This
is a book for somebody with a studio or at least a place
for actual metalworking. There are no beads
here to string or polymer clay to mold, instead this
book is filled with traditional
techniques for making modern metal jewelry.
The
methods here have been tested by time but the tools
and settings, many ready-made, are contemporary and
designed to appeal to today’s jewelry maker and
wearer. As I know nothing about this subject it
all went rather over my head, but if you too are a beginner
and want to find out how to do this type of craft it
is all in here. It starts off with an illustrated
list of what you will need (rather a lot) to a guide
to terms for stone types and all about the stones (and
other materials). This shows you a photo
of the stone and tells you useful things such as where
it comes from, how hard it is, crystal group and various
other technical details. The next chapter
deals with all the methods such as cutting metal, pickling
to get rid of impurities, soldering etc. with simple
drawings and instructions. Further chapters
deal with different settings including snap-in, claw,
pave etc. each with a short gallery of work to admire
along with the instructions. Find out how
to wrap beads with wire, and string pearls, which is
surely a departure but does involve working with precious
rather than costume materials for real jewelry. At
the back is a section with things like health and safety
information, ring sizes, metal thicknesses etc. plus
a list of books that delve deeper into the subject. As
far as I can tell this is a useful book for those wanting
to tackle this type of jewelry, although total beginners
might be advised to enroll in a class.
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