Cuttlefish Casting Workshop with Barbara Mann
Instructor: Barbara Mann
Date/Day: TBD (Typically Saturday)
Times: TBD (Typically 10am to 5pm)
Age: 16+
Fees: TBD
Wait List registrants will be notified when a Cuttlefish Workshop (or other classes/workshops they are interested in) is scheduled and open for registration. If you have any questions, please email Sherry at info@ocaf.com or call our office at 706-769-4565
Cuttlefish Workshop Description: This workshop will give participants the skills and inspiration to cast jewelry or a small-scale object in sterling silver. Using the ancient technique of cuttlebone casting, students will learn to make molds into which molten metal will be poured. Within minutes after casting, the molds are opened and the metal objects are ready for finishing. Students will learn how to use a jeweler's saw, hand files, abrasive paper and how to patina metal and use a rotary tumbler for polishing.
The cuttlefish is a squid-like creature whose skeleton can be found on the beach. It is soft enough to carve and has a beautiful wood grain-like pattern which yields a rich texture on the surface of the cast metal. There are several ways to prepare the molds from the cuttlebone, including direct carving, making a mold cavity by pressure (pushing something hard into the soft surface of the mold) or by creating a negative space in a sheet of mat board which is placed between the two halves of the mold. This may sound complicated, but it is not. The process is fun and students should be able to create one to two pieces during the day.
During the workshop we will talk about other methods of casting, alloying metal, when to cast and when to fabricate a metal project.
Material Fee / Description: Students may bring their own clean sterling silver metal to cast, or they can purchase metal from the instructor at a cost based on the market price of silver at thae time of the class. Each casting will weigh around 1/2 ounce to one ounce. That weight is a Troy ounce, not an avoirdupois ounce or an apothecary or a gram weight. We will talk about that too. Expendable materials (silver not included) used in the class, including four cuttlefish per student, will be included in the class fee.