It's easy to be intimidated when you peer into the jewelry or woodworking shops downstairs at the Hopkins Center. You press up against the glass and see machines humming, people working intently at their projects, instructors reviewing students' plans or drawings.
You imagine ornate tables or delicate gold filigree work, think of your own humble plans for a shelf or pendant, and decide that craftsmanship is best left to the experts.
What many students don't realize is that, at the Hop workshops, the step from uncertainty to competence is a small one indeed. Consider one student who, as his very first project in the jewelry shop, crafted an 18K gold engagement ring, complete with a carved pattern and seven diamonds. During the two-hour wood shop orientation (required for permission to use the machinery), the instructor made a CD rack from scratch.
Says the wood shop's Greg Elder, "I think many [beginners] don't come because they feel they need to know something to begin. They just need to show up and we'll give them whatever help they need. Everyone is learning." Erling Heistad touted the role of the student assistants in the jewelry shop. "It's easy to come in and talk to another student," he said.
Students are welcome to drop in to either shop or discuss ideas with the instructors or assistants. Common starting projects include CD racks, band rings, bookshelves or bezel-set stones. However, you are free to experiment.
In addition to a highly skilled and friendly staff of teachers, the shops boast extraordinary facilities. The woodworking shop is simply immense, containing powerful planers, sanders, saws and drills, along with hand tools that can perform all of the machine functions manually, if desired. Many different types of wood are available, ranging from plywood to rich cherry or walnut. If you need something exotic, or a special part for a project, it is a simple matter to order it. There is even picture-framing apparatus at the back of the shop.
The jewelry shop is similarly well-outfitted with plenty of workstations and tools. Kilns and casting equipment allow for the casting of metal forms from hand-carved wax molds. Burnishing and etching supplies assure that the surface of your project will be exactly as you intend.
The rewards of a venture into the two shops are many. Not the least of these is a financial one: projects built in either shop cost far less than a comparable product in a store. A silver ring can easily be made for less than five dollars with a couple of hours' work.
But the satisfaction of bringing an idea to life as a beautiful, functional object far surpasses the monetary savings.
One can customize or personalize a creation in any way. In the end, you get a fuller appreciation of the objects that play a daily role in our lives: rings, tables, necklaces, cabinets. The workshops are an unmatched means of participating in the practical craftsmanship that a lot students take for granted.
A final incentive to drop by: novices get one term of free use of the shops (a onetime wood shop orientation session costs $5). After that, there is a per-term fee of $10 that covers all student workshops (wood, jewelry, and the pottery shop across the river). Materials are purchased on a pay-as-you-go basis.
The Woodworking Shop is open Tuesday-Saturday from 1 - 5 p.m., plus 6 - 9 p.m. on Thursdays and 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. on Saturdays. The Claflin Jewelry Shop is open Monday through Friday from 1 - 5 p.m. plus 6 - 9 p.m. on Tuesdays.
