Unless you have taken one of Jim's classes they are kind of hard to explain with the exception of one word, fun. Okay, maybe two, educational...and fun!
So see if you can follow me:
Our first project was to create a small box, more like a box top for a future project.
Another thing you can count on in all of Jim's classes is going home with "new" tools, either one's you have made or ones "new to you", meaning tools purchased from Jim's ever growing stock!
We all choose 2 stones to combine, it took me an hour to make a decision then an hour this morning to drill a hole through the piece of agate I selected...
Last night, in the midst of students drilling in holes and some of us still deciding...Jim discovered that he had no fine silver 5mm tubing! What does a true Silversmith do? Just watch!
So see if you can follow me:
Our first project was to create a small box, more like a box top for a future project.
Step 1
Step 2
Next we move onto Project 2...making a SMALL bezel:
Soldering our bezels onto domes.
Another thing you can count on in all of Jim's classes is going home with "new" tools, either one's you have made or ones "new to you", meaning tools purchased from Jim's ever growing stock!
So now we move into tool making!
Filing a piece of brass for a bezel tool, note the action shot!
So here we have the result of day 2...mostly.
Project 2 completed and two bezel tools completed!
Then we moved into Monday evening, yes, Jim is one of the few instructors that will work evening hours...for those of us that have not had enough after 8 hours at the bench!
We all choose 2 stones to combine, it took me an hour to make a decision then an hour this morning to drill a hole through the piece of agate I selected...
You would have thought I would know better but could not resist the colors!
(This where I will get a little out of sync...try to follow me here.)
Last night, in the midst of students drilling in holes and some of us still deciding...Jim discovered that he had no fine silver 5mm tubing! What does a true Silversmith do? Just watch!
He cuts some fine silver sheet into a strip and begins hammering & forming.
He wraps it around a piece of tool steel and continues hammering.
Then solders the whole darn thing and draws it down to exactly 5mm!
The man is amazing, all in all it took him maybe 30 minutes!
This morning we all came back into class to continue our Stone-in-Stone projects.
There was enough tubing for the whole class to make at least one pendant. The base is square wire with prongs, spinning in the tumbler as we "speak" and I've already begun a second.
Tomorrow is a half day, I can't wait to see what comes up next!
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