Mokume with the Masters at Rio Grande

I can't even begin to describe how much I enjoyed attending the workshop "Mokume Gane with the Masters" at Rio Grande in Albuquerque, with James Binnion and Chris Ploof. (Held February 8-13, 2015.) Turns out the big names of mokume are down-to-earth cool guys who just want to share their knowledge and experience with fellow mokume gane enthusiasts. I was one of 12 students eager to delve deep into the geeky world of mokume - science and numbers blending perfectly with big dangerous tools and hot metal.
I also enjoyed getting to see the insides of Rio Grande (where I purchase supplies, tools and metal) and learning what an impressively run company it is. The employees were helpful and welcoming, and we got to test out oodles of cool tools and equipment. It is clearly a fabulous place to work. Our tour of the facility deserves its own blog post - look for it here soon.
This workshop got me fired up (so to speak) about fusing my own mokume again. They demonstrated practical techniques to make the fusing manageable, repeatable and cost-effective. It will take a little time to get all tooled up and kitted out to do it, but now I'm confident of the steps, and am thankful I won't need a power hammer!