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Little Metal Foxes

12/08 Drawing in Space: Techniques for 3-D Jewelry & Sculptural Forms in Steel Wire with Nisa Blackmon

12/08 Drawing in Space: Techniques for 3-D Jewelry & Sculptural Forms in Steel Wire with Nisa Blackmon

$78.00 USD
$78.00 USD
Sale Sold out

Sunday, December 8, 2024 
9:00 am - 12:00 pm PDT

Instructor: Nisa Blackmon

Steel wire is a ubiquitous, humble material that quite literally holds many parts of our world together! It is also inexpensive, strong yet lightweight, fast and easy to work with and will develop beautiful surfaces when patinated. In this course, the instructor will demonstrate methods for working in three dimensions with linear mild steel materials, such as binding wire and cold-rolled square stock, to fabricate jewelry and small sculptural objects. Specific topics & skills covered will include: forming, making joints and connections, silver-soldering, cleaning and application of several different patinas for steel, as well as sealing surfaces. Students wishing to expand their repertoire of materials or increase the scale of their jewelry and metal creations will enjoy this excursion into the ferrous world!

Student Level: Suitable for all levels; basic metals/jewelry skills (ex: sawing, filing/sanding, soldering) are recommended but not required.

All Levels

All classes include the video recording, which you will have access to for 60 days after the class. The Zoom link, handouts, video(s), and other important information can be found by clicking on the individual class link on the "My Courses" page. The Zoom link and handout (if any) will be available 24 hours before the class starts.

You also get 1 free session of Open Studio Access (OSA) in the month following your class, the Zoom link can be found on the course video access page.

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

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. Students in the Rio for Schools program enjoy wholesale benefits for six months (instructor code = RFSLMF). 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

Steel-specific Consumable Supplies:

NOTE: Do NOT buy any galvanized or zinc-plated steel products!!

  • Steel wire: 16 ga, dark annealed, rebar tie wire or “baling” wire. Buy one coil, lg or small.
  • Steel wire: 19 ga, dark annealed, general-purpose wire. 50 ft. coil. Amazon: Hillman Group
  • Square steel stock: 1/8 inch (0.125”) square, cold-rolled, mild steel (1018) bar stock. Buy two 24 in. lengths or one 4 ft. length.
  • Silver wire (stick) solder – “Hard,” 22 ga, one 12-inch piece. Rio Grande
  • Handy paste flux (white), Rio Grande:
  • Muriatic acid (31.45% hydrochloric acid), 1 qt. Try to buy this locally if you can (hazardous to ship)! Ace Hardware, Walmart, Menards, and all the big box hardware stores should have it. If you can’t get a quart bottle, gallons are readily available. Don’t buy muriatic substitutes, “user friendly” or ‘green’ versions!
  • Cheap, plain motor oil, 1 quart (or less!). Easy local purchase -- you might even have some out in the garage! You will only need a little bit to begin with (an ounce or two), so borrow some if you can (store in a small glass or plastic jar with a tight-fitting lid).
  • Optional: Birchwood Casey Perma Blue (Gun bluing patina), 3 oz. bottle. You don’t need to buy the “Super-Blue” version.
    • Birchwood Casey direct
    • Walmart
    • Sporting goods stores (that carry hunting supplies) and outdoor outfitters may also have this product: Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Academy Sports, etc.
  • Steel wool pads, #1 (medium) or #2 (medium-coarse). Available at any hardware store.
  • Red shop rags or some old crappy hand towels or cloth rags (re-usable options) or blue shop (paper) towels or regular paper towels (disposable options)

General Consumable Supplies:

Steel-specific Tools:

  • Heavy duty wire cutters (I recommend Channellock 337 diagonal cutting pliers, 7 inch)
  • Vise-grip pliers, Lowe's (can be purchased after class)
  • Bench vise, Ace Hardware (can be purchased after class)
  • Standard #2 cut mill bastard file (6” or 8”) – get an inexpensive one, and dedicate it for use with steel.
  • Set of needle files – inexpensive, dedicated for use with steel
  • Steel brush, fine #113171, Rio Grande
  • Acid-resistant gloves, re-usable, long cuff (~13”):
  • Various glass dishes with upright walls to safely contain the diluted muriatic acid pickling solution. I find small, round dishes, beakers, loaf baking dishes or small square casserole (baking or storage) dishes to be the most useful sizes. Check out your local thrift stores for these (less expensive).
  • Solderite pad #502064, Rio Grande

General Tools:

  • Large rawhide mallet or hard plastic flat-faced forming mallet (ex: Delrin)
  • Steel bench block or anvil or other flat, steel work surface
  • Large bracelet mandrel (avoid those with high-polish, mirror-finish surfaces)
  • Round-nose pliers (a sturdy pair, not a tiny soft-jewelry-wire-bending pair)
  • Flat-nose pliers
  • Jeweler’s saw
  • Heavy jeweler’s saw blades (#2, 1 or 2/0)
  • Tube-cutting jig, Rio Grande
  • Torch using acetylene, oxy/acetylene, with medium & large tips (regular Smith #1 & 2)
    • OR hand-held butane “table-top” torch (make sure it is rated for soldering, reaching 2000° F or higher) and butane fuel
  • Steel T-pins (for use with soft fire brick)
  • Third-hand cross-locking tweezers, with stands; recommend you have 2
  • Optional: "Lazy-susan style" Pumice pan w/ pumice gravel
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