Step inside Pierre's studio to learn about creating a piece of jewelry.
One of the ways to create a piece of jewelry, is to make a wax model. The model is used to make a mold, which is then used to cast the precious metal piece.
Pierre is carving a wax model for a pendant.
Pierre is using wax that is especially made for carving. He made a tracing of the shape he needed to cut out, and laid the tracing paper on top of the block of wax.
Making pinpricks through the paper, Pierre transferred his design onto the wax.
He used a jeweler's saw to cut out the basic shape.
Small files were used to define the outer edge of the pendant piece.
Now Pierre is using a bigger file to start shaping the top of the piece by removing larger quantities of wax.
Later in the process, Pierre will use wooden-handled wax carving tools to carve details.
For surface finishing, he will use the small wax-working burrs in the white case.
Now the challenge will be to interpret his design from a two-dimensional image into three dimensions.
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Nancy Plante
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