Week 1 : Introductions, demonstration and hands-on practice of hand cutting and truing wax models. Skills will need to be mastered early in the course as a foundation for upcoming classes. Students will prepare several "blanks" for pendants and rings on this first day.
Week 2 : Design considerations: planning ahead for bails or stone setting, types of settings and strategies for successful metal casts. Skills refresher: Filling scratches, fixing cracks and mending wax models.
Week 3 : Math for jewelry artists: creative solutions for final target weight, metal conversion and cost calculations. Exercise: Embedding gemstones, prefabricated settings and other elements with costs and weights in mind.
Week 4 : Refining wax models: Cleaning and polishing wax models to optimize clean casts. The time spent on refining a model is time saved in finishing the metal jewelry.
Week 5 : Open studio. Students will work to catch up on and complete any models not yet submitted for casting. Quick discussion: Thinking outside the box, making tools or finding whatever works for the down and dirty way to get the look you want. Skills refresher: Finishing metal jewelry: Buffing and polishing the cast jewelry.
Week 6 : Wax Building Techniques: Students will practice the use of wax building using the wax pens to "draw" designs and create a fabricated structure as set by the instructor.
Week 7 : Introduction to rubber molds, designing for production molding and the power of
interchangeable parts. Demonstration: creating interchangeable bracelet links.
Week 8 : Adding embellishments: Granules, loops, and textures.
Week 9 : Fabricating and wax welding multi-part models. Students will be introduced to the skills needed to take their models to the next level and thinking in layers. Demonstration: creating in-place wax hinges.
Week 10 : Open Studio: Students will have the opportunity to complete cast pieces made throughout the course. The course will wrap up and wind down with a show and tell, participate in critiques and discuss lessons learned.