I got my logo stamp from a company in New York called Metalliferous. It was my own design - which is more expensive than doing the standard block or script, but I like it more personalized. It is a total of 4mm tall, which includes the lower-case G's. The M is about 2mm tall. I would definitely check around for prices - while I was extremely pleased with the customer service and the end product, I have heard other good things about Rio Grande, and I think they are a little less expensive. Good luck with your class!!

I'm not a fan of pre-made bezels for a number of reasons. First, they are most often made of sterling silver (not fine silver like I used in the tutorial). Sterling silver is an alloy of 925 parts fine silver and 75 parts copper. This makes the metal much harder, which means more difficult pushing over a stone, especially smaller stones. Also, they are very limiting, as you can't set free-form objects with them, they have to be calibrated stones that are round, square, or oval, and even then, they can be difficult. The bottoms are not always very flat, more curved, so if you are soldering them to a flat sheet, it can be troublesome. The edges are not often very smooth, so you still have to do quite a bit of sanding to smooth the edges. Sterling silver will show fire scale, unlike fine silver, so there will be quite a bit more clean-up of the bezel, in either sanding or depletion gilding. So in my eyes, it is almost as much if not more work to use the pre-made bezel cups... I am a big fan of the sandblasted look too, I wish I had one in my studio! and yes, you can often prop up the stone with a thin sheet of metal the same shape as the stone - this is good for thin stones if you want it to look bigger -thanks for bringing that up!

The stone is approx 1/2 inch wide and 7/8 inch tall. The ring is a US size 7 - The numbers you see on the mandrel aren't the US sizes, but the inner diameter of the ring in millimeters. A size US 7 ring is about 7.35mm diameter.

Depending on where you are located, there are many places such as art centers, community colleges, etc where you can take classes and possibly rent studio space. If you need helping finding any, let me know, I've got a bunch of resources! Also, the book "the Complete Metalsmith" by Tim Mcreight is full of really great information!!

Thank you!