How nessasary is a class?

[terrapinstation]

Hello all! I am a beginner jeweler (trying to make it a career and learning everyday) and I want to learn how to hand / push engrave and engrave for stonesetting to give myself more tools in my skills toolbox. I had a professor of mine tell me it was not worth it to learn on my own, and that I have to take a class or have a mentor. Is this true? I can't afford a GRS class right now (though I would like to take one in the future!) and there is no engravers / setters in my area who I can ask to mentor me at this moment (waiting to hear back about some apprenticeships).

Curious everyone’s thoughts!

Thanks!

Alternatively - are there any video courses that I could purchase that anyone recommends?

 

[monk]

taking a class is not mandatory. neither is the success of your engraving mandatory. if at all possible, a class is the way to go. there's tons of videos on the net-- free. also many are available by known professionals. welcome to the forum and good luck

 

[gcmeleak]

Loads of assum videos on utube. To me the most important tool is a rock solid ball vise, at least 20 pounds. Loads and loads of practice plates, start out with copper. You will need to learn to sharpen your bits. Dull bits equal crap results. This skill requires a very large learning curve as well as a monetary investment. If you are under the impression that you can learn this in a few months guess again, maybe years and decades are more of a realistic view.

 

[John B.]

Where are you located??? Please put your location in your posts.
It's hard to guess where you are, and who can give you some help.

 

[Mike576]

As others have said, a class isn’t 100% needed but shaves months or years off the learning curve. I took a few online classes from Wes Griffin. Great investment! I also recommend buying some casting plates. They are a resin exact copy of and engraving. Fega has a bunch available, some good some horrible. Try to buy them direct from makers if you can. Great for close up inspection under the scope to understand different cuts.

Best of luck!

 

[DaveatWeirs]

I taught myself because I couldn't afford to go abroad for classes (I'm in Ireland) or pay for online ones. It's doable but classes will shave a lot of time off, make the learning curve easier and particularly help with figuring out some of the nuances that can't be learned easily through books or the random youtube videos (especially if you don't know the correct name of the problem you're having to even look up advice). One of the only reasons I was able to do it as a full time job was because I spent all of lockdown teaching myself. If I didn't have near unlimited time to deface coins and other random bits of metal I would probably be still learning.

 

[mtlctr]

Practice as much as you can imho.
kent

 

[tdelewis]

Class helped me a lot, but I have also gained much from Youtube videos. I suggest you go to Youtube first and try following their directions. Practice in copper and brass or whatever material you can find that is not difficult to cut. Silver soldering is also important. There are many videos on that as well. That is free advice so take as much as you can get. Then take a class to out some of the problems you encounter. Don't forget to watch some on sharpening tools. That is the most important to learn. If the tools are not prepared properly, they will not cut well, and you will become frustrated.

 

[terrapinstation]

taking a class is not mandatory. neither is the success of your engraving mandatory. if at all possible, a class is the way to go. there's tons of videos on the net-- free. also many are available by known professionals. welcome to the forum and good luck

thanks for the reply! Makes sense and I appreciate you!

Class helped me a lot, but I have also gained much from Youtube videos. I suggest you go to Youtube first and try following their directions. Practice in copper and brass or whatever material you can find that is not difficult to cut. Silver soldering is also important. There are many videos on that as well. That is free advice so take as much as you can get. Then take a class to out some of the problems you encounter. Don't forget to watch some on sharpening tools. That is the most important to learn. If the tools are not prepared properly, they will not cut well, and you will become frustrated.

makes sense - I have become quite confused about all the diffentt methods of sharpening. I’m thinking of using ceragloss wheels

 

[papart1]

as

gcmeleak said............practice with LOTS pf practice plates, HD as 2" wide x .`125 steel bar stock, Rob​

 

[DKanger]

Taking a class will avoid developing bad habits which will be much harder to unlearn. Learning under direct supervision, where mistakes can be corrected, is much easier than trying to interpret the plethora of UTube videos where not everyone is an expert.

"If you think education is expensive,
Consider the price of ignorance."

 

[teroon]

You don't need a class but:
- Figuring things on your own, or with youtube/books will take much longer. If you want to do this as a living it is better to save yourself a trouble and go for a course.
- If you want to do it as a part time job/hobby then most of the things you can learn on your own. Also if you choose this path, then after a half of year or a year I would go for some private lessons instead of groupe classes.

Also - you have to practice a lot regardles of option you are going to take.

 

[mtlctr]

as

gcmeleak said............practice with LOTS pf practice plates, HD as 2" wide x .`125 steel bar stock, Rob​

Steel can be much thinner than .125 for practice. Thinner = less expensive. .032” should be fine.

 

[rweigel]

I tried to learn mostly myself. Had a lot of help with stonesetting from a turkish jeweler I met during holidays in Turkey, you could call that a course. We had no common language at this time. Engraving I still try to learn myself, some techniques work (flare cutting e.g.), for some I dearly whish to have a teacher (scroll cutting and shading). I can‘t draw well, I just haven‘t got the knack to do nice scrolls. It is not a real problem since I do my own jewelry and could choose which decoration to use.

I learned stone setting first and turned to engraving later. I believe it would have been a bit better the other way round. True, a lot of stonesetting requires only short cuts, but knowledge about graver geometry and proper sharpening techniques would have helped.
So, if you can get a training course, go for it. And prepare yourself for many many meters of cutting practice…

Cheers

Ralf

 

[mtlctr]

I tried to learn mostly myself. Had a lot of help with stonesetting from a turkish jeweler I met during holidays in Turkey, you could call that a course. We had no common language at this time. Engraving I still try to learn myself, some techniques work (flare cutting e.g.), for some I dearly whish to have a teacher (scroll cutting and shading). I can‘t draw well, I just haven‘t got the knack to do nice scrolls. It is not a real problem since I do my own jewelry and could choose which decoration to use.

I learned stone setting first and turned to engraving later. I believe it would have been a bit better the other way round. True, a lot of stonesetting requires only short cuts, but knowledge about graver geometry and proper sharpening techniques would have helped.
So, if you can get a training course, go for it. And prepare yourself for many many meters of cutting practice…

Cheers

Ralf

I’ve learned through experience nice scrolls has much to do with control of the palm vise.

 

[papart1]

Steel can be much thinner than .125 for practice. Thinner = less expensive. .032” should be fine.

also means more vibration