Entry No. 57 — the Durango file — filed under: hands-on
Mend Metalworks
Mend Metalworks teaches small-group, single-session silversmithing where you go from raw metal to a polished finished piece in about four hours. Workshops rotate between projects like three sterling silver stacking rings and a stone-and-silver pendant, with you choosing your own stone. Every class is billed as beginner-friendly with no experience needed.
The story
Most people passing through Durango leave with a silver ring bought off a velvet tray on Main Avenue. If you would rather walk away with something you actually forged yourself, Mend Metalworks skips the retail case entirely. Instead of making you sign up for weeks of formal jewelry theory, this studio runs single-session workshops built to take you from raw sterling silver stock to a finished, polished piece in about four hours.
The projects rotate on a scheduled calendar rather than a fixed walk-in menu. Depending on which workshop date you grab, you will spend your session shaping and hammering three sterling silver stacking rings, or picking out your own stone to bezel-set into a custom silver pendant. It is focused, small-group benchwork that lets you work with real torches, flux, and silver without needing a semester of art school first.
What it's like
Expect a focused small-group setting around jeweler benches, torches, and hand tools. You do not need any prior bench experience, but you should be ready to spend four hours dealing directly with heat, solder, flux, and metal dust as you shape and polish your piece. Class sizes are strictly limited by bench space, and workshops run on specific scheduled dates rather than daily open studio hours, making advance registration mandatory.
The move: Take a four-hour beginner class and each forge and polish your own sterling silver ring or set a stone into a pendant to keep.
📍 Before you go Classes run on specific scheduled dates rather than daily; check the workshop calendar and register ahead.
- 📍 Durango
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: Durango, CO
Hours: Added 2026-06-23 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- The Subterrain — Follow up four hours of precision torch-and-hammer work with a drink inside a basement bar hand-painted floor to ceiling by local artists.
- Pots & Pints at Durango Arts Center — Double down on hands-on local art by pairing single-session silversmithing with a casual ninety-minute clay slab-building workshop.
- Yunomi Pottery Studio — Trade silver dust and soldering torches for clay wheels inside the historic Smiley Building artist hub nearby.
Good to know
Do I need any silversmithing experience?
No. The workshops are explicitly designed for complete beginners with zero background in metalsmithing or jewelry making.
What will I actually make in a workshop?
Projects rotate depending on the date, focusing on either a set of three sterling silver stacking rings or a hand-set stone pendant using a stone you choose during class.
How long does a session take?
Each class lasts about four hours, taking you through every step from raw metal to a final, wearable polish.
Can I show up as a walk-in?
No. Classes run strictly on scheduled dates and require advance registration through their online workshop calendar.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · Instagram · Facebook
last checked: 2026-06-23