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Simple Stacker Rings with a Flair
This is not your typical Stacker Ring workshop! In this demo-focused virtual course, students will learn to improve on their small scale fabrication and will additionally learn techniques to add their own personalized flair to a series of stacking rings!
The workshop will consist of live demonstrations and discussions on both process and the all too often forgotten category of design. Brie will cover the bases starting with how to solder sterling silver rings with efficiency, then moving on to demonstrating how to make your own settings using fine silver bezel wire for setting simple cabochons.
Brie will also demonstrate finishing techniques and embellishments such as various hammer textures, patination to give the stacker rings greater texture and depth, and last (but certainly not least) some simple powder coating tips and trick to add pops of color.
Meet the instructor
Brie Flora is a contemporary jeweler and educator currently living in east Tennessee. Brie is a graduate from Massachusetts College of Art and Design with a dual degree in Metalsmithing & Jewelry and Art Education May 2015. Her wearable jewelry plays with symmetry and consists heavily of line work, negative space, patterns, and color. She pulls elements from nature, fantasy, & fiction to create unique works of wearable art with a minimalist aesthetic balanced with pops of intricate marks and illustrations.
Brie has been featured in over 10 group exhibitions, recently including Touchy Feely at the Baltimore Jewelry Center in Baltimore MD, and HOTDOG! Show Chicago at the Ornament and Object gallery, Chicago IL. She also created and curated the first vol. of “Guidelines – A contemporary jewelry project” that featured works by 15 jewelers and makers including herself. “Guidelines” was on view during Adorned Spaces at the 2019 SNAG Conference in Chicago, and then up for a month-long exhibition at the Appalachian Center for Craft in Smithville, TN (for more information go to @guidelines_jewelry on Instagram).
Materials & Tools
The following supplies will be used for course demonstrations and objectives. A suggested item and/or vendor has been provided below for reference. Click the vendor name to be redirected to a page where you can view the item. The quantities needed for each item are listed first. If ordering, please be aware that some items may come in larger quantities than needed for this class. We recommend not opening an item's packaging until the day of the workshop. Student participation during or in-between class sessions is not required - observers are welcome.
Metal/raw materials (NOTE all materials are optional - students are welcome to wait until the end of the course to order supplies, as they may have a better idea for what they want to order):
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4ft x sterling silver round wire - 18g (Rio Grande)
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1ft x sterling silver round wire - 12g (Rio Grande)
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1ft x sterling silver solder - 20g (Rio Grande)
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1-2 x 6-8mm smooth or rose cut round/oval cabs (Lucidity)
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6-12" x fine silver bezel - 1/8", 28g soft (Rio Grande)
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powder coat supplies & colors - contact instructor with questions
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1 x liver of sulfur (Rio Grande)
Torch setup:
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1 x fireproof area - steel sheet, tiles, etc. (Amazon or Home Depot)
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1 x Solderite™ pad / pan with pumice (Rio Grande or Rio Grande)
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1 x torch - Smith mini, Silversmith, or butane (Rio Grande or Rio Grande)
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1 x #0 or #1 torch tip - if getting Silversmith (Rio Grande)
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1 x striker or lighter - Silversmith system has one (Rio Grande)
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1 x soldering tweezers (Rio Grande)
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1 x soldering pick (Rio Grande)
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1 x cross lock tweezers (Rio Grande)
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1 x paste flux (Rio Grande)
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1 x copper tongs - for pickle (Rio Grande)
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1 x pickle - sodium bisulfate or citric acid (Rio Grande or Amazon)
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1 x crock pot or lidded glass container (Rio Grande or Amazon)
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1 x tempered glass container or sink - for quenching and rinsing
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1 x small brush - for flux
Hand tools:
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1 x flat nose pliers (Rio Grande)
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1 x snips / flush cutters (Rio Grande)
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1 x jewelers saw (Rio Grande)
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1 x pack saw blades - 2/0 (Rio Grande)
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1 x burlife / bee's wax (Rio Grande)
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1 x bench pin (Rio Grande)
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1 x half round hand file - #2 cut (Rio Grande)
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1 x half round forming pliers (Rio Grande)
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1 x center punch (Rio Grande)
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1 x ring clamp (Rio Grande)
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1 x rawhide / plastic mallet (Rio Grande)
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1 x riveting hammer (Rio Grande)
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1 x steel block / steel surface (Rio Grande)
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1 x planishing hammer (Rio Grande)
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1 x ring mandrel (Rio Grande)
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1 x bezel mandrel - 1mm to 5mm (Rio Grande)
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1 x stepped round and Chain nose wire wrapping pliers (Rio Grande)
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OR
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1 x round or oval bezel mandrel (Rio Grande)
Other/miscellaneous items:
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toaster oven - for powder coating
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hard work surface
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fan and open window - or ventilation system
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safety glasses
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pencil, Sharpie, notebook
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rags/towels