The Art of Jewelry Making & Metalsmithing: a Tiered Curriculum: Beading → Wirework → Soldering & Stone-setting — Tools, Benchwork, Finishes, and a Small-business Guide

The Art of Jewelry Making & Metalsmithing — A Tiered Curriculum for Makers Who Want Repeatable ResultsThis practical manual teaches jewelry making as a measurable, repeatable craft. Organized as a three-tier curriculum — Beading, Wirework, and Soldering & Stone-Setting — the book guides makers from low-risk, high-feedback projects to bench-based metalwork that demands precision and control. Every technique is shown as a sequence of observable variables: dimensions, tolerances, heat behavior, finishing grits, and organized bench habits that make quality consistent rather than accidental.Tier 1 trains the fundamentals. Beading is treated as disciplined design practice: proportion and rhythm, bead-count math for precise lengths, clasp selection, tension control, and finishing standards that translate directly to more advanced work. Tier 2 develops wire literacy — gauges, forming, wrapped loops, chain construction, and solder-free structural joins that train eyesight and muscle for symmetry and repeatability. Tier 3 teaches bench essentials: controlled annealing, pick-up soldering, bezel and prong settings, and the finishing workflow necessary to produce professional metalwork.Tools and materials are prioritized so you buy once and buy well. The text gives specific recommendations for pliers, saws, calipers, torches, polishers, and finishing systems; it lists common sheet and wire sizes with conversions; and it explains solder selection and the logic of working from higher- to lower-flow solders as a reproducible strategy rather than guesswork. Technique chapters are procedural and numerical: cut toward a snug fit, heat for even capillary solder flow, and finish through defined grit progressions and polishing sequences to achieve mirror surfaces reliably.Safety and ergonomics are treated as craft skills. The book prescribes working heights, task lighting levels, ventilation and PPE choices, and simple studio habits that protect the maker’s body and extend productive working life. It also teaches workflow discipline: plan before you cut, build competence through staged repetition, and keep a bench notebook of recipes — heat settings, fluxes, and finishing notes — so successful outcomes can be repeated.A concise small-business section closes the curriculum with pricing by material and labor, quality-control tolerances, product presentation, and practical steps for moving from hobby to paid work. This is a hands-on, numbers-minded manual for makers who want technique that is teachable, measurable, and sellable.