Recycle Your Old Jewellery

This short course will introduce you to the casting techniques and methods involved in turning your old jewellery into new items. You can bring in as much of your old jewellery as you like in order to create exciting and innovative designs.

Course aims and benefits:

This course will give students the opportunity to create new pieces of jewellery through deconstructing and reconstructing old jewellery through casting. Students will learn and develop their knowledge about casting in sand and cuttlefish and how to create a mould. Students will also be able to develop a sense for design and how to approach different ways of designing.

The more old jewellery that students bring in, the more options they have for creating new jewellery - melting and remaking from the old! Students can also bring scrap silver or gold if they have any. All tools and other materials will be provided however students might also need to purchase silver or gold depending on quantity of old jewellery they bring in.

Course content;

* Learn how to make a mould in cuttlefish and how to melt and cast precious metal
* Learn and practice how to make a mould with delft clay and how to cast in sand
* Deconstruct existing jewellery and reconstruct it by using either Sand- or cuttlefish casting
* Melt existing jewellery pieces, cast onto existing pieces, cast into the existing piece
* Refine the pieces made so far and practice more casting

Techniques taught;

* Cuttlefish casting
* Sand casting
* Mould making
* Critical thinking about the design process

By the end of the course, students will have;

* Learnt about sand and cuttlefish casting. How to melt and cast with precious metal
*An insight into mould making and be able to practice it.
* Be able to develop their creative thinking and making process through deconstructing and reconstructing
* A better understanding of H&S aspects of casting with precious metal