Archives January 2009 : New Item & Review

JFF New Item & Review :

Victoria Lansford’s
Metal Techniques of Bronze Age Masters: Rings DVD

After watching this DVD, I couldn’t get over the amount of content. It is packed full of information, I felt as though I just finished a weekend workshop class with Victoria.

This DVD is definitely geared for the intermediate to advanced jeweler, meaning you must know how to solder. The tips and tricks offered throughout make this DVD helpful not only to make rings, but to work on other projects, including making a hinge, a hollow form, etc..

The video demonstrations offer zoomed in shots of soldering, setting, and other techniques. A few shots are slightly out of focus but are quickly adjusted. Overall the video quality is good.

The DVD is divided into six sections. The first section is on Bezels which covers making your own bezel wire from alloying your own 22K gold and rolling the ingot in the rolling mill. Very cool! In the second section, Victoria guides you through making your own bi-metal using the left over alloyed 22K gold made in the 1st section. The ring shank section, Victoria guides you through the process of making the basic ring shank you will be using in the projects. The three final sections cover the projects that are taught on the Rings DVD; Wax Seal ring, Drusy Ring, and Poison Ring.

The Rings video also gives access to an online PDF booklet with written instructions and photographs. Taking all into account, I give this DVD an A+.