Learn to Saw™ with Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann delivers a succinct understanding of one of the
primary tools of metalsmithing and guarantees students will be
sawing like champs in under three hours. Students will be able to
saw precise designs out of everything from paper to steel and will leave with several finished charms and mini slot-sculptures
from the sawing experience.
3 hour class - $75 plus $12 kit fee. No skills necessary.
*For the beginner, Learn to Saw is the first step in skill building.
Sawing know-how is required for many of our workshops. We try to offer it before each of our other workshops but if you do not see one scheduled that works for you, please consider purchasing Tom's sawing DVDs available in our online catalog.

Intro to Cold Connecting & Chasing
for the Techno.Romantic Home
Thomas Mann

In addition to practicing the sawing & piercing skills you may have been introduced to in Thomas Mann's Learn to Saw class, this one day workshop will challenge your design skills for metal texturing while you learn several cold connecting basics in the creation of a light switch plate for your home. You might choose to chase a design into the surfaces, chemically or electrically etch them, or seriously pierce the top floating plate. This project is wide open to your thematic inclinations. You can also use a design provided by Tom as an alternative to creating your own.
$190 plus $20 kit fee.
Sawing skills preferred.

Visiting Jewelry Artist
Robert Dancik

The Concrete Copper Box
introduces

Concrete may seem an unlikely material for jewelry however, it is surprisingly lightweight, easy to use, extremely versatile and…. unbelievably inexpensive. 
In fact it is lighter in weight than stone, resin or metal of comparable size and this makes it perfect for jewelry and other objects of personal adornment. 
In this workshop you will learn the basics of using concrete to make a pendant and numerous ways of perhaps incorporating it into the work you are already doing in metal clay, polymer clay, mixed media work and traditional metalworking.
1 -day Workshop -$180 plus kit fee
Sawing skills necessary.

Faux Bone with Color
In this very hands-on workshop, we will explore Faux Bone™, a new, friendly and extremely versatile material. Faux Bone™ can be cut, and carved, sawn and sanded. It can be filed, hammered, polished, drilled, stamped, inlayed, dyed, and painted. It can look like ivory, have the patina of aged ceramic, or be polished to a pure white. And now for the first time, you can add glorious color to the work you create! Color on Faux Bone is permanent, easy to apply, and fast to dry.
In addition to the Faux Bone, we will work with a special paper pulp mache that looks just like stone that works well with color. It can be inlayed, applied or “married” with the Faux Bone. The paper mache too, can be colored with the simplest of pigments and and is nearly as strong as the Faux Bone itself .
Faux Bone™ is perfect for artwork as varied as jewelry and book making, sculpture, or printmaking. Being nearly unbreakable, it’s also perfect for forming tools, tool handles and jigs. It can be easily embossed to make texture plates for metal clay and basket makers can use it to simulate Scrimshaw on the tops of Nantucket Baskets. In this workshop, we will explore these possibilities and more. Students can expect to leave with a number of examples and/or finished projects. metalworking.
2 -day Workshop -$330 plus kit fee
Sawing skills necessary.

A Bead Like No Other
In this fast paced, low tech workshop, you will explore making hollow form beads that are at once, extremely durable, easy to make and utterly unique. Using materials as common as Plexiglas, as new as Faux Bone™ and as unexpected as bicycle reflectors and lighting lenses you will learn how to form hollow beads of varying sizes and shapes. They can be strung, used as one of a kind buttons, be combined with numerous other materials to form a unique piece of jewelry or sculpture.
After they are formed, you will learn how to include other materials such as metal clays, epoxy resins and putties, polymer clay and rock-like paper pulp, as part of the bead. You will also learn how to cut “windows” into the beads to reveal words, images or any thing else you may want to place behind the window or inside the bead. The surfaces of the beads can be cut, carved, and textured: or they can be sanded to a smooth matte, or polished to a high shine.
The making and use of shop-made dapping dies for forming the beads will also be covered.
This is not a traditional beading class but rather an opportunity to make one-of-a-kind artists beads that are just as useable in book arts, fiber arts, clothing and sculpture as they are in jewelry.
1 -day Workshop -$180 plus kit fee
Sawing skills necessary.