About two years ago, after moving back home, I decided to start taking classes in different things. The main reason being to build up my confidence, with the added bonus of learning a new skill. This decision has lead to courses in furniture painting, glass cutting, sewing, pottery, and French language, and has helped me to discover something about myself - I love trying new things! Once I'd started trying out adult classes I got the bug for it. I want to learn all the things!
So, the class which started it all was a one-day course in jewellery making at Sussex Downs College. I remember being incredibly nervous as I tottered off early on a Saturday morning to Lewes.
I assumed that jewellery making would naturally involve bits of wire, beads and pliers. Some of my friends create beautiful pieces of jewellery in this manner, and I hadn't even considered that I would be taught anything else. The teacher was a gruff, stocky guy of around retirement age, so it seemed like an unusual profession for him to be in, but to each his own...
Looking around the workshop at the vices, metal files and hammers, it slowly dawned on me that we weren't going to be using beads... we were going to be bending, filing and welding metal. I don't think I'd have signed up if I'd realised it was essentially a metal workshop as I was always naff at design technology at school. I'd paid my money for the course though, and had a whole Saturday to spend learning this new skill, so I threw myself into creating something.
I made two rings from the little sheet of silver I was given. I wasn't mad keen on the cutting part, as it was a bit fiddly and cutty-scary, but bending the metal with pliers was quite fun. Then you put it around this little metal cone and hammered it into a smoother shape. The filing stage was boring, tiring, irritating and yet somehow deeply satisfying all at the same time. You had to use about 3 different metal files in order to get a proper smooth finish, and often it would only be on using the last one that you noticed an imperfection and had to go back to the first stage. Le sigh.
I was completely unprepared for the welding. It hadn't even occurred to me that I'd be having to do it, so when we gathered around to watch him use the blow torch I suddenly began looking for the exit in order to make a quick escape. I ended up very reluctantly using the torch and it was every bit as scary as I'd thought. Welding is incredible and makes you feel like some kind of a fire god but also completely terrifying. You place a tiny piece of metal (which has a lower melting temperature than your silver) on top of the area you want to weld, add a little bit of a chemical, and then heat it with the torch. When it melts that little piece of metal zips into the join just like magic. You then get to plunge the red hot jewellery into water, like a blacksmith from days of old. If blacksmiths faffed about with little bits of metal jewellery anyway. Which obviously they did, because I've played RPGs and rings always have magical powers like +10 speed, so they're a pretty badass bit of armour - AMIRIGHT?
From here on out most of what you're doing is getting the finish right. Basically more filing, but with finer files. It's a bit like when you buffer your nails to make them all shiny. Also there was this buffer machine which was pretty fun to use, although the metal did get super-hot from it. It looked a bit like one of those rotating table-saws - the kind you'd try to kill James Bond with - but was fluffy instead of spiky metal.
Right, I've prattled on enough now, just take a look at them...
Pretty nifty huh?
They're not quite perfect - I can see flaws in these photos which I'd file out given the chance!
Mmmm sausages
So there we go. Something I probably would have shied away from trying but which I'm very glad I did. I'm happy with my little creations and it turned out to be a lot of fun. Plus it gave me the bug to keep trying out new things and for that I'm very pleased.
Now what class to try out next? Any suggestions?
