Customer Reviews

Complete Metalsmith, ProPlus Edition

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This new "pro" edition of The Complete Metalsmith is everything you would expect it to be. Detailed, accurate, and filled with many useful diagrams. It is a significant improvement over the regular edition in terms of topic depth and scope.

The CD includes the full text (searchable pdf) of the pro edition which is very nice to have. It also includes the entire first edition of the Complete Metalsmith AND Practical Jewelry Rendering as scanned pages. The original version is interesting from a historical perspective -- it's amazing to see a handwritten tome of that length.

The application "suite" is delivered as an executable Jar file for Macs and PCs or as a standalone executable for PocketPC or Palm. I've only tried it on my desktop PC so far. The tools include various converters, calculators, and lookup tables that automate some of the calculations included in the book. I would think if you carry a palm/pocketpc it might be a nice add-on -- as a desktop tool, the suite is kind of "useless" since you can find most of this stuff on the web already.

I wholeheartedly recommend the pro edition of the Complete Metalsmith. Is the CD worth the $15 price difference -- I'd have to say "maybe" which is why I gave *this* edition only 4-stars. The searchable pdf of the pro edition will definitely come in handy. I also will make use of the book on jewelry rendering. I don't expect I'll be able to effectively make use of the toolsuite since I don't have a palm/pocketpc OR a desktop computer anywhere near my jewelry studio.

This is a great book, well written & easy to understand, Tim writes in plain, conversational English. A book for people with a good solid basic knowledge on metal manipulation/brazing/construction these people will get the most from it & be inspired by the ideas. If you are new to metals then this book will have Big gaps of assumed knowledge (but it is the Pro Plus Edition!)
The spiral binding is not a godsend, it is awkward to use, even harder to close & is leading to burring where the holes in the page for the spiral are.
I have not yet checked out the CD, as mine arrived sans CD, however Amazon have been great about it, so it should be in my post box.Why did I pay extra for the CD? Because (and this goes for the book too) what I have learnt MOST in the last few years of metalsmithing is that Everything is more useful than first appearance... the more you do & learn, the more you will find to do & learn from your refference book collection; and the more you will find in books you thought you knew from cover to cover.

12/16/10: Just about 6 months late in reviewing. Received the book without the CD. It seems there are quite a few buyers who did not receive the CD......why? Found the hard cover with the spirals difficult to use. The author had added current information for PMC clay and this may have crowded the inside pages. If they would enlarge the hard cover and give more clearance for the pages there would be room to turn the pages without tearing. Perhaps the book should be in two volumes with room to expand in each volume.

Fabulous book, I take it everywhere with me and refer to it constantly.
I do wish the CD video's were better quality, they are tiny and difficult to see being somewhat pixilated. Had I a preview of the CD beforehand I think I might have opted for purchasing only the book.

That said however, I do find it ever so handy to have the CD in the drive and be able to search the book for the bit I'm looking for. So I may have purchased the CD after just for that convenience!
So the value of the CD depends whether you really are someone who uses all the features of your PC or not. There is also a design process book on the CD and the original version of the Metalsmith, however both versions are so similar I really don't see why the previous version was included. I feel the extra space would have been put to better use by upgrading the quality of the videos as I really am disappointed in the poor quality videos :-(

I do highly recommend the book - purchase the CD only if you think it will be of value to you.

I have read the first 5 chapters and realize this is very informative and easy to understand. Putting this to use was just as simple as the directions are cut and dry and simple enough for a novice like me to understand. This title was recommended to me very highly and I can read why. Thanks

In case you are considering purchasing this from one of the independant sellers for $100 plus, The Pro Plus Edition of this book is available from Rio Grande Jewelry Supply for $45.00.

Got this book because I heard it was a great book about metalsmithing and it is, it is just way over my head. I finally found a local workshop to attend and learn metalsmithing 101 and eventually the book will make more sense. But for someone who knows nothing about metalsmithing, it can be confusing. I'm keeping it mind you because I'm enjoying learning about it and it will be a great reference tool.

I ordered the ProPlus Edition (book & cd) and received only the book. I returned it for an exchange of what I had originally ordered. Again I received the ProPlus Edition WITHOUT the cd. Unfortunately I needed it for a class. I lost time, but more importantly, trust in Amazon. To top it off, when I received a credit to my credit card for the original purchase, I was credited for a $10 book I had also ordered at the same time, NOT the $42 of the ProPlus Edition. So... I had to contact Amazon again for the full refund. Buy this product somewhere else if you need the disc included. Otherwise, the $19 version of the Pro Edition seems worth it...