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Fearless Gold-Filled!
Gold-filled wire offers the beauty of gold at a fraction of the cost—but it comes with quirks that can trip up even experienced jewelers. In this focused virtual class, you'll learn how to confidently work with gold-filled material without melting it or accidentally sanding through the precious layer. Kristin will demystify its structure, address common mistakes, and share proven techniques for successful soldering and refined finishing. Whether you’re new to gold-filled or ready to conquer your fear of it, this class will leave you equipped and empowered to make the most of this brilliant, budget-friendly material.
For more information about virtual courses, visit our Virtual Course FAQ page.
Meet the instructor
Kristin Mitsu Shiga (she/they) is a maker, educator and small business owner with more than 30 years of experience currently living and working in rural Oregon.
Throughout her career, Kristin’s desire to balance her individual studio practice and working as part of a larger team allowed her to build an unusual skill set that includes everything from nonprofit arts administration and bookkeeping to armature-building for stop-motion animation studios. From a long line of educators, Kristin is passionate about teaching and has shared her knowledge with students at venues all over the US including Penland, Arrowmont and Haystack Mountain schools of craft, along with programs she established in New York, Oregon and Hawai’i.
Kristin believes that service is a crucial component of any career and has served in a variety of volunteer roles and on numerous nonprofit boards since 2001. She currently serves on the boards of the Hawai'i Artist Collaboration and Frogwood Artist Collaboration, and is in her second term as Secretary of the Board of Directors of the American Craft Council (ACC).
Kristin has shown her work internationally, and is included in several notable collections, including the Kamm Artful Teapot Collection and the Permanent Collection of the White House. You will find her work published in numerous books and magazines, including Art Jewelry Today, The Art of Enameling, Metalsmith’s 2017 Exhibition in Print, and several of Lark’s 500 Series books. Learn more about Kristin’s past work on Oregon Artbeat (segment originally aired in 2010).
Materials & Tools
The following supplies will be used for course demonstrations and objectives. A suggested item and/or vendor has been provided below for reference. Click the vendor name to be redirected to a page where you can view the item. The quantities needed for each item are listed first. If ordering, please be aware that some items may come in larger quantities than needed for this class. We recommend not opening an item's packaging until the day of the workshop. Student participation during or in-between class sessions is encouraged but not required.
The following supplies will be used for course demonstrations and objectives.
Raw Materials/Consumables:
- 1 x 30ga sheet of 14K Yellow "Repair" or X-Easy Plumb solder (Hoover & Strong)
- Gold-Filled Wire & Sheet in a Variety of shapes & gauges (RioGrande)
Basic Hand Tools:
- 1 x round nose pliers (RioGrande)
- 1 x chain nose pliers (RioGrande)
- 1 x flat nose pliers (RioGrande)
- 1 x snips / flush cutters (RioGrande)
- 1 x jewelers saw (RioGrande)
- 1 x pack saw blades - 2/0 (RioGrande)
- 1 x burlife / bee's wax (RioGrande)
- 1 x bench pin (RioGrande)
- 1 x half round hand file - #2 cut (RioGrande)
Basic Home Studio:
- 1 x rotary tool - flex shaft, micro motor, etc. (RioGrande)
- 1 x set of needle files - #2 cut (RioGrande)
- 1 x half round forming pliers (RioGrande)
- 1 x center punch (RioGrande)
- 1 x scribe (RioGrande)
- 1 x ring clamp (RioGrande)
- 1 x rawhide / plastic mallet (RioGrande)
- 1 x riveting hammer (RioGrande)
- 1 x chasing hammer (RioGrande)
- 1 x steel block / steel surface (RioGrande)
- 1 x small steel ruler (RioGrande)
- 1 x sheet of sand paper - 220 to 600 grits (Amazon)
- 1 x calipers - optional / nice to have (Amazon)
- 1 x dividers - optional / nice to have (RioGrande)
- 1 x sanding sticks - optional / nice to have (RioGrande)
- 1 x parallel pliers - optional / nice to have (RioGrande)
Basic Forming Tools:
Basic Soldering/Torch Set-up:
- 1 x fireproof area - steel sheet, tiles, etc. (Amazon or Home Depot)
- 1 x Solderite™ pad / pan with pumice (RioGrande or RioGrande)
- 1 x compressed charcoal block - hard (RioGrande)
- 1 x torch - Smith mini, Silversmith, or butane (RioGrande or RioGrande)
- 1 x #0 or #1 torch tip - if getting Silversmith (RioGrande)
- 1 x striker or lighter - Silversmith system has one (RioGrande)
- 1 x soldering tweezers (RioGrande)
- 1 x soldering pick (RioGrande)
- 1 x 3rd arm (RioGrande)
- 1 x cross lock tweezers (RioGrande)
- 1 x paste flux (RioGrande)
- 1 x copper tongs - for pickle (RioGrande)
- 1 x 6” silver solder - hard (RioGrande)
- 1 x 6” silver solder - medium (RioGrande)
- 1 x 6” silver solder - easy (RioGrande)
- 1 x pickle - sodium bisulfate or citric acid (RioGrande or Amazon)
- 1 x brass bristle brush (RioGrande)
- 1 x crock pot or lidded glass container (RioGrande or Amazon)
- 1 x tempered glass container or sink - for quenching and rinsing
- 1 x small brush - for flux
- 1 x liquid hand soap - for cleaning metal