Saturday, June 24, 2023 
10:00 am - 2:00 pm PDT 

Instructor: Jennifer Stenhouse 

All Levels

Zoom link and instructions for joining the call will be emailed 1 day prior to class.

The class supply list is below and contains links to buy the supplies you need.

This class will be recorded, and the recording will be available for students to access through their Little Metal Foxes accounts for a full month after the live class.

Let’s learn how to form some metal! We will be introducing you to several types of forming blocks, hammers, punches, stakes, and mandrels. Students will be introduced to a variety of methods that will allow them to form metal sheet into 3-dimensional forms or jewelry and similar small-scale work. We will demonstrate a wide variety of hammers and forming tools, with traditional and non-traditional solutions, including ways to create unique ones for the student’s individual needs! Students will also learn about the importance of maintenance on these tools, how to keep them in top shape and renew older tools.

Demonstrations will include how to use all of the dapping block and swage block grooves to form things like domes, curves, sharp bends, hollow tapers, and tubes. We will also examine several options for shaping mandrels. Techniques will introduce the class to anticlastic and synclastic forming to create lightweight three-dimensional forms like domes, tubes, and tapered cones. I invite your questions! Students will be encouraged to work on samples using scrap sheet and miscellaneous wires to test the techniques.

Level: Intro & Intermediate level appropriate

Supply List for Students

The links below will take you to RioGrande.com or other suppliers. To see prices for precious metal items, you need a free Rio Grande account. Registered Little Metal Foxes students can access the Rio for Schools program for significant savings (discounts and flat-rate shipping). This site may contain Amazon and other affiliate links. If you purchase something through the link, at no cost to you, we may receive a small commission on qualifying purchases.

Recommended Tools:

• Forming set, Amazon, $179
• Forming Set, Pepe Tools, $145-1400
• Disc Cutter selection, Pepe Tools
  
• Forming set, Otto Frei, $195+
• Disc Cutter, Otto Frei, $119+
• Found objects like antlers and wooden dowels
• Joyce Chen shears and/or jeweler's saw
• 2lb Brass Mallet

Recommended Materials:

• Copper, brass or sterling in 20 ga or 22 ga will work great.
• 14 ga sterling square wire
• 1 x 4 mm rectangle wire
• 20 gauge dead-soft copper disc 3/4"