The Complete Jewelry Making Course: Principles, Practice and Techniques: A Beginner's Course for Aspiring Jewelry Makers [Paperback]

Jinks McGrath (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2007

This comprehensive and heavily illustrated manual teaches the craft of jewelry making to students looking to create professional quality items. The author covers every step of the process, from creating original design concepts to fashioning professionally finished pieces of jewelry. She lists all required tools and equipment, explains their uses, advises on safe working practices, and then guides her readers through every stage of the jewelry making process in a series of carefully structured tutorials. Students will learn--

How to start with an original idea, translate it into a workable design, and then use the design as a pattern to make beautiful wearable jewelry

How to work with precious and semiprecious stones, metals, glass, plastic, resin, and wood

How to present and sell one's creations to dealers and wholesalers

Clear, full-color, step-by-step photos demonstrate the methods of fashioning metals by heating, hammering, casting, soldering, riveting, polishing, finishing, and adding surface decoration. At-a-glance panels explain how to apply the right techniques when working in specific metals, as well as ideas for experimenting with inexpensive substitutes before advancing to precious materials. Here's the perfect book for transforming hobbyists into true professionals. It will also serve as a useful textbook for those conducting organized courses in jewelry design. Color photos on every page.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is exactly the kind of book I've come to expect from Jinks McGrath: a thorough, creative, useful, easy-to-navigate, and beautiful text."


--Addie Kidd, Art Jewelry Magazine, March 2009

From the Inside Flap

(back cover)
This is a complete course in designing and making jewelry. Carefully structured tutorials guide you through every stage of the process, revealing how to translate inspired ideas into workable, wearable designs. You'll also find professional advice on presenting and selling your work.

Learn about tools, equipment, and safe working practices; build an inspiration file; understand how to select suitable materials and transfer your designs; find out how to work with precious and semi-precious stones, metals, glass, plastic, resin, and wood.

Clear, step-by-step photographs demonstrate all the techniques you'll need, from manipulating materials by heating, hammering, and casting to methods of soldering, riveting, polishing, finishing, and adding surface decoration.

At-a-glance panels explain the effect that different techniques have on a variety of metals, and practical exercises provide guidance in tricky skills--with ideas for tryping them out on inexpensive substitutes before using your chosen materials.

Jinks McGrath is a jeweler and teacher whose designs have been exhibited and collected for many years. She is the author of several previously published books on jewelry making. She lives and works in East Sussex, England.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Barron's Educational Series (November 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764136607
• ISBN-13: 978-0764136603
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 8.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,796 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Complete Jewelry Making Course by Jinks McGrath - A wonderful book on jewelry techniques, July 6, 2009

By 

Diana M. Kirkpatrick "artisan jewelry designer" (Gainesville, Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Jewelry Making Course: Principles, Practice and Techniques: A Beginner's Course for Aspiring Jewelry Makers (Paperback)

I really like the way this book is set up. All the information is presented in easy to read and remember "bullets". It's aimed at beginners and should give any beginner a real grasp of the essential techniques and tools of the trade.

The book starts with an overview of tools (types of tools and how to use them, their care and maintenance) and materials (a lot of information about working with various metals and their properties). There are also tips on where to look for design ideas and how to evaluate and translate your ideas into designs you can use.

The next section includes thirty-four units on various facets of jewelry making - annealing, soldering, bending, polishing and finishing, using a draw plate, texturing, and more. Each of these units is broken down into tips and how-tos - with lots of photos to supplement the text. The section on annealing has several tips plus some practice lessons in annealing wire and sheet metal.

The final section of the book has a series of six projects that bring together all of the techniques you've been exploring in some neat designs - a ring, an etched bangle, and a textured pendant for example.

I highly recommend this book - I use it as a ready reference. This is a great reference book for a beginning jewelry maker.

66 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Exactly the same book as Hurst's Step-by-Step book, October 12, 2008

By 

Althea L. Turner - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete Jewelry Making Course: Principles, Practice and Techniques: A Beginner's Course for Aspiring Jewelry Makers (Paperback)

I ordered this book with Nicola Hurst's "Step-by-Step Jewelry Workshop" and was very disappointed to find that they were nearly identical.
They used the same photographs and right down to some of the same text.

For example, on page 11 of McGrath a section on Finding Inspiration is exactly the same text as Hurst's pg 21. And there are many more instances of being exactly the same book with different covers.

Neither books are bad, but don't buy them both. In fact, find another less sleazy publisher than Quarto Books to provide your needs.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Complete Jewelry Making Course:, May 2, 2008

By 

Dupree "entertain me junkie" (Vancouver, WA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Complete Jewelry Making Course: Principles, Practice and Techniques: A Beginner's Course for Aspiring Jewelry Makers (Paperback)

This is a relatively good place to start metalsmithing if you have some knowledge of jewelry making. I'm very new using and forming metals, but I have been doing wirework and beading techniques for over five years. At some point beaders often have a desire to move on. This was a good choice for me when that time came. I am well pleased with this book.