Precious Jewellery from Plastics: Methods and Techniques

by Chris Bond

Overview

Whilst many jewellers and designers are working with plastics these days, there is very little information available about the methods and techniques required to manipulate them for jewellery-making purposes. This book includes instructions and advice on marking out and cutting, joining, laser and water-jet cutting, welding, curling, heating and colouring. Various methods for finishing plastic professionally are also explored, and the book features an inspirational gallery of works by contemporary artists, showcasing a fantastic range of results. With clear, step-by-step instructions, and full-colour images throughout, Precious Jewellery from Plastics requires no previous knowledge and covers everything you need to know about working with plastics, including polypropylene, acrylic, nylon, polystyrene and PVC.

Precious Jewellery from Plastics is a comprehensive guide to working with plastic for those who are keen to experiment with the medium for the first time, or even those with more experience who would like to expand their repertoire of skills.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781408134450
Publisher:	A&C Black Publishers, Ltd.
Publication date:	05/30/2013
Series:	Design and Make Series
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.60(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Chris Bond was originally educated as a scientist rather than a jeweller. However, while studying, Chris started to be influenced by craft, beginning with blacksmithing and developing into nearly 30 years of work with a range of materials, from leather and gold to textiles and plastics. In 2000 Chris began working as a technical jeweller (rather than a designer jeweller), developing techniques and processes. He discovered a fascination with plastics, in particular solving problems such as bonding and working with materials including polypropylene, nylon, polystyrene and many more besides.

Table of Contents

About the Author
Introduction

Types of Plastic
Damage and Degradation
Selecting Materials
Marking out Patterns
Cutting Plastics
Joining Plastics
Forming Plastics
Designing Catches and Fittings
Dyeing Plastics
Other Decorative Finishes
Design and Aesthetics
Precious Plastic Jewellery: Example Projects
Jewellery Gallery and Meet the Makers

Appendix: Constructing a Vacuum-Former
Suppliers
Useful Websites
Glossary
Index

Editorial Reviews

Technical information is at the heart of the book; there's plenty of coverage on types of plastics and best practices for using them in jewelry projects. VERDICT The focus is on technique rather than projects (there are only two included). However, most jewelry makers shouldn't have a problem using what they learn here to design their own works of art” —Library Jourbanal

From the Publisher

10/01/2013
If you hear "plastic jewelry" and think "shrinky-dinks on a ball chain," think again—this book is for jewelry artists with extensive jewelry-making experience and specialized tools, not for dabblers. Jeweler Bond's exploration of the use of plastics in jewelry tackles everything from selecting and working with plastic to forming and assembling finished pieces. Technical information is at the heart of the book; there's plenty of coverage on types of plastics and best practices for using them in jewelry projects. VERDICT The focus is on technique rather than projects (there are only two included). However, most jewelry makers shouldn't have a problem using what they learn here to design their own works of art.

Library Journal