Faculty Syllabus

Course Description

An expansion of the skills taught in Jewelry Tech 1, Techniques 2 focuses on jewelry fabrication, including design layout, adjusting patterns/designs to different sizes, sawing, filing, soldering, finishing, ring construction, setting construction, riveting, clasps, precision work, and accurate measuring. Industry standards are emphasized. This class consists of 3 projects with the option of a 4th bonus project- time permitting. The possible 4th project will focus on the student’s choice of design and incorporate techniques learned over the semester.

Dress Code: 

For students' own safety, close-toed shoes, and natural fibers should be worn to class. Synthetic fibers tend to melt when exposed to flame or hot material, potentially turning a minor burn into something far more severe. Long hair must be pulled back and secured. Students could be asked to leave class if they're dressed in an unsafe manner.

Attendance/ Class Participation

Jewelry technology courses are practice-intensive and require that you develop skills progressively throughout the semester.  If more than 10% of the total 80 clock hours for this course are missed (8 hours or 3.2 classes...I'll round up to 4) you could be dropped with a grade of “W”, or after final semester withdrawal date, with a grade of “F”.
Arriving late or leaving early will count against your total attendance, such that three late arrivals/early departures will count as one absence.
If you have extenuating circumstances or know ahead of time that you'll miss a class or be late, PLEASE let me know as soon as possible. I understand that sometimes things happen, and life gets in the way, and I'm sympathetic to those issues. That said, if you miss too many class hours, you're simply not going to get enough instruction to recieve class credit.

Supplies- plan to spend $200-$300 on supplies for this semester. If this is a hardship please talk to your instructor about working in copper or bronze or alternate projects.

Students will supply the following:

1. Saw blades ( 2/0 will do for most situations) 
2. Drill bits and burs for flex-shaft (as needed): note ACC will have drill bits on hand for the assigned projects but if you break more than 5 of them I may ask you to replace some drill bits
3. Any hand tools not supplied by ACC (i.e. you may want your own set of mini needle files)
4. Safety glasses (shatter-proof with side shields), and protective glasses with lens rated over #3. (ACC provides glasses with lens rated #3) – ACC has some you can borrow, but the number is limited
5. Optional sketch pad
6. N95 mask- made for particle safety, rate 90 or better: True N95 is recommended for polishing work
7. Ear plugs 
8. All materials for 3+ projects (metal, solder, rubber for molds, wax for models, etc.): see below

The items listed are available at the local jewelry supply store listed below. They are also available by mail order/web order through any jeweler’s supply catalog (Rio Grande, Gesswein, Hoover & Strong, Stuller, etc.). Both RioGrande and Stuller offer student accounts, you just have to sign up for them. You may need a tax id/resale license to refine metal or access some industry only sellers. Items #5, #6, #7and #8 are available at welding supply stores, hardware stores, and art supply stores. Please also consider Amazon, Ebay, or Etsy. 

RioGrande for Schools code: RFSACC

AMC Company                                       

2412 Greenlawn Parkway                       

512-452-9765  

Credit and Format

You will receive four hours of college credit when you successfully complete this course.  During the fall and spring semesters, the course will meet for sixteen weeks scheduled in one of the following formats:  (1) twice weekly for 2.5 hours per class, or (2) once weekly for five hours per class.  During the summer, the course will meet as scheduled.  Regardless of format, the total class time for this course is eighty clock hours.

Tuition is charged at the rate posted in the current Course Schedule, depending upon whether you live in-district, out-of-district, or out-of-state.  In addition, there is a $50.00

course fee, plus a $3.00 annual fee which provides you with an accident insurance policy ($25.00 deductible).

Students take this course to:

1. Satisfy degree requirements for a certificate or an Associates of Applied Science degree in Jewelry.
2. Expand jewelry fabrication skills.

Your final grade will be based on your progress throughout the semester.  Grades will be given in accordance with the following:

Productivity……….60%

Student will complete all assigned projects to the satisfaction of the instructor. Extra credit may be earned for projects completed in addition to the assigned projects

Attendance……….30%

The importance of your attendance cannot be expressed enough. It goes hand in hand with “productivity”. You will not be able to finish the projects if you don’t attend.

Attitude…………..10%

All individuals should show a cooperative spirit in working together and helping each other so that the collective experience will be beneficial to everyone.  Cooperation with each other in a working situation is very important so that an atmosphere of learning, productivity and creativity may take place.

Lab Safety

Jewelry processes can be dangerous if proper procedures are not observed.

Stay alert.  Be present in your surroundings.  

When it involves the safety of you and others, learn to pace yourself and move cautiously and deliberately. Most accidents occur when people get in a hurry, so don’t get in a hurry and please use your common sense. ACC strives to provide you with proper training and a safe environment, but you also must do your part. Think ahead to possible outcomes of what you’re doing.  The students are vital participants in a safe lab. 

Learning a hand skill, especially one as fussy as jewelry-making, is inherently aggravating.  When you feel emotionally distraught for any reason, e.g., getting in a hurry, frustration with the project/teacher/yourself, etc.-- take a break.  It’s time well spent if it prevents an injury to you, or even just damage to your workpiece.

1. Before using any piece of equipment, get a qualified person to explain its proper use.
2. Report all accidents to your instructor without delay. If you suspect an unsafe condition, bring it to your instructor’s attention immediately. 
3. There's a first aid kit in the office. I'll show it to your when we take our tour.
4. If the campus police are needed, their emergency number is 223-7999, or 222 from ACC phones.  The Highland Campus non-emergency number is 223-7300.
5. Know the locations and proper use of fire extinguishers.
6. Wear your safety glasses at all times when you are exposed to flying particles, as well as harmful chemicals and solutions.
7. ESPECIALLY wear safety glasses when using certain tools like cut-off discs which are prone to shattering.
8. Wear earplugs in the presence of high noise levels.
9. Wear a dust mask when sanding, buffing, investing or in other situations where respiratory hazards are present.
10. Tie back long hair, loose sleeves, dangling jewelry, and anything else that could get caught in rotating machinery such as polishing motors, flex-shafts, rolling mills, or the casting centrifuge.
11. Torch safety:
    1. Never walk away from a lit torch, even for a moment.  Turn it off and relight. 
    2. Don’t leave flammables (except firecoat) on your bench, e.g., paper towels, books, plastic bottles and cups, etc.  
    3. If you smell gas, don’t assume someone else will take care of it. 
    4. Be sure that both oxygen and fuel valves are closed on unlit torches.
    5. Be aware of the direction of the heat plume from a lit torch. 
    6. Keep your hair out of the flame.   
12. If you are melting metal to pour an ingot, make sure your metal and mold are dry.  Molten metal can pop and splatter if it comes in contact with even trace amounts of moisture.
13. Wear proper eye protection when using the torches. Most soldering is done without dark lenses, but if a process is causing you afterimages, you should wear a #3 shade lens for that type of work.  A #3 lens will also be enough protection in most casting situations. A #5 lens may be needed when casting metals with higher melting points (bronze, brass, and copper) and for prolonged melting of larger volumes of metal (50 grams or more). A #5 to #11 lens would also be needed for platinum work.
14. Throwing hot metal into the pickle solution can cause spattering, dispersing toxic and corrosive particles into the air, which can harm your skin, lungs, eyes, and clothing.  So, allow it to cool and then put it in carefully.
15.  Always wear the proper attire when working with fire (torches) and hot or molten metal. Clothing should be natural fiber. Synthetic fibers melt and stick to skin when heated, making burn injuries far worse than otherwise.  Your legs should be covered to the knees, and shoes should completely cover your feet. 

Lab Policy

1. We have literally thousands of objects to keep track of in the Jewelry Lab, some of them so small they look like debris when scattered.  Notice where things come from, and put them back exactly in their proper places.  If you don’t know for sure where something goes, don’t put it away-- put it on the instructor’s bench - and tell the instructor.  Sometimes a tool can be lost for weeks, only inches from where it belongs. 
2. Your instructor will assign you a workbench at the start of each semester.  Students may switch or trade seats, as long as they update the seating chart with their instructor. 
3. Your bench will be used by several other students.  Please leave it clean.  Clean-up time is ten minutes before the end of class.
   1. Return all tools to their proper places. 
   2. Throw away used sandpaper and other trash on the bench or in the drop trays.  Leave nothing but sweeps in the lower tray.
   3. Brush off your bench top into the lower drop tray. 
   4. If there are any sweeps in the upper tray, send them down the hole to the lower one. 
   5. Use the magnet to separate steel, such as sawblades, from the sweeps, and discard or recycle it. 
   6. Brush the sweeps through the hole into the plastic container beneath the tray.  Once the sweeps go down the hole, they belong to ACC—no scavenging. 
   7. Please report any missing tools to the instructor.
   8. Surrounding work areas must be cleaned with the combined efforts of all students.
4. If there is an equipment malfunction, please inform your instructor immediately to that it can be returned to service as soon as possible.
5. If you make a mess somewhere else in the lab, please take care of it yourself.  Note to casting students: This includes the investment area and the casting area. 
6. At the soldering stations, if you find something missing or depleted, don’t borrow it from another station.  If you don’t know how to fix or replenish the item for yourself, ask your instructor to show you.
7. Smoking and eating are not permitted in the laboratories or classrooms. 
8. Please do not use your cell phone in the lab. When it rings, please take it outside. 
9. Please keep conversations quiet, so as not to distract the instructor or students. 
10. A Lost & Found box for small or valuable items is located in the tool room.  For larger items you should ask the instructor.  At the beginning of each semester, any unclaimed items will be disposed of. 
11. While you are registered for a jewelry course, you may occupy an empty seat in another class in the jewelry lab, provided you have the permission of the instructor whose class you sit in on.  You are a guest outside your own class time, however, and must defer to the students in that class in choice of seats, use of equipment, and the instructor’s attention.  You may be asked to relinquish a seat you have occupied for some time to a later arriving guest student.  Please yield graciously, in any case. 
12. Do not enter the lab while under the influence of, or while suffering the aftereffects of, any recreational drug, including alcohol, or any prescription drug that impairs your ability. No tobacco products may be used in the lab.  Caffeine is allowed!

No Textbooks are required for this class! The ACC library has most of these books for reference or to be checked out. Our departmental tool room usually has copies of most of these books and you are free to look through them while you are up at school.

Book List for Jewelry Processes- Optional Recommended Reading

1. Jewelry Making  by Murray Bovin
2. The Complete Metalsmith  by Tim McCreight
3. The Design and Creation of Jewelry  by Robert von Neumann
4. The Jeweler’s Bench Reference  by Harold O’Connor
5. Jewelry Concepts and Technology  by Oppi Untracht
6. Jeweler’s Resource  by Bruce G. Kruth
7. Professional Goldsmithing by Alan Revere
8. The Theory & Practice of Goldsmithing by Prof. Dr. Erhard Brepohl
9. The Metalsmith’s Book of Boxes & Lockets by Tim McCreight
10. All jeweler’s supply catalogs (Rio Grande, Swest, Gesswein and Hoover and Strong Precious Metals, Stullers’ catalogs) There are many others, all of which are excellent resources for familiarizing yourself with the tools available, as well as a resource for general information on metals and their alloys, technique, charts for calculations and new jewelry products on the market.
11. All professional jewelers’ periodicals