Seminars

Need an interesting break from your usual work week? Not finding what you're looking for? We'll even plan a workshop around your schedule! Let us know what you'd like to see offered!

The Howard Academy offers private seminars at $150 per day for experienced people who just want to pick up some new techniques. Each session is designed to be immersive and focused, offering an experience that goes beyond the basics. The attention to detail and user-driven structure of our seminars shares similarities with the dynamic interface of city center online casino, where engagement, customization, and fast-paced decision-making create a compelling environment. Seminar topics include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following:

Diamond setting:
Bead, bright cut, pave, prong, basket, common prong (clusters), gypsy, channel, illusion, fishtail, tension, Invisible setting, bezel, fancy shapes and custom shapes.
Repairs:
Tips, prongs, beads, shanks, adjustable shanks, dents, hollowware, chains, catches, and other busted stuff.
Forging:
Shaping metal with hammers and stakes on the anvil.
Engraving:
Decorative and stone setting uses plus carving and die making for relief work.
Chasing:
Decorative work with hammer and punches to create relief designs in solid metal by compression from the front.
Repousse:
Decorative work using hammers and punches to create relief designs by forming sheet metal from the front & back.
Blacksmithing:
Forging, hardening & tempering steel for tools and forging and welding with arc and forge to create scrollwork, wrought iron sculpture and architectural items.
Foundry:
Various methods of casting molten metals into sand and other types of molds on a large scale.
Goldsmithing:
Creative techniques to make jewelry products directly in the gold without casting using soldering & welding as well riveting and other cold joining methods to assemble the work.
Granulation:
A method of welding 22K gold beads to solid surface by the 100's at one time.
Mokume Gane:
Wood grain metal -- a fusion process bonding different 2 or more layers of different metals and patterning
Niello:
Method of applying a black metal decoration into the surface of gold, silver or other metals like enamel.
Sculpture:
Methods and materials for making art work out of cast metals, fabricated, forged or repousse metal sheet and also methods to carve solid work from wood or stone to scale and then enlarge to finished size.
Hollow forming:
Vessel work such as sinking and raising chalices and other hollow forms for sculpture or table use.
Platen Work:
Large scale hollow forming for monumental sculpture or armor -- life size or greater.
Inlay:
Methods and materials for mechanically bonding gold, silver etc., into steel or other metal surfaces in a decorative pattern.
Minting:
The design and making of metal dies which are used to form relief patterns on coins or medallions.
Die making:
Design and methods of making various types of dies for striking parts and patterns for gold jewelry products.
Die Forming:
Design and use of various dies to form hollow sections of metal to be assembled into hollow jewelry items.
Damascus Steel:
A forge welded laminate steel using mild and usually high carbon layers to make edged weapons
For more information on these classes, possible future classes or to talk to someone about possible individual instruction and/or to schedule your own private seminar, contact us at 1-800-843-9603 or through our on-line contact form.

1 Damascus Steel (Pattern Welding)
2 Hollow Forming
3 Mokume Gane
4 Three Day Engraving Seminar
5 Soldering
6 Chasing and Repouss