Fred,
I forgot to mention that the classes at Torpedo factory did not
include tools and the projects were from Alan Revere’s book.
The intermediate class that I attended you were able to finish
the pin for the brooch and the box clasp. Even though there was
a limitation of eight students, the teacher did allow a ninth
student from an advanced class (for forging bangle from Alan
Revere’s). The advanced stone setting class was from the Colonial
Workshop, and that class included all the tools, settings and the
CZs. The granulation workshop did include some fine silver and
you could bring your own 22k gold and also buy some fine silver
right from the teacher. I also took a casting class which was for
five saturdays, starting at 10:00 am to 12:00pm. The charge for
this class was $90.00 and did not include the supplies. The
investment for the first cast was free and for the rest you had
to pay $1.00. The community school where I used to do casting
charges $120.00(lasts for 3 months) meeting every Thursday. This
class includes the wax material, investment but not the silver.
The community school has about six flexshafts, two kilns,
one centrifugal casting machine. The teacher will introduce
you to wax carving and most people are able to finish 5
castings. You never learn about much burnout, since they
have someone who comes at 8:00am in the morning and puts the
flasks in the kiln. When the students come by 7pm the flasks are
ready for casting. I will be finishing an introductory class for
beginners faceting which cost me $45.00, materials included.
Surbhi so when the students The community school that I used for
casting charged $120.00