When: Sunday October 9, 2022
Duration: 10:00am - 4:00pm
Class Size: 7 people
Cost: $465

Have you ever wanted to make a silver spoon? Perhaps a keepsake spoon, a gift for a newborn baby or happy newlyweds? A coffee scoop for morning rituals or perhaps you really need a fancy spoon to stir your Friday night Negroni?

This full day hands-on workshop is a lot of fun and will give you the opportunity to make your very own spoon in sterling silver.

The humble spoon was one of the earliest examples of cutlery and the use of silver spoons goes back to the ancient Greeks when it was normal to carry a spoon and drinking vessel when dining away from home! Today, a silver spoon is still a traditional gift for a new baby or a wedding present. Tutor Erin Pearce invites you to spend a day forging and fabricating your very own Copper and Fine Silver spoons.

Delving into the values of reciprocity and the sharing of the skills, space and time, we invite you to experiment with techniques and designs in copper, before creating a Fine Silver teaspoon. Let’s see what you can bring to the table!

Prerequisite

These classes are not designed for silversmiths; they are for people who just want to experience and understand the skills of the craftsmen and women who create beautiful silverware. Students will be required to have a basic understanding of annealing and soldering metal, and will need to be comfortable with repetitive hammering for long periods of time.

Course Objectives

This course is an excellent introduction to working with metals. Using traditional tools and methods to transform a piece of silver using hammering and forging – a process known as hand raising – into a simple utensil. Using hammers and stakes, we focus on traditional silversmithing techniques to manipulate silver into 3D form. Learn how we stretch, thin and shape metal to create elegant forms. In the process of making your spoon you will learn how to anneal, forge, form and solder.

These are some of the techniques that you will be guided through:

• Metallurgy

• Annealing, Forging, Forming

• Complex solder joins (for both fine jewellery and standard jewellery connections)

• Industry standard finishing/polishing

• New materials knowledge and understanding through application

• Temperature control

• Chemicals and their uses

• Design planning

Course Outcomes

Everyone will complete one silver spoon. You will complete this course having increased your skills set and you will leave with the understanding and confidence to continue making basic utensils.

What’s Included

Tuition fee includes all materials, tools and enough silver to make one spoon. You will be provided with copper to sample, sterling silver, consumables – saw blades, solder, emery paper, industry standard polishing equipment, notes, trade connections.