Jewelry and Metalcraft

Our shop is dedicated to working with non-ferrous metals such as copper, brass, bronze, aluminum, etc., or precious metals and to the fabrication of relatively small items. Here is a short list of both decorative and functional skills you can learn and practice at our shop:

• Wire work: braiding, wrapping, chain-maille, jewelry findings, beading

• Forming and shaping metal: jewelry, vessels, small home decor items

• Joining metal: soldering, cold connections such as rivets, hinges, latches

• Decorating metal: piercing, texturing, stamping, enameling, imprinting, coloring, etching

• Casting and sculpting

• ... and more. If you have a request for a class or have a specific question, please send a note to the shop captain.

Open studio opportunity

Please come, learn, and create something cool at the Metalcraft and Jewelry Open Studio. This regularly held time on Sunday afternoons from 12:30-2:30 is perfect for exploring the shop, getting acquainted with others with similar interests, and asking questions. Do you have a craft or piece of jewelry you'd like to make using metal, but not sure how to begin? Someone with experience will be around to help you get familiar with the tools available and how to use them. This is very informal, just RSVP on the MeetUp page and come! Open studio dates are scheduled on the MeetUp calendar, as are more formal technique instruction and tool certification classes.

References and Resources

• Media:Bookmarks - Resources.pdf - Contains a few hundred bookmarked resources accumulated over several years by member, Lynne Davis. (As is. Links may not be current.)

• Lapidary Forum This is an extremely comprehensive and authoritative site for jewelry makers.
• MeetUp calendar for TinkerMill
• If you are a TinkerMill member, please join our channel on Slack.
• Contact Shop Captain: Crystal Hinds (crystal.hinds@tinkermill.org)

Processes supported

Here are some examples of jewelry making and non-ferrous metal craft processes for which our shop has tools, equipment and expertise:

• Casting
• Cold connections
• Enameling
• Etching
• Firing - Kiln
• Forming
• Hand fabrication - using hand tools and power tools
• Lapidary
• Marriage of Metals
• Metal sculpture
• Milling
• Precious Metal Clay (PMC)
• Raising
• Stone setting
• Soldering
• Surface Treatments and Finishing
• Wire wrapping/Beading

Equipment List

Hand Tools

• Hammers-assorted
• Pliers-assorted
• Files-assorted
• Files-assorted needle
• Sanding sticks
• Jeweler's saw (x6)
• Calipers
• Hand shears, tin snips - assorted
• Hole punch (Roper Whitney)
• Bench blocks
• Stone setting tools
• Jump ring jig
• Forming Stakes

Bench and Powered Tools

• Flex Shaft w/assorted bits
• Drill Press
• Bench pins (a.k.a. "V" blocks)
• Small vice (x2)
• Large vice
• Large anvil (x2)
• Belt sander
• Bench grinder/polisher
• Dapping block and punches
• Disc cutter

Soldering station

• Single-fuel torches: Butane, Propane, Acetylene/Air
• Oxygen/Acetylene torch (Dual fuel torch)
• Pickle pot, chemical
• Tongs, tweezers, third-hand
• Rinse/Quench pot
• Cleaning supplies
• Small supplies of solder, flux

Patina setup

• Glass mixing jars and dishes
• Brushes/applicators
• Chemicals
• Steel wool

Electro-etch setup

• DC Power supply
• "D" battery holders
• Battery clips
• Etching vessels
• Resist materials
• Chemicals

Firing Kilns

• Electric Kilns (2) with programmable controllers

Enameling Setup

• Sifting screens
• Enamel powders (sample quantity)
• Enamel holding agent (e.g. Kleerfire)
• Kiln trivets, wire screens
• Hot gloves
• Cleaning stones
• Dome kiln
• Spatulas

Casting

• Carving/modeling wax (small quantity)
• Wax injection machine (2)
• Tools and materials for model investment
• Burn-out oven (see Firing Kilns)
• Casting machine similar to: Centrifugal Spin Caster
• Vacuum Casting Machine (Per cast model)
• Rotary tools for wax modeling, cutting sprues and final finishing
• Sand casting kit with casting frame, crucible, release agent, pre-mixed casting sand, tongs
• Non traditional casting media (beans, cuttlebone, pinecones, straw, sand)

Hydraulic Press

• small 3500 psi press
• use of 60 ton press from machine shop
• urethane
• some basic dies

Rolling Mill

• Small 4" Pepe

3-in-1

• Slip-roller - 9"
• Bending brake 12" 5 finger sections, bends to 90 degrees
• Shear: 12" guillotine style

Classes

Jewelry and Metal Craft Projects

Project classes are defined as a use of the shop under instructor supervision for the purpose of making an identified project or learning an identified process or technique. It is not a certifying class and does not qualify the student to use the equipment and tools unsupervised. It may, at the instructor's discretion, be combined with a certification class.

Browse the catalog

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Jewelry and Metal Craft Certification Classes

Certification classes provide an understanding of the shop's place within Tinkermill, teach safe practices and provide practical instruction with tools and techniques sufficient to qualify the student for independent use of the tools covered in the class.

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Briefly, the certifications include:

Metals 100 Series: Orientation to the Jewelry and Metal Craft shop and the safe use of basic hand tools and powered bench tools in jewelry and metal craft fabrication.

Metals 200 Series:Safe use of Single-fuel Gas Torches. Covers basic torch operation as well as theory and practice. Includes understanding of what happens when metal is heated (annealed), and the process and concepts behind the hard soldering process. The student can progress to more advanced topics such as the use of dual fuels (oxygen with gas) to provide greater control over the temperature and type of flame needed for more advanced soldering and casting techniques.

Metals 300 Series: Chemical and electrolytic processes to safely apply surface treatments such as etching, patination, inks as well as plating, electro-forming, and anodizing.

Metals 400 Series: Safe use of the Kiln including how to use the pre-programmed heat profiles for e.g.; annealing, enameling, PMC (precious metal clay), investment burnout (for lost wax casting), and advanced classes on programming the controller for custom use

Metals 500 Series: Safe practices with Lapidary Equipment for stone slabbing, trimming, shaping and polishing.

More links:

• Curriculum Map - This map guides students through a progressive set of metalsmithing classes to build skills and confidence (subject to change)
• Jewelry and Metal Craft Certifications - Full Descriptions (subject to change)

Teaching

Teaching is sharing and inspiring others to learn and share. Here are a few ways this can be accomplished:

• Think, Pair, Share
• Mentorships
• Projects
• Techniques
• Open studio
• Certification instructor

Contact the shop captain to learn more, or visit Teaching Classes