Forging Ahead

I had a fun time I had teaching my February metals class. The subject was basic forging, and the goal was to create a sterling silver neck ring and a sterling silver cuff bracelet in 3 hours. It was tight, but everyone did a great job! We practiced on copper first, to get the feel of the hammer and the metal, and then we switched to silver. The sounds of metal on metal could be heard throughout the store, the sound of a happy class hard at work. Just look at them go, hammering away, helping one another out. Here's Diane, proudly modeling her new copper neck ring with the pierced tree pendant she made in our first class. Many who missed that first class would like to try it now! Like all of the students, she did a great job!

I have been really busy planning for future classes, writing lists of materials to order, developing project ideas and creating sample pieces. If I can get of my ideas off the ground, maybe the time will be right for some second level classes. How cool would that be? Already, I’m preparing to make a pitch for getting a torch in the room. First comes annealing, so we can move more metal. I think fusing isn’t far behind. And I hear there have been some requests for soldering!!! Big happy face here! We’ll start seeing some interesting projects from these classes, I think. Can’t wait!