Metalsmithing

Wax Modeling & Carving: The Art of Jewelry Prototyping
Discover the art of wax modeling and carving—a foundational skill in jewelry design that allows for intricate, sculptural, and highly customized creations.

In this course, you’ll learn to carve wax models from scratch, using an array of specialized tools, including rotary tools with burrs, wood whittling knives, dental picks, and sculpting tools. We’ll explore the full spectrum of wax varieties, from soft, pliable forms to hard, brittle tooling waxes, ensuring you understand the best materials for different design applications.

Learn to set a cabochon in a precious metal frame, bound with fine metal thread. The process of wire wrapping uses minimal tools, weaving and binding metal in cold connection techniques. You will make a Pendant in this course, learning how to cinch a stone in place and create a bail to suspend the stone from. This course is meant to take beginners away from the “Champagne bottle top” style of wrapping, and lay the foundations to understand fine weaving and binding patterns.

Relief casting is the art of pouring molten metal over various surfaces to capture intricate textures and impressions. This introductory course focuses on classic texture techniques, including broom, salt, bean, and water casting, each producing unique organic patterns that add depth and character to your work.

These textured metal forms can be used in fabrication, soldered into larger designs, or transformed directly into jewelry with simple modifications like drilling and adding jump rings. Whether you’re looking to create bold standalone pieces or enhance your metalwork with rich textures, this course provides the foundational skills to experiment with relief casting in a controlled and creative way.