Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Silversmithing class

Posted by Contrariwise at 7:54 AM

I just took my first jewelry class the other week. It was a silversmithing course to make a silver pendant with a stone.

It was SO MUCH FUN! Lookie at what I made!

I bezel-set the stone, using a propane torch to solder it to the sterling back, which I cut freehand, using a pair of scissors.

The teacher is a former silversmithing teacher at a local university who knows a great deal about how to use inexpensive techniques. He told us stories of using an coffee can, some foil and an old skillet to do some fancy work. He's quite a character, let me tell you.

I had brought a stone that I wanted to set as a pendant, but the instructor didn't think it would be the best for the project - the back of it wasn't flat. But he had brought a bunch of stones that he cut and polished himself for us to pick from. So I went through his pile and finally settled this red one that you see above.

I asked him what kind of stone it was.

He looked at the stone. Then he looked at me. The he gave out a long drawn out sigh and coughed a few time.

After he got everyone's attention it was time for a story.

It seems that he had been out in Arizona a while ago, looking for fossils to bring back as specimans for his classroom.

Well, not fossils, exactly. Coprolites.

One of his old friends had a dinosaur on his property that he had been digging out for quite a while. As the story goes, it was a raptor, and whatever had killed it, must have scared it sh%tless because there was a big pile of dinosaur poo at the base of his tale.

Well he dug up this prize speciman and displayed it in his classroom for a number of years. He also cut and polished chunks of it.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, my pendant is fosilized dinosaur crap.

Nice color, isn't it.





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8 Comments:

  1. High Desert Diva said...
    April 8, 2008 at 9:20 AM  
    Ha! That is too funny! I was thinking jasper...
    Fuzzy Izmit said...
    April 8, 2008 at 9:45 AM  
    Dude... I want dino crap jewelry! What a conversation piece!
    Contrariwise said...
    April 8, 2008 at 9:59 AM  
    LOL.
    I'm afraid this piece WON'T be for sale. As a conversation piece, it's priceless.
    Unknown said...
    April 8, 2008 at 9:27 PM  
    thats a great story! I love the jewelry that you made. I wish there were classes like that around here I would really love to learn how to solder and lapidary works.
    Devon said...
    April 9, 2008 at 12:30 PM  
    i've been looking all over for jewelry classes around my neck of the woods... no luck! you make really nice jewelry! pretty funny about the dino-pooh... :)
    Anonymous said...
    April 20, 2008 at 1:08 PM  
    That is the prettiest pile of crap I have ever seen - you could definitely sell that if you wanted to (and wouldn't it be a hoot to know you can make money off of poo - definitely a boost to your salesmanship ego). I have also been looking for jewelry classes in my neck of the boondocks for some time. I think I found some last night - but the prices are exhorbitant! Can you tell us the name of the guy you studied with? I'd like to know if I ever get an opportunity to take his class.
    Contrariwise said...
    April 24, 2008 at 10:59 PM  
    blakeney,

    I don't want to list the instructor's contact info on blogger. But if you send me an email either through blogger or Etsy, I'll send you some info.

    The 3 1/2 hour class was only $55 and it included everything! Considering the amount of silver used in the pendant, it was an amazing bargain. And fun!
    K and N Jewelry said...
    August 14, 2008 at 12:46 PM  
    Ya, I'm 13 and I'm doing a 5 day silversmithing course starting on Monday. I can't wait!
    check my site

    http://kandnjewelry.googlepages.com

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