While the title includes the word "beading" and there are plenty of beads used in the project, I really saw this primarily as a metals fabrication book that included beads as accents. So, if you are looking for bead stringing instructions, you won't find it here. But, if you are interested in learning how to make simple metal components that you can combine with beads, then you won't be disappointed.
No soldering is involved. Fabrication techniques are used instead, which means cutting, forming, filing, stamping, and texturing metal pieces, including wire and sheet metal. There's also a little basic wire wrapping such as the unwrapped and wrapped loop techniques. The book has 12 project chapters, but most of the chapters include more than one project for each, such as the main project and then variations on that first project.
Obviously designed for beginners, the projects are fairly simple to master. The authors also provide helpful tips for saving money for those just starting out such as using copper practice wire and finding tools that have multiple uses. For example, they use tin snips to cut wire, so those just starting out would only need one tool for at least a little while.
If I had to find any flaw in this text it is mainly what I mentioned before. The title suggests you will learn to bead, while this books is really a basic metal fabrication text. Since there are so many beading books out these days, I think it's nice to see a metal book like this, so this is an asset that should be stressed rather than made unclear with the use of the word beading.
