones- turquoise and a Peruvian opal bead. She formed, soldered and filed 2 bezels to fit the stones perfectly, then created a ring shank to fit her size. She then sawed off the top of the shank, turned everything upside down, and soldered the pieces together. After shining it up and setting the stones, it's a little treasure!

Another view of Tosha's ring.

Good job everyone!

Winter Advanced Class- Stone-setting

This Winter's advanced stone-setting class started this past Saturday at the Lorton Workhouse Arts Center, taught by Dana Evans. We already have some completed projects!

This lovely lapis pendant was Tosha's first stone ever set! She completed the entire project in one class, too! She first measured the bezel wire around the stone and soldered it closed, then soldered that onto the sterling silver back plate. She then shined it up, added a hole and bail and set the stone.

Nicky also completed her first stone-set project. This pretty jasper was set in the same way as Tosha's. How's that for instant gratification!

This is Daphne's 3-stone ring that was completed over the break between classes. A real beauty!

Completion of Fall Metalsmithing II

This collection of students included those just starting an advanced class of bezel-setting, as well as more advanced students who have been addicted to metalsmithing since the beginning of 2010. ALL the projects turned out fantastic due to this group's hard work:

This is Monique's gorgeous pendant. She designed this pendant using a design from a Dover Copyright free Design Book, and felt the square turquoise cab would work best with it. After ironing on the design on PNP paper onto the sterling silver sheet, she submerged the silver into an acid bath to create the etched design. She then soldered on a frame, and a bezel for the turquoise (cutting out the corners for ease of setting). She then oxidized the piece, drilled a hole for the bail, buffed it, and added a gorgeous matching commercial chain. A strong piece!

This is also Monique's piece. She started with 2 thin gauge sheets of brass, and soldered them flat together to create a thick piece of sheet stock. She sawed out an edge design, textured the brass, then soldered, shined, and sealed the ring in Renaissance Wax to avoid tarnishing.

Daphne's cuff (1" x 6" 22-gauge silver) also received an acid bath to create this lovely design. She then filed the edges round and shaped it on a mandrel to fit. Simple and gorgeous!

This pendant of Daphne's is also acid-etched but was the first time she bezel-set a faceted stone- not an easy task. After etching, she formed the bezel wire around the stone while upside down. After some fitting and more fitting, she soldered in a wire seat for the stone inside the bezel. Next the bezel was soldered to the base, a hole was sawn out for the back of the stone from the sheet, and the pieced was oxidized, buffed and the stone was set- carefully!

This simple domed pendant was acid-etched by Daphne. Acid-etching requires the ironing-on of an image that's been printed onto a special paper, called PNP paper (sold by ThompsonEnamel.com). Then the edges, back and any other areas not to be etched need to be covered by duct tape or nail polish. 5 minutes in an acid-bath and it's complete. Then comes removal of the resists, sanding, refining and buffing. It's a process to get it to come out exactly as planned, but Daphne's now a pro!

This was Maureen's first bezel-set stone. She used her fingers to form the soft bezel wire around the stone, then marked and snipped the excess. She soldered the bezel closed, re-formed it to fit the stone, and then soldered it onto her base sheet, which she'd sawn out of sterling silver sheet. After soldering on a hidden bail (tubing) on the back, she set the stone, and strung it on a strand of beads that matched it perfectly!

This is also Maureen's work. This was a tough job for 2 reasons. First, she used bezel wire with a built-in seat, which is stiffer and harder to form and measure. It also required her to raise the stone up with a wire seat. Second, she hand-formed the twisted wire shank and had it terminate in 2 pairs of 2 arms, which had to be very carefully soldered onto the bezel, using a third hand. After a few carefully-planned soldering operations, success!

This is Molly's ring using a stone of Imperial Jasper. She measured the bezel, soldered it closed, and cut out a base sheet to solder it onto. She then stacked 2 rows of beaded wire around it for a great effect that the pictures don't do justice. She then soldered on the ring shank using a 3rd hand, polished it and set the stone. A lot of soldering operations to achieve a stunning ring.

Last but not least, Molly's pendant is a stunner! She etched a design into silver, and then created and soldered on a bezel. She then soldered the whole piece onto brass for a fabulous framing effect, cut out the excess, oxidized and tumbled the piece, and set the stone. After adding a hole for the bail, she's ready to find a unique chain to match the style and quality of her piece.






Hats off to all my students- you really worked hard and learned a lot! Hope to see some of you next time!

Completion of Metalsmithing I, Fall Session

This group of metalsmiths had ZERO experience 5 weeks ago, and look at them now!!!



This is Molly1's gorgeous tree vignette. She cut out and collaged pieces of sheet onto a base sheet, soldered it down, and continued her collage of fallen leaves and wire frame. She gave some texture to the tree (and character!) and also soldered on a stand to the back. Finally, after numerous solderings, she oxidized the piece and sanded and buffed it to perfection!

This viney leaf is also by Molly1. She used the 2 techniques learned in class- soldering and sawing. First she sketched a leaf onto copper sheet, and sawed out the shape. Next she pierced and sawed out some veins on the interior of the leaf. She then formed the 2 sizes of wire for vines and stem and soldered each to the back of the leaf. This copper leaf will oxidize in time and look like an heirloom!

These beauties by Nicky were a labor of love! After sketching and cutting out the rounded square base sheet from sterling silver sheet, she then formed the wires on the front of the piece and soldered them on in multiple soldering operations. Next came those stubborn balls! She then cleaned the earrings up, gave them a satin finish, and bent the earwires into shape.

This earring and pendant set by Lolita was a great project for a beginner because she learned how to cut each circle from the disc cutter in class. After soldering each of the copper discs onto the silver base, she domed each piece using a wood block and balls. She then tumbled each piece to shiny perfection, added a bail and some earwires, and called it done!

This pendant is also by Lolita. After cutting out the base of sterling silver, she hand-formed the wire, textured it, and soldered it to the base. After oxidizing it and buffing it, she added the bail and it's ready to wear.

These hoops were also made by the prolific Lolita! She cut out 2 exact lengths of square wire and bent them on a bracelet mandrel. She then soldered on 20-gauge earwires (a delicate procedure!) and they are ready to go!

Molly2 made this lovely pendant (dog tag) out of sterling sheet and wire. After spending some time forming and flattening the spirals, she then carefully soldered them on to the base sheet, which had been sawed, filed and sanded. She then added the hole, and it's ready for a ring and chain!

This ring is also by Molly2. She formed the ring shank, filed and sanded it, and after multiple soldering operations attached the 2 pieces of sheet and spirals in the center. All this was done flat. She then carefully formed the ring around a mandrel using a plastic hammer as to not mar the metal. After a bath in the tumbler, it's shiny and ready to wear.

Wow- this bubble pendant by Maureen features silver and brass rings, all hand cut and formed, soldered, and arranged for final soldering. All rings were rounded on the ring mandrel, and then, after multiple solderings, the pendant was complete! She then sanded, tumbled and added a bail.




Thanks to all the students for their hard, hard work! Good job!

Final Class for Beginners

Last night ended another class for beginning students in Dana Evans' metalsmith class. Always sad, but always full of finished projects! Last night we had a slew of etching projects, too.

These 2 pendants by Jennifer feature an etching of her friend (Erykah Badu!) that she etched, shaped and textured. Etching is not a fool-proof technique- it involves ironing on a pre-printed sheet of special PNP paper, sometimes a few times to get it to stick completely. Then an acid dip, cleaning, texturing, oxidizing and finishing.

Another pendant by Jennifer- one to keep, one to give away!

This bird etching, also by Jennifer was a welcome relief to all the soldering she did last week!

All on sterling silver, and this one was dapped into a dome shape.

Jamie's bracelet was a labor of love- and it involved a lot of labor! Soldering the cuff together of all those wires proved difficult, but she got it done, and then wired the wire sculpture on top for a one-of-a-kind piece!

These gorgeous etched and domed pendants are by Tosha. Maybe a mother-daughter set? Etched and finished with a nice satin glow.

This "collage" ring by Tosha she nicknamed the "neverending ring"! She saw cut the ring and then soldered it closed, then soldered on strips and ball elements using a ring soldering stand. Not easy, but well worth the effort!

Tosha's ring was tumbled to shiny perfection!

This large neck-chain of Chris' was also a labor of love! The silver rings are large- over 1-1/2" wide, soldered and textured, and alternate with double brass rings, not easy to solder! Chris discovered that brass was a dirty and unpredictable metal. Finished off with an s-clasp, it's an attention-getter!

Amy created this ball-loop bracelet meticulously and tumbled it to shiny. She made an s-clasp and now it's ready to wear!

An example of etching on brass by Barbara.

This gorgeous Celtic knot design was etched by Joan. She painstakingly ironed on the PNP paper, nail polished the exposed surfaces, and gave it a 5-minute acid bath. Next she refined the shape, used Griffith's Silver Black for contrast, added a bail, and it's ready to wear!

This modern cross by Joan has been soldered and textured in silver and copper. It has just the right amount of detail and has been tumbled shiny and gorgeous!







Thanks so much to everyone- this was a great run!!!!