October 2023 Class - Metalworking in Madison

I really love working with glass and making beads and such.  A very complimentary skill is to learn how to do metalworking, so I have been in search of a basic metalworking course and found one to take in October.   It was called “Basics of Metals” and was offered at The Wheelhouse Studios at the UW Madison Union.  

I have taken a few other courses at The Wheelhouse, and they have been fun, and I have learned a lot.   This time, the class was held over 5 weeks, meeting once a week for 3 hours each time.   During the first meeting, the instructor Luc Pointon discussed the goals for the class, and told us we could make a belt buckle, or just the face of the belt buckle.   I decided on just the face since I don’t wear too many belts.

Over the course of the next several weeks, Luc instructed us on the properties of the various metals, cutting, grinding, stamping, fusing, setting stones, etc etc.    My project ended up being more of a large awkward ornament than a face of a belt buckle, but I feel that I incorporated most of the different elements that Luc had instructed us on.  (Maybe not well but incorporated none the less).  I even got to use one of my beads.

I strongly suggest the classes at The Wheelhouse.  They are well put together, the instructors are great, and you can always get some ice cream inside the Union!

Things I learned:

1.       Cutting the metal takes a lot of patience or a lot of blades, but not both.

2.       You really need to have good eyes or good reader glasses for this work.  Much of it is tiny!

3.       Very few of the students studying in the Union have books or paper – everything is on their laptops.