Friday, June 14, 2013

Fold Forming with Kim St. Jean

Kim St. Jean is a bit of a legend when it comes to metal work.

After reading her book, Mixed Metal Mania, I tried fold forming.  The results were not pretty.  Seriously, not pretty.

When I saw Kim's "Fold Form Cuff with a Bezel Set Stone" class, I knew I had to take it.

There is a huge difference between reading a book and watching Kim do the techniques.  I may have mentioned before, but having a teacher to guide you sometimes makes all the difference.

In addition to fold forming, we also created a bezel setting for a stone.  We did this with a jewelers saw and a very, very small saw blade.

I had always been scared to use a jewelers saw and was a bit intimidated.  I was both happy and surprised that it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.  I may not be investing in a saw soon, but I won't be scared of it any more.

By the end of class, I had created something cool.


Kim was a great teacher.  You can find her books, Mixed Metal Mania and and Metal Magic, on Amazon.

4 comments:

  1. Are there any classes you DID NOT take?! This is just beautiful - love that stone on top of the bracelet, too!

    I agree with you - I have WAY TOO MANY books AND DVD's - but if you get the right teacher, there is nothing like "one on one" instruction to really grasp the technique.

    Nice job! :0

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  2. I love this cuff! Fold forming is another technique on my list of things to learn! I agree that having books is nice and can be helpful, but learning from a teacher is so much better. This cuff is gorgeous!

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  3. I have dabbled at form folding....I am like you I think I need a teacher! Beautiful bracelet!

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  4. Look at you! This is just gorgeous!

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