Potter USA Classroom

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 the Coil Cutter Deluxe with a focus on making and cutting heavy gauge jump rings. Students will learn how to safely and effectively use the machine with a range of gauges and materials, as well as how to create a chunky chain bracelet. *We recommend having a basic knowledge of beginner level jewelry making skills before taking this course. What you’ll learn: Introduction to basic safety and usage of the coil cutter deluxe machine. What metal types and gauges work best. How to create jump ring coils. How to cut jump ring coils from a range of gauges. How to create a chain from jump rings and solder the links. How to clean up solder seams on a chain. 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 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. *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 tool deigned 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.

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.

In this 3-hour class, learn all about Potter USA’s FSS (Fast Stamping System) dies. FSS dies are affordable blanking dies made to help speed up small-scale production of metal blanks. They accommodate a wider range of metal gauges than pancake dies, and can be re-sharpened, if/when needed. Best of all, there is no tab on blanks cut with FSS dies, and they can be used with a wider range of metal gauges and tempers than pancake dies. Learn how to use this first-of-its-kind tool and how you can use it in your jewelry-making practice. All tools and materials included. What you’ll learn: Introduction to silhouette dies, contained urethane, and dish formers. What metal gauges work best. Using silhouette dies with and without contained urethane. Tips for preventing split metal when forming. Texturing metal before forming… and MUCH more! The classroom is located at 1949 E. Eastland, Tucson, Arizona, 85719.

This 3-hour intensive class is an introduction to using silhouette dies to form metal sheet. When combined with urethane pucks and sheet, silhouette dies gently pillow metal to form it into a puffed form in the shape of the die. Use silhouette dies to add volume and depth to earrings, pendants, rings, and more! All tools and materials included. What you’ll learn: Introduction to silhouette dies, contained urethane, and dish formers. What metal gauges work best. Using silhouette dies with and without contained urethane. Tips for preventing split metal when forming. Texturing metal before forming. … 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.