10.07.2024 Let's Do the Twist

Twisting steel with help from Russ

I can't believe we are already at the halfway point for the fall semester at ACC. I'm taking stone setting, and for the first time in almost a decade of jewelry classes, I'm not actually making finished pieces*.

Yep, you read that right.  This class is all about learning new techniques -  it is one of the most challenging courses I've ever taken (jewelry or otherwise) - and I couldn't be happier about it.

We are making things - just not the kinds of pieces I've made in the past.  For starters, we're working with different materials.  First up - steel.

We began the semester by making a setting tool to burnish flush set stones.  Each of us were given a piece of quarter inch (square) steel, six inches long, that we twisted and then ground to points on each end.

My finished setting tool

With the help of instructors and classmates, we placed the steel in a vice, heated it until it was red hot, then twisted it to make a pattern.  More important that making the tool pretty, it creates groves that make it easier to grip when trying to move metal around a flush set stone.

After the twisting, we used a belt sander to grind down the both ends - one to a sharp point, one to a more rounded point - and then finished on the deburring wheel.  We each ended up with a fabulous tool - and while it may not be jewelry, I think it's very pretty.

Flush set CZs in brass

The purpose of this lovely little rod is to be able to push down metal around a stone to hold it in place in a flush setting.  We did our practice settings in brass, so we need a tool that was hard enough to move another metal.

After doing the flush settings in brass, we moved on to bronze - because it has a hardness close to gold (and at over $2,600 per ounce...well, we aren't going to work in that).

Four prong settings - CZs in bronze

When I first started metalsmithing - in 2015 - I imagined it would be fun...but I had absolutely no idea how essential it would become to maintaining my mental and physical health.

Initially, it filled an empty space in my life - after decades of being a full time mom.  

Then, it became a place where I could be creative, and I found a community.  

During Covid I realized how much I missed both the creative work and the people. Now that I am back at the bench - especially as a student - I realize how much happier I am when I'm making and learning in a shared space.

As for my physical health...at 61 I have outlived my Mom.  My Dad lived into his 70s, but by his early 60s he was already beginning to show the signs of Parkinson's Disease that would slow him down until, at the end of his life, he really wasn't doing much living.

Parkinson's is hereditary - there's no diagnostic test, and there's no cure - but there are ways to potentially delay its onset including keeping both your brain and body active.  Taking jewelry classes is a big part of that.  In addition to my regular yoga practice and walking, jewelry class makes me use my hands and maintain my fine motor skills, and it absolutely helps me build new neural pathways.

So, I might not be making more shiny things in this class - but I am definitely working on being around and healthy to wear all the things I have.

Until next time.

GOLD! Watch for some new things.

*De, our instructor, did tell us it would be a good idea to have a personal project or two, because we will get frustrated and need to turn our attention to something else occassionally...so despite the price, I've purchased some gold so that I can take advantage of both the bench time and her knowledge.  Stay tuned!