Jewelry: Fundamentals of Metalsmithing (Jewelry Crafts) [Hardcover]

Tim Mccreight (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A professional metalsmith and teacher well known as the author of a standard text, The Complete Metalsmith (Davis, 1991. rev. ed.), McCreight offers a lavishly illustrated guide to techniques. As indicated by the title, this book covers metalworking fundamentals and is similar to Jinks McGrath's The Encyclopedia of Jewelry-Making Techniques (LJ 11/1/95). Photographs of other artists' pieces are interspersed throughout the text without any textual explanation, though evidently they are included as finished examples of the processes being discussed. No projects are included.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Hand Books Press (September 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880140292
• ISBN-13: 978-1880140291
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #25,770 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

  #29 in	Books > Home & Garden > Crafts & Hobbies > Jewelry
  #1 in	Books > Home & Garden > Crafts & Hobbies > Miniatures
  #13 in	Books > Home & Garden > Crafts & Hobbies > Metal Work

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

93 of 93 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fine, fine book, November 2, 2004

By	Mike Reeves-McMillan (Auckland, New Zealand) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Jewelry: Fundamentals of Metalsmithing (Jewelry Crafts) (Hardcover)

The fact that McCreight has been teaching for 25 years really shines through. The little tips he slips in are great and his suggestions for improvising and making your own tools would save you the cost of the book in short order. There are flashes of humour and the illustrations are inspirational.

One of the editorial reviews mentions that the book contains no projects. While strictly true this is slightly misleading. McCreight includes a number of step-by-step sets of instructions for achieving particular results, but doesn't arrange them into end-to-end projects - leaving you free to think up your own, which personally I prefer.

One of the customer reviews also notes that the illustrations and text are not directly tied together. This is also true, but I was able to make the connections myself in 90% of cases. In the section on hinges, the illustrations show pieces with hinges, and so forth. They are there to stimulate your creativity rather than to tie in tightly to the text.

If you buy no other jewellery crafting book, buy this one.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jewelry: Fundamentals of Metalsmithing (Jewelry Crafts), September 11, 2005

By	Frank C. Vozenilek (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Jewelry: Fundamentals of Metalsmithing (Jewelry Crafts) (Hardcover)

This book is an excellent tool being versatile enough to take into a classroom shop environment or the metalsmith's jewelry shop. The book reads easy and is therefore easy to understand and transition the patterns and instructions to reality. All in all a well rounded book that could be used as a text or supplemental text.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not the best, August 23, 2006

By	Kristina Farris "Tenebra" (Sun Valley, ID) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Jewelry: Fundamentals of Metalsmithing (Jewelry Crafts) (Hardcover)

I have purchased this book to learn about the fundamentals of metalsmithing. Unfortunatelly in most cases the final product is shown and only theoretical description is provided without pictures or description of tools needed. The book is more theoretical than practical and other literature is needed in order to get a full idea of what is needed and how job gets done.