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Resources
Tools
Working with a hammer and hardie
If you haven't seen a hammer and hardie in use before, the first of these two videos contains some action shots while the second gives practical advice on setting a hardie into a wooden base and more detailed cutting advice. These short films were made in 2017 by the Classics Department at Kings College London with assistance from BAMM, and they follow a masterclass in practical mosaic making, so you'll see lots of ancient techniques and materials being put to use.
This video from the Chicago Mosaic School gives detailed instructions on how to use a hammer and hardie, but be wary of sharpening your hammer as directed in the last few minutes of the film; this is best done by an expert.
hammhardieaction
Reviews of Seabell tools
A video from Australian vlogger, Peter Twining. Here he reviews several Seabell tools, and gives tips on how to get the best out of the different types of nippers - he's brilliantly enthusiastic and his reviews are very thorough and detailed.
Which tool for which material?
Really useful advice and practical demonstrations from Edinburgh-based mosaicist Helen Miles on which tool to use with each kind of mosaic material
The Romans - how did they do it? - Part I
If you're interested not just in the aesthetics of classical mosaic, but also in its practicalities, you should visit The Art of Making in Antiquity: Stoneworking in the Roman World. The website records a two-year academic project at Kings College London which aimed to understand the tools, materials and processes that helped raise the monuments of the ancient world. There are videos and essays, many made with practicing stonemason Peter Rockwell, that bring home the extraordinary achievements of craftsmen in a pre-industrial age (even though, as you might be surprised to discover, they had access to mechanised saws capable of cutting stone).
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