Metalsmithing Class No.4

The final class!

A view of the benches, everyone working diligently while listening to the school's owner giving a wee speech.

For the final class, we were told to design our own little piece, using the techniques that we had learned over the previous 3 classes. I was tempted to create another ring- because I love rings! But I decided to try making a pair of earrings instead.

Here you can see the base pieces, bezels and stones. I'm working on texturing and forming before soldering everything together.

The plan was to make some cool, contrasty oversized studs with mixed metals. I used some bronze bezel wire, black onyx cabochons, and sterling silver.

Here I am using a hammer to put the texture on the sterling silver. After this, I put it in the circle cutter you can see in the foreground to cut perfect discs to use as the base of the design.

Again, time didn't allow for me to finish this design. Most of the students didn't quite finish. The school was kind enough to offer us half-price studio time and gift certificates so we can come back to finish our pieces.

My unfinished piece...

I still have to solder earring posts onto the backs, oxidize, sand, polish, set the stones, and give them a final polish. The oxidization will leave black in the recesses of the texture, making it pop more, which I am super excited about. I think these will be a super cool set of earrings once they're done!

The little box of bits I've ended up with at the end of this course.

Now that I've completed this course, I feel I have a good foundation on which to build my smithing knowledge. I still have a lot to learn, but much of that will come with practice and just spending time getting my hands dirty. Very, very dirty.

I'm really excited about being able to rent bench time at the school. I'm a bit afraid, though, that the cost of rental will add up a bit too quickly. So, I am still investigating the possibility of getting my hands on some basic tools so I can do some of my work at home, and just use the school for the work that requires the bigger/more expensive tools that I don't have yet... it's one of those art forms that requires a lot of equipment, which is frustrating.

Stay tuned! Completed earrings and more coming soon!!