Potter USA Classroom

This 3-hour class is all about how to use pancake dies to create fun holiday ornaments. We will also learn to use small impression die shot plates to create decorative elements to add to our pancake die stampings. Techniques covered include hydraulic press use and safety, pancake die usage, work hardening metal, impression die usage, sweat soldering, and more. Students will be able to view a wide variety of sample ornaments to get their creative juices flowing. See class cancellation policy below. The classroom is located at 1949 E. Eastland, Tucson, Arizona, 85719.

Sand Casting a Moon Pendant: 2 Hours In-person class Instructor: Birdie Willis of Roadkill Gems Time: 10am-12pm Skill Level: All Levels The classroom is located at 1949 E. Eastland, Tucson, Arizona, 85719.

In this one-of-a-kind, full-day workshop, couples will have the opportunity to craft their very own wedding bands, start to finish, with the private instruction of one of our expert jewelers. Whether you want rings to celebrate a marriage, an anniversary, or another type of commitment, couples will have the unique opportunity to browse our extensive antique jewelry die collection and choose designs that fit their own personal style. Together, we’ll melt down your metal of choice, pour an ingot, die-strike your ring designs using an antique screw press from the mid 1800's, saw, form, solder, and finish your wedding rings in a private, fun, and focused session in our studio. This is an incredible experience to enjoy together, making something personal and lasting that you will cherish for a lifetime. Before your workshop, we’ll have a consultation meeting to discuss your material preferences (gold alloys, silver, etc.), let you browse our die collection, and choose your designs (we have the largest collection of antique jewelry dies in the world). Couples will be be responsible for the materials cost of their rings once size, design and alloy are chosen. Pricing depends on current market metal prices at the time of the workshop. We can discuss the options with you at your initial consultation. Our expert craftspeople will walk you through each and every step of the fabrication process, providing expert instruction, making sure you are successful with the technical processes involved in crafting your rings, all while having a fun, memorable, and romantic experience with your partner. Once you have purchased your workshop, give us a call to schedule your initial consultation. We can't wait to be part of your wedding experience! The classroom is located at 1949 E. Eastland, Tucson, Arizona, 85719.

Cocktail Picks: 3 Hour Class Time: 1:00pm - 4:00 pm Instructors: Annie Pennington, and Lynette Andreasen In this course, you'll learn to make fabulous and fun cocktail picks, bar spoons, and stirring sticks for appetizers, fancy drinks, or whatever you desire. We'll utilize the hydraulic press and impression dies to create decorative elements for our cocktail picks and stirring sticks. We'll use silhouette dies to form our spoon bowls, and we'll also cover twisting wire, forging, soldering, riveting, and finishing. Students will get to create practice cocktail picks with copper as well as a couple in sterling silver. We'll even save the last few minutes of class to make some mocktails and use our new utensils!

Make a Trinket Dish: 3 Hour Class Time: 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Instructors: Annie Pennington, and Lynette Andreasen Students will learn to make a copper trinket dish with a textured surface. Students will learn to use texturing tools, pancake dies, silhouette dies, and a hydraulic press. All skill levels welcome.

Impressive Earrings: 6 Hour Class January 30th, 2026, 9am - 4pm, with a 1 hour break for lunch Instructors: Annie Pennington, and Lynette Andreasen This fun, fast-paced introduction to working with a hydraulic press will cover how to make many different styles of earrings using pancake dies, silhouette dies, impression dies, and complex-forming dies (synclastic and anticlastic). We'll learn how to take simple forms, such as pancake die cutouts or silhouette-formed shapes and elevate them to more complex forms through scoring and bending, hollow constructed forms, and combining multiples. We will also cover how to use our ear wire forming tools and how to make creative ear wires. This is an advanced beginning to intermediate class, and students should have solid foundational fabrication skills including soldering, sawing, filing, and finishing.

Come use a bench in our classroom space. Participants will work independently; no instruction will be given, staff on-site will not be available for consultation regarding individual projects. Participants will be responsible for bringing their own small bench/hand tools (saw, pliers, etc.) and materials. Potter USA will provide a jewelers bench, bench pin, bench light, and flex-shaft. A list of our larger equipment available for use can be found in the full description below.

Online, fully asynchronous course (self-paced). Instructor: Annie Pennington Learn how to inlay crushed stone and other materials into stamped or fabricated forms made with impression dies and metal blanks. FOLLOW LINK BELOW TO REGISTER.

These classes focus on enameling techniques with artist Sheryl Haupt. The classroom is located at 1949 E. Eastland, Tucson, Arizona, 85719.

This 3-hour intensive class is all about how to use the Bezel Die Tools with a focus on making seamless, heavy-wall bezel settings. Students will learn how to use the tools to create a beautiful, thick bezel, how to set a stone and complete a finished pieces of jewelry. All tools and materials needed for the class are included. *We recommend having a basic knowledge of beginner level jewelry making skills before taking this course. The classroom is located at 1949 E. Eastland, Tucson, Arizona, 85719.

Students will work with Kevin and/or Vincent using antique tooling and techniques to create jewelry. The classroom is located at 1949 E. Eastland, Tucson, Arizona, 85719.

This 3-hour intensive class is all about how to use pattern plates in a rolling mill. Pattern plates are designed to imprint a pattern onto non-ferrous metal and are an excellent way to quickly and easily add texture and detail to your jewelry pieces. Students in this class will learn to use pattern plates with both thick and thin sheet metal, what gauges and metal types work best, and how to get the most detail when rolling. We will also cover how roll small pieces of metal without destroying the tool as well as how to care and maintain steel tools like pattern plates. See class cancellation policy below. *We recommend taking Intro to the Hydraulic Press before taking this class, or at minimum having a basic knowlege of beginner level jewelry making skills What you’ll learn: Introduction to basic safety and usage of pattern plates in a rolling mill. What metal types and gauges work best. How to roll to get the most detail out of the plate. How to use small pieces of metal without destroying your plate. Other texturing methods/examples. Care/maintenance... and MUCH more! The classroom is located at 1949 E. Eastland, Tucson, Arizona, 85719.

This 3-hour intensive class is all about how to use pancake dies in a hydraulic press. Pancake dies are an inexpensive and easy to use blanking tools designed to be used in the hydraulic press. They can be used to quickly and efficiently cut multiples of the same design from non-ferrous sheet metal. Students will learn general usage, as well as safety, how to cut their own pancake dies, how to work-harden metal, how to remove tabs and burs, and various creative ways to use pancake die cutouts. *We recommend taking Intro to the Hydraulic Press before taking this class, or at minimum having a basic knowledge of beginner level jewelry making skills What you’ll learn: Introduction to basic safety and general usage of pancake dies in the hydraulic press. What metal types and gauges work best with different styles of pancake dies. How to cut your own pancake die. Various methods for tab/bur removal. How to combine pancake dies with pattern plates to quickly and efficiently create textured components. How to score and bend blanks. How to form cut-outs to give components depth. Care/Maintenance … and MUCH more! The classroom is located at 1949 E. Eastland, Tucson, Arizona, 85719. See class cancellation policy below.

This 6-hour intensive class is all about how to use impression dies in a hydraulic press. Impression dies form metal with incredible detail in a relief impression of a design. Impression dies are made from something called a hub (the male version of a die). An impression die is the female impression of the male hub. Metal can be pressed into a die solid, or sheet metal can be used to create a hollow pressing. Urethane is typically used to push sheet metal into the impression die. Students will learn how to press metal into various sizes and depths of impression dies, both solid and hollow, and how to problem solve and troubleshoot potential challenges that arise. *We recommend taking Intro to the Hydraulic Press before taking this class, or at minimum having a basic knowlege of beginner level jewelry making skills What you’ll learn: Introduction to basic safety and usage of impression dies in the hydraulic press. What metal types and gauges work best with various impression dies. How to press solid and how to press hollow. How to get repeatable results for multiples. How to use urethane as well as other materials to push metal into impression dies. How to create a "force". … and MUCH more! Time: 9am-4pm (lunch break from 12pm-1pm) Skill Level: All Levels The classroom is located at 1949 E. Eastland, Tucson, Arizona, 85719.

This course is all about the Potter USA Quick-Form Press. Learn how to use the Quick-Form Press, change out the tooling, what types of objects you can make, and everything you need to know to make the most of this fabulous tool! The Quick-Form Press combines the power of a kick-press with the ease of use of a hand-operated arbor press. Use it to bend rings, cuff bracelets, napkin holders, or silverware with ease. All tools and materials included. What you’ll learn: Introduction to the Quick-Form Press and all accessories. How to use the accessories included with the purchase of the press as well as additional accessories. What metal types, gauges, and tempers work best. Learn how to change out tooling. How to make bracelets, rings, napkin holders, and bend silverware… and much more! The classroom is located at 1949 E. Eastland, Tucson, Arizona, 85719.

This 6-hour intensive class is an introduction to using the hydraulic press for jewelry making. Learn how to use and become comfortable with all the different dies and accessories that can be used to make jewelry in the hydraulic press, including pancake dies, silhouette dies, FSS dies, and impression dies. Safety and proper usage of all tools will be included. Students will be able to learn with both a manual and electric hydraulic press, as well as use both our Rincon and Tortolita models. **ALL tools and materials included. The hydraulic press is an incredible asset for jewelers who want to produce custom, one of a kind, or production jewelry in the small studio setting. A hydraulic press can be used to blank out multiples, form multiples, and create die-struck jewelry with incredible speed compared to traditional hand methods, saving on both time and physical labor. Learn to put this work-horse tool to use in your studio practice! What you’ll learn: Introduction to basic safety and usage of the hydraulic press. What metal types and gauges work best with different types of dies. The basics of how to use pancake dies, silhouette dies, FSS dies, and impression dies for blanking, forming and embossing. How to get repeatable results for multiples. How to save on time and labor with tools and accessories in a hydraulic press. Using urethane with dies. … and MUCH more! The classroom is located at 1949 E. Eastland, Tucson, Arizona, 85719.