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39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating Book for the Beginning Silversmith!, November 6, 2002
As a beginner, I picked up this lovely book and immediately was drawn to its format. The hard cover, yet internally spiral bound book, is for the majority of pages, split horizontally into two books with a seperate top and bottom section. The Top Section covers 23 different jewelry making projects, while the bottom section covers in detail 20 core craft techniques, from marking and cutting materials to soldering, polishing and setting stones. While viewing the detailed steps in any of the beautifully photographed projects, one is referred by number to the specific technique employed in crafting that step. The reader can then turn to the specified technique in the bottom section of the book while still viewing the project step itself. This actually gives a nice flow to the project and stimulates the learning process in linear fashion. You don't lose focus on the idea of the project while searching through indexes or tables of contents to figure out which technique is required, and where to find it. You are sent to the specific information you need, and can refer back and forth between the project and the skill required for a particular step with only a flick of the eye. This helps to make the book a good one for the beginner, as do the wide variety of projects, and the well detailed techniques. There is a good description of what is needed for a home workshop, how to set it up, what basic tools one needs to get started, and how to use them. I bought the book and pored eagerly through it, learning a lot. The 23 projects were selected to teach the basic techniques a beginner would employ, yet the results of each project are a lovely piece of jewelry that the artist would be proud to display. The author has included at the back of the book a gallery of other artisans works which I found appealing as it showed what could be accomplished with more demanding techniques and experience. After reading the book, the beginner is able to view these items and identify most of the basic steps involved in their creation using their newfound knowledge. Further in the back of the book are some useful tables and technical information of interest to the beginner,as well as a glossary of commonly used terms particular to the craft. All in all, I loved the book because it very quickly showed me the individual steps and techniques needed in the crafting of a number of very simple yet appealing jewelry pieces, in a way that ingeniously allowed me to learn the techniques without losing focus on the flow and beauty of the project itself. The author, Madeline Coles, has done a great job bring to the beginner both the joy and beauty of the craft on the 'artsy' level, while performing the difficult job of teaching a lot of very detail specific technical skills. I think she did a superlative job on both fronts. I know this won't be the last book I will buy on the subject of jewelry making/SilverSmithing, but I'm glad it was my first!
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