Loop-in-loop chain making

Introduction to closed loop chain making, as practiced by ancient etruscan, roman, and egyptian cultures.

2 to 4 hours, depending on participants.

$60 per person, 5 people maximum + materials ($0 to to $50, see below).

Prerequisites: Familiarity with wire, and basic wire working tools -- snips, jewelry saw or scissors, round and chain nose pliers. Must have previously conquered fear of small flames - some torch work is required.

Tools:

Participants should bring their own jewelry making pliers. At a minimum medium size round nose and chain nose (non-serrated) will be needed. If you don't have them, they can be purchased locally in Monmouth county at bead shops in Red Bank or Morganville. I have one pair of each to share in the studio. Be prepared to stay late if you don't bring your own!
Small, tapered, pointed things -- used to open up wire loops. Among the candidates are jewelry scribers, non-automatic center punches, small knitting needles, round wooden toothpicks, nails.
Small torches (if you have them) -- butane fired kitchen or pencil torches will work for the purposes of the workshop. An acetylene/air torch with a small tip is recommended for followup work in your own studio/home.

Things you will need to follow up at your home/studio:

A small torch for fusing links
scissors for cutting links
Various sized wood or metal dowels
Various pointy things
An assistant or a couple of vises to hold things while you bend wire around them.
A heat resistant surface for fusing links - charcoal blocks are traditional
round and chain nose jewelry pliers
Fine silver or 22K gold or 24K gold wire
Patience
Concentration
The book: "Classical Loop-in-loop chains & Their Derivitives" by Jean Reist Stark and Josephine Reist Stark

Agenda:

Hi. I'm me, who are you?
Materials
Tools
Techniques -coiling, cutting, fusing links
The basic loop-in-loop chain (one-in-one, one direction)
Embellishing the simple link (trapped ball chain, foldover chain, planished links)
multiple direction chains (two-way-single, N-way single)
Doubling up.
Project: Side Weave Bracelet

No worries - we won't be using gold for this..

You are welcome to bring your own wire, but it must be .999 Fine Silver, or 22K Gold, or 24K Gold - no other metal will do. 5 feet of 16ga wire is needed to make the bracelet shown in a 7 to 8" length. An additional 4 or 5 inches will be needed to make the hook.

If you can master fusing, I will have 16ga fine silver wire on hand for you to purchase at @ $3.50 pre foot (five feet are needed to complete this bracelet)

If you need more practice to get fusing under control, I will have pre-fused links available @ $1.75 per link - it will take about 25 links to complete the bracelet.

Yes -- it is a lot more expensive to have me make your links for you!

The goal is to have each participant walk out wearing a bracelet they made during the workshop. Students may choose a different project using one of the other links/designs demonstrated, but I can't guarantee completion of alternate projects during the time allotted to the workshop.