Stone Setting Workshop with Jim Biond and FSG

What a wonderful weekend! I took a workshop with Jim Biond on stone setting through FSG (Florida Society of Goldsmiths) at their fully equipped studio space in Downtown Deland, FL. Jim shared not only his stone setting skills, but showed us his hand-made tools and how to make them ourselves. My favorite was the jump ring maker, so simple yet very effective and best of all... inexpensive. I can't forget the "3-second" bezel. That alone is worth the price of the entire workshop. You might want to check out Jim's amazing work at http://www.biondojewelry.net/index.htm

I love his concept of "field expediency", which translates into... if you don't have the exact right tool for the job, improvise. I also appreciated his "more than one way of getting the job done" approach to metalsmithing. We had students of varying skill levels and I believe each was treated with respect. We learned more than just stone-setting techniques but a better understanding of how certain tools work, why and how.

FSG has more classes coming soon and will be taught at the studio in Deland, FL. They also have "open studio" sessions available for members. Sometime in January they sponsor and coordinate a winter workshop series. The 2010 series promises to be the best yet. See their website for more info http://www.esva.net/~evergreen/website/index.html