The Jewelry Maker's Field Guide: Tools and Essential Techniques

by Helen Driggs

Discover a thorough reference guide to metalworking tools and techniques with multiple demos, tutorials, cross-references, and supportive skill-building exercises and projects. Helen I. Driggs, senior editor for Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist , brings her down-to-earth approach and strong metalworking knowledge base to this overview of basic and not-so-basic metalworking techniques.

The Jewelry Maker's Field Guide walks you through the variety of metalworking tools available and offers guidance on setting up a studio, buying and organizing supplies, and determining what tools to buy and when. Organizing tools by basic functions, Helen offers a solid and logical overview of metalworking techniques and teaches sets of related skills, showing how different tools can sometimes achieve the same end. Each chapter includes stepped demos and applied techniques for using particular tools. The book culminates in projects that combine a variety of techniques and allow the reader to further apply and practice their metalworking skills.

Get a solid foundation for understanding the basic (and not so basic) processes of metalwork!

Genres: Crafts, Nonfiction, Art

457 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 14, 2013

Reviews

[Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book is still a starting point for many jeweler’s, I believe many would have needed to have taken classes or supplement with YouTube tutorials to make the most of this book.
With the “step-by-step” pictures, many times there were many steps within one step, so you didn’t know what the image was covering (like in the riveting section), or would add in new terminology without explaining it, so I would have to do additional research.
In one instance, they brought up annealing wire before they even got to the torch section! I’d imagine newbies might get lost with small errors in explanation like that.
But as others have said, the title “field guide” essentially saves the writer from having to get too in-depth with anything, yet would leave the inquisitive wanting more.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty good, and very thorough overview of many different types and styles of jewelry making. It was very broad on a great deal of subjects, and not terribly specific on any one subject - but, that's what you'd expect from a field guide!

It covered things for the newbie - like tool selection, types of beads and stringing materials, the components of various metals, etc ... To the much more advanced glass worker and metal smith. I'm afraid of using a torch - so I didn't go there, but I long to work with metal one day! Right now wire work is my passion, and has been for years. I think a book like this is a good intro to what's out there, but it might not be one of those books you just LOVE and have to keep.

[Adria D. Gunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not very in-depth and still wears brooches?

I wanted some serious details. The projects are just a list, no real instructions. The pictures are taken far from the object. Jewelry tutorials have to be close up. You're working with small items. The templates offered are okay for learning the techniques but quite boring. It's a basic book which would be fine if it was a good basic book.

[rachel nichole mcclain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pergect

Pergect

I couldn't have found a more informative, detailed, informational, and useful guide to help me in my endeavors. thank you