What should metalsmithing and silversmithing creators offer Patreon patrons beyond the tutorial?

Metalsmithing and silversmithing creators offer Workshop Notes ($12–18/month) as the primary retention tier — documentation that tutorials compress into results without explaining the decisions. The core deliverable is process documentation per piece covering three areas that public tutorials routinely skip. First: metal gauge selection rationale. The choice between 18g and 20g for a bezel depends on wall height, stone weight, and setting integrity — 18g is chosen because the wall height and stone weight require the thickness to survive burnishing; 20g would fold. This decision is made before the metal is cut, and the reasoning is invisible in a finished tutorial. Second: solder choice documentation. The sequence of hard, medium, easy, and IT solder through a piece's multiple joins is a constraint management problem — hard solder for the first join so that subsequent joins in the same area can be made without reflowing the first. A tutorial showing a finished piece does not show the order in which solder grades were used or why. Third: stone setting sequence documentation. Bezel setting requires the wall height to be tall enough to burnish over the stone's girdle by 0.5–1mm but not so tall it obscures the stone face; the burnishing sequence starts at the cardinal points before working around to prevent the bezel from shifting off-center; tool choice (burnisher angle, rocking motion versus straight push) is specific to this creator's technique. Failure documentation — what happened when a bezel wall folded, what happened when the burnishing sequence went off-center — is the documentation that safety-conscious beginners cannot obtain from any public source. The Mentorship tier (capped 6–8, $60–120/month) provides monthly critique of patron work in progress with technique diagnosis.

How do wire wrapping Patreon creators document their process?

Wire wrapping creators structure Pattern Notes ($10–15/month) around documentation per wrap that gives patrons the reasoning behind gauge and technique decisions. The core documentation covers wire gauge selection rationale: 20g frame wire provides structural rigidity while 26g binding wire controls gaps — the relationship between frame gauge, binding gauge, and the intended visual density of the wrap is a design decision made before the first coil, and tutorials show the finished wrap rather than explaining how the gauge selection determines the outcome. Stone seat creation documentation is the second high-value element: how the base coils are shaped to hold the stone without binding — too tight cracks the stone under coil tension, too loose allows movement that will eventually damage the wire connections at stress points. The documentation captures the creator's specific technique for testing seat fit before committing to the full wrap. Finishing technique documentation covers how to harden work-hardened wire without annealing: tumbling, burnishing, and the specific methods the creator uses to increase wire stiffness in the finished piece without softening it through unintended heat exposure. Failure documentation — what fails at which step and under what conditions — is the most retentive element: a patron who understands why a frame wire kinks at a particular bend angle, or why a binding sequence slips at a specific coil count, can diagnose their own work rather than repeating the error across multiple projects.

What does jewelry CAD and casting Patreon documentation cover?

Jewelry CAD creators offer Design Notes ($15–25/month) documenting the decisions behind each design that are invisible in the rendered output. The core documentation covers four areas. Wall thickness rationale: minimum 0.8mm for casting integrity in silver; gold can go thinner because of its higher density and different flow characteristics. The documentation explains why this specific wall thickness was chosen for this design — where the design required going to minimum, and where structural requirements demanded more. Undercut assessment for moldmaking: undercuts that prevent mold release require either design modification or a split-mold approach; the documentation captures which undercuts existed in the original design, which were resolved through design changes, and which required moldmaking accommodations. Gate and sprue placement rationale: gate placement affects how metal flows into the mold and where porosity defects are most likely to occur; the documentation records the placement decision and the casting result. Metal alloy selection: sterling versus fine silver for specific applications (fine silver's higher purity reduces firescale but is softer; sterling's copper content adds hardness but requires more aggressive pickling after soldering); argentium for pieces that will be soldered extensively because argentium's germanium content inhibits firescale and allows fusion welding. Casting shrinkage allowance notes complete the documentation: how much the design was scaled up before wax or resin printing to account for metal contraction during cooling. A patron following Design Notes across multiple projects develops the ability to evaluate their own CAD designs before committing to printing and casting.

Explainers · 2026-06-21 · ~1,200 words

Patreon for jewelry making creators: tiers, metalsmithing process documentation, stone setting notes, studio workflow records, iOS rates, and the Apple Tax in 2026

Q: How does the Apple Tax affect jewelry making creator Patreons?

Jewelry making creators face high iOS rates driven by the visual and platform-native character of jewelry content. Jewelry YouTube: 50–65% iOS. Instagram-primary jewelry makers: 75–85% iOS — jewelry is visually driven and Instagram-native, with the highest mobile consumption rates of any craft category. Jewelry-making TikTok: 75–85% iOS. Metalsmithing with educational content: 55–65% iOS — educational content attracts a slightly more desktop-oriented audience than process-only content. At $400/month with 65% iOS, a jewelry creator faces approximately $78/month ($936/year) in Apple fees beginning November 1, 2026. At $600/month with 70% iOS: approximately $126/month ($1,512/year). These are among the higher Apple Tax exposures in the craft creator space because jewelry audiences are among the most iOS-concentrated. Enable Patreon's web-only billing toggle before October 31, 2026. Update Instagram bio links — where the concentration of iOS traffic is highest — to point to the Patreon web URL rather than app-store links. Patrons who subscribe through a browser do not generate iOS-billed subscriptions, and jewelry audiences visiting Instagram on desktop browsers represent a meaningful portion of subscription opportunities at the educational tier price points.

Jewelry making and metalsmithing creator Patreons retain when they deliver the process documentation that tutorials compress into polished results: the gauge and solder selection rationale behind each piece, the stone setting sequence that prevents a bezel from shifting, and the wire gauge relationships that determine a wrap's structural outcome. Jewelry audiences skew heavily iOS — Instagram-primary jewelry creators face among the highest Apple Tax exposure of any craft category.

Creator types and tier structure

Metalsmithing and silversmithing educators

Tier structure: Observer ($5–8/month, finished work posts, Discord), Workshop Notes ($12–18/month, process documentation per piece: metal gauge selection rationale, solder choice per join, flux application notes, annealing timing and color assessment, pickle quench timing, finishing sequence from file through abrasive grades to polish), Mentorship ($60–120/month capped 6–8, monthly critique of patron-submitted work in progress with technique diagnosis).

The Workshop Notes tier's solder documentation is the area where process reasoning is most absent from public tutorials. The sequence of hard, medium, easy, and IT solder through a piece's multiple joins is a constraint management problem: hard solder for the first join because subsequent joins in the same area need to be made at lower temperature without reflowing the first. The gauge selection rationale operates at the same level — 18g for a bezel because the wall height and stone weight require a thicker wall for burnishing integrity; 20g would fold under the burnisher. Both decisions are made before the metal is cut and are invisible in the finished tutorial. Patrons who receive the reasoning behind each decision learn to make those decisions on their own pieces rather than searching for the applicable general rule.

Stone setting documentation is the area where operational depth is most valuable and most absent from public tutorials. Bezel setting documentation covers wall height relative to stone height (tall enough to burnish over the girdle by 0.5–1mm, not so tall it obscures the stone face), the burnishing sequence (cardinal points first — north, south, east, west — before working around the setting to prevent the bezel from shifting off-center), and tool choice (burnisher angle relative to the wall, rocking motion versus straight push). Prong setting documentation covers prong height above the stone table, the same cardinal-point tipping sequence, and the polishing sequence that avoids catching soft prong tips. Failure documentation — what went wrong in a failed setting and what was changed — is documentation that a safety-conscious beginner cannot find anywhere else.

Wire wrapping creators

Tier structure: Observer ($5–8/month, finished wrap posts, Discord), Pattern Notes ($10–15/month, documentation per wrap: wire gauge selection rationale, coil spacing technique, stone seat creation method, finishing technique to harden work-hardened wire, and failure documentation), Workshop ($35–60/month capped 6–8, monthly written feedback on patron-submitted wrapping projects).

The gauge relationship documentation is the foundational Pattern Notes content: 20g frame wire provides structure and 26g binding wire controls the gaps, and the relationship between frame gauge, binding gauge, and intended visual density is a design decision made before the first coil begins. Tutorials show the finished wrap; Pattern Notes explain why those gauges for this design and what changes if different gauges are used. Stone seat creation documentation — how the base coils are shaped to hold the stone without binding — is the second core content area: too tight risks cracking the stone under coil tension, too loose allows movement that eventually damages wire connections at stress points. Failure documentation at each step of the wrap sequence is what makes the Pattern Notes tier retentive: a patron who understands why a frame wire kinks at a specific bend angle, or why a binding sequence slips at a particular coil count, develops diagnostic capability rather than needing repeated feedback from the creator.

Jewelry designers using CAD and casting

Tier structure: Observer ($5–8/month, finished design posts), Design Notes ($15–25/month, CAD decision documentation per design: wall thickness rationale, undercut assessment for moldmaking, gate and sprue placement rationale, metal alloy choice, wax carving methodology if applicable, and casting shrinkage allowance notes), Consultation ($60–100/month capped 5–8, monthly design review).

The Design Notes tier documents decisions that are invisible in rendered outputs. Minimum wall thickness for casting integrity in silver is 0.8mm; gold can go thinner. Undercuts that prevent mold release require design modification or split-mold accommodation, and the documentation records which undercuts existed in the original design and how each was resolved. Metal alloy choice documentation — sterling versus fine silver, why argentium for this piece — gives patrons the engineering reasoning behind aesthetic-looking decisions. A patron following Design Notes across multiple projects develops the ability to evaluate their own CAD designs before committing to printing and casting, which is the progression that distinguishes retentive educational content from one-time tutorial consumption.

Apple Tax for jewelry making audiences

Jewelry making creators face iOS rates that are among the highest in the craft category. Jewelry YouTube: 50–65% iOS. Instagram-primary jewelry makers: 75–85% iOS — jewelry is visually driven and Instagram-native, with the highest mobile consumption rates of any craft type. Jewelry-making TikTok: 75–85% iOS. Metalsmithing with educational content: 55–65% iOS — educational audiences skew slightly more desktop-oriented than process-only audiences.

At $400/month with 65% iOS, a jewelry creator faces approximately $78/month ($936/year) in Apple fees beginning November 1, 2026. At $600/month with 70% iOS: approximately $126/month ($1,512/year). These are among the higher Apple Tax exposures in the craft creator space because of the Instagram concentration in jewelry audiences. Enable Patreon's web-only billing toggle before October 31, 2026. Update Instagram bio links — where iOS traffic concentration is highest — to point to the Patreon web URL. Patrons who subscribe through a browser do not generate iOS-billed subscriptions.

KeepTier is a self-hosted membership page for creators who want 100% of their tier revenue and zero Apple tax. Plans start at $9/month.