Course Description

The A to Z Design to Finished Jewelry Course is a video series that takes you through creation a piece of jewelry, from concept and drawing, all the way to the completed piece of reproducible jewelry. The videos cover, in real time, all the processes from transferring your design onto a wax blank, preparing and carving the wax. Casting that wax into silver, and cleaning up the silver into a model that will be molded. Injecting wax into the mold and casting those waxes into silver. Preparing those castings with tumbling media and polishing the castings. Finally, the piece will be set with a pear shaped stone in a prong/bezel setting, and the piece of jewelry will be final polished and cleaned, ready to ship.

Instructing Monk

Doug Napier

A little about me, my name is Doug Napier and I am the “JewelryMonk. I have been making jewelry for close to 40 years, and I still travel all over the world focusing on making jewelry in a manufacturing setting. I am experienced in all facets of jewelry making from bench jeweler and technical model making to production troubleshooting and Computer Design (CAD). Along my journey, I have learned many tips and tricks, and am more than happy to pass along anything I have learned. (I can’t take it with me). I believe I have been given a great gift when it comes to making jewelry, and I would like to be a good steward and pass it along to anyone who is hungry and wants to learn.

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Introduction and Welcome

    • Welcome

    • Links to Tools Used in this Video
  • 2

    Lesson 1 Image Sizing

    • Before We Begin, Introduction

    • Lesson 1 Image Sizing

    • Links to Tools Used in this Video
  • 3

    Lesson 2 Selection and Blocking Out

    • 2-Wax Selection and Blocking

    • Wax Blocking Out Part 2

    • Bonus - Making Wax Carving Tools

    • Links to Tools Used in this Video
  • 4

    Lesson 3 Wax Carving

    • Wax Carving Part 1 and 2

    • Wax Carving Part 3

    • Wax Carving - Finishing Part 4

    • Wax Carving - Final Finishing Part 5

    • Bonus - Broken Wax

    • Links to Tools Used in this Video
  • 5

    Lesson 4 Casting Prep - Investing - Casting

    • Casting Preparations

    • Investing for Casting

    • Casting

    • Bonus - Using Casting Straws

    • Links to Tools Used in this Video
  • 6

    Lesson 5 Model Clean-up

    • Model Clean-up Part 1

    • Model Clean-up Part 2

    • Model Clean-up Part 3

    • Links to Tools Used in this Video
  • 7

    Lesson 6 Mold Making and Cutting

    • Mold Making and Cutting

    • Links to Tools Used in this Video
  • 8

    Lesson 7 Wax Injection - Investing - Casting

    • Wax Injection - Investing - Casting

    • Links to Tools Used in this Video
  • 9

    Lesson 8 Tumbling - Grinding - Polishing

    • Tumbling - Grinding - Polishing

    • Links to Tools Used in this Video
  • 10

    Lesson 9 Stone Setting

    • Stone Setting Part 1

    • Stone Setting Part 2

    • Links to Tools Used in this Video
  • 11

    Lesson 10 Final Polishing and Cleaning

    • Final Polishing and Cleaning

    • Links to Tools Used in this Video