The Polished Slab - snvgmssnvgms.org/Slab/slab1312.pdfThe Polished Slab Presidents hotels ... method...
Transcript of The Polished Slab - snvgmssnvgms.org/Slab/slab1312.pdfThe Polished Slab Presidents hotels ... method...
The Polished Slab
Presidents Message
1
Calendar 4
Bulletin Board 5
SNGMS Meeting dates & Direc-tions to Shop
7
Classes 8
Kids Club 8
Shop Report 9
Birthday, New Members and Sunshine
10
Upcoming Shows 11
Inside this issue:
President’s Message Upcoming Events
Jan 2 – Board Meeting
Jan 6 - General Meeting, Moose Lodge
See calendar on page 4 for shop hours, classes, trips, meetings, and other SNGMS events and classes
See page 8 for details on scheduled classes and instructor contact
A NEWSLETTER FOR ROCKHOUNDS SINCE 1940
from Sue Moore
S o u t h e r n N e v a d a G e m & M i n e r a l S o c i e t y
What a great party!
For everyone who attended our Annual Awards Banquet, I hope you didn’t go away hungry. What an awesome assortment of great food. Thank you to everyone who brought dishes to the dinner.
I know that for most of you, the remainder of this month, you will be involved in making and distributing gifts for friends and loved ones. There is still time to come up with lapidary based gifts. A great idea for beginners is to fashion a cabochon and attach it to a hat (a la Kidd Rock). The shop is warm and cozy and a great place to meet with and trade skills with your fellow rock hounds, so come on down!
The first order of business for the 2014 Board of Directors is to fill the Committee positions. If you are interested in being on or leading a Committee in 2014, please contact any Board member and throw your hat in the ring. One of the items that I would like to address is the feasibility of hosting a rock and gem show here in Las Vegas. The cost of using the big hotels and convention centers is prohibitive, but I would like to investigate other options, like school multipurpose rooms, VFW, American Legion rooms, or anything else that the research committee can come up with. We won’t know until we develop a summary of the availability of various rental sites in the Valley. Boulder City should be considered also.
Next, we need to establish the 1st quarter field trips. We welcome all requests and suggestions. Bill and I will be going to Quartzsite for the Powwow, which is January 22nd through 26th, this year. The field trips provided by the Quartzsite Roadrunners are a lot of fun. I have been on most of them, so feel free to ask any questions regarding the trips. Bill and I have been camping in the privately owned area, which is at the west end of Main Street, just past the Revival Tent. The cost is $5.00/day, but the convenience is worth it. There are no bathrooms or water (you are dry camping), but the Loves across I-10 has bathrooms and showers.
Thank you for putting your faith in me as President. I look forward to an interesting and fun 2014 of rock-hounding, faceting, cabbing, silver-smithing, beading, wire wrapping and all of the rest of the skills that are available to our membership. Come join me.
Volume 73 Issue 12 December 2013
PAGE 2 T H E P O L I S H E D S L A B D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 3
HOW TO SHAPE AND
POLISH OPALS WITHOUT MACHINERY Via: Strata Gem, September 2010 Opal is a hydrated silica with varying amounts of moisture. Its hardness varies from 5.5 to 6.5. This method of cutting and polishing opal practically eliminates fracturing from heat. There are four basic steps in shaping and polishing: 1. Sanding off the matrix on both sides to locate the best fire. 2. Rough shaping the stone. 3. Sanding and pre-polishing, which result in the final shaping and size. 4. Final polishing the gemstone. SUPPLIES NEEDED 1. A carborundum stone, double grit, sold by most hardware stores. 2. Wet or dry sand paper, 400- and 600-grit 3. A piece of inner tube, 6" square. 4. Two pieces of corduroy or velvet material, 6" square. 5. Polishing agent, Tripoli or tin oxide 6. Aluminum pie pan 7. Dop stick and household glue or cement. INSTRUCTIONS: Place carborundum stone on the inner tube in the pan, course side up. Pour water on the stone until some stands on top. Always work opal on a very wet stone. With a circular motion, grind on both sides to reveal the best fires. Mark size of desired stone on the back of the opal and grind down to size. When size has been obtained, wash opal, carborundum stone, inner tube, and pan. Do this between each process. Now the opal is ready to be dopped. Use a cold dop of household cement. Coat the end of the dop stick. Also coat the back of the opal. Let it set a minute, and then press together. Stand in modeling clay or other support to dry, about eight hours. When the opal is set on the dop stick, use the coarse side of the carborundum to shape the opal. Wash all equipment. Then this time, using the fine side of the stone, sand out all the scratches, wash, and proceed. Go through this process first using the 400-, then the 600-sanding paper. The opal should have a pre-polish on it. For the final polish, use the same process with the tin oxide. A little Linde A may be added to the tin oxide if you wish. To remove the stone when finished, soak overnight in water and the stone will come loose. Good luck, and may you have a beautiful stone. Malachite, turquoise, chrysocolla, as well as many other stones under 6.5 hardness may be polished with this method.
THE POLISHED SLAB PAGE 3 D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 3
PAGE 4 T H E P O L I S H E D S L A B D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 3 PAGE 4
January 2014
Please contact Sue Moore to establish the 1st quarter field trips. We welcome all requests and suggestions.
Quartzsite Show and Swapmeet:
January 1 - February 28, 2014 Admission: All shows free and open to the public
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 Shop Closed 2 Board Meeting 6 3 Shop 12-8 4 Shop 10-6
5 Faceting 9-2 6 General
Meeting 6
7 Silver
Smithing 5-8
8 Shop 12-9 9 Metalsmtihing 3-10
10 Shop 12-8 11 Shop 10-6
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
8 Awards
Banquet 12
9 Wire
Wrapping 5
10 Silver
Smithing 5-8
11 Shop 12-9 12 Metalsmithing 3-10
13 Shop 12-8
14 Shop 10-6
Kids Holiday
Party 10-2
15 Faceting 9-2 16 Wire
Wrapping 5
17 Silver
Smithing 5-8
18 Shop 12-9 19 Metalsmithing 3-10 20 Shop 12-8 21 Shop 10-6
22 Faceting 9-2 23 24 Shop Closed 25 Shop Closed 26 Metalsmithing 3-10
27 Shop 12-8 28 Shop 10-6
29 Faceting 9-2 30 31 Shop Closed
December 2013
PAGE 5 T H E P O L I S H E D S L A B D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 3
PAGE 6 D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 3 T H E P O L I S H E D S L A B
All the establishments featured in this section offer discounts to SNGMS members. Be sure to
show your membership card when making a
purchase, and say that the Southern Nevada Gem
& Mineral Society sent you!
Discounts
Available
PAGE 7 T H E P O L I S H E D S L A B D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 3
SNGMS General Meeting
1st Monday of every month (2nd Monday if holiday falls on the first Monday) No meeting in December.
Non-members welcome!
Moose Lodge 1600 Gragson Ave.
Food Available 5 PM ($5.00)
Show & Sell 5-6 PM Meeting 6-8 PM
Finding the Shop Location
Proceeding west on Desert Inn Road, take the first right past So. Valley View Blvd. into the industrial park area. Drive past the building on your right, then jog right, then left and you will be in front of Building E.
So. V
alley View
W. Sirius Ave.
W. Desert Inn Rd.
3111 So. Valley View Blvd,
Building E Shop Suite 125
SNGMS 2014 Meetings
Jan 02 Board Jun 02 General
06 General Jul 03 Board
30 Board 07 General
Feb 03 General 31 Board
27 Board Aug 04 General
Mar 03 General Sep 04 Board
Apr 03 Board 08 General
07General Oct 02 Board
May 01 Board 06 General
05 General 30 Board
29 Board Nov 03 General
Board Meetings at Shop, 3111 S. Valley View Blvd. Bldg. E. Suite 125, General Meetings at Moose Lodge, 1600 Gragson
E. Washington Ave. N
. Bru
ce S
t.
N. L
as V
egas B
lvd.
Gragson Ave.
Finding the General Meeting Location
Proceeding south on N. Bruce St., take the left onto Gragson Ave. and proceed to the Moose Lodge parking lot on your left at 1600 Gragson Ave.
There is a ramp available for handicapped access to the building. Once you enter the meeting room is to your right.
Congratulations to James Sloan for winning the centerpiece contest. What a wonderful job and such beautiful work! Many hours went into carving this magnificent sculpture. It includes a variety of different stones and was hand carved. It’s obvious that he put his heart into this creation.
PAGE 8 D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 3 T H E P O L I S H E D S L A B
Wire wrapping, led by Sue Moore meets on most Mondays (except for the General Meeting night). Hours for the class are 5 - 8 PM. The wire wrapping class for December is the 16th. For more information call Sue Moore at 702-348-9600.
Beading class is 6 - 8 PM on the second Thursday of the month. The Decmeber class will be on the 12th and is the Hardware Nut Bracelet. Contact Pat Skeary at 702-459-2649 for more information.
Silver Smithing meets every Tuesday at 5 PM. with Bill Lemmon leading the class. There is a Thursday class in basic metal smithing available as well, led by Mary Brandt meeting 3-10 PM on some Thursdays. In November the date is the 21st. Both classes are suitable for beginners, with the Tuesday class also for intermediate to advanced students.
Polymer clay classes are the last Monday of the month at 2 - 5 PM. Come out and join the fun! Contact Lorrilee Stackhouse at 702-631-5291 for more information.
Faceting classes are continuing on Sunday morning and are for current students only at this time.
Scott Edwards is available on Saturdays to teach you how to maintain your shop equipment. On October 26th there will be a genie maintenance class at 1p.m.. Just come in and talk to him during shop hours.
Wire wrapping, beading, polymer clay, and silver smithing have a very modest donation of $5.00 per session, that goes to the club. Faceting is $5.00 an hour, the cost of faceting machine use, or a flat $5.00 if you use your own machine. Other class donations may vary, depending on what is included in the class. All donations go to SNGMS, all instructors volunteer their time and expertise.
Kids Club/Education Activities The Kids Club will be meeting on the second Sunday of most months at the SNGMS Shop from 3-5. With a regular schedule, we hope you can plan so that your kids (and yourself) can attend each month. As always, for more information or to volunteer to lead an activity contact Mary Beth Paladino at 702-255-1647.
In December the Kids Club had a spectacular holiday party with Santa Clause and crafts galore! Come join us January 12th for more Kid’s Club fun!
December wire wrapping
project
December Beading
Project
PAGE 9 T H E P O L I S H E D S L A B D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 3
Shop Talk from John Stackhouse
Sunday Closed
Monday Closed
Tuesday Closed
Wednesday 12 noon - 9 PM
Thursday Closed
Friday 12 noon - 8 PM
Saturday 10 AM – 6 PM
SNGMS Workshop
Schedule
Supervisors may close the shop if no one comes in after two hours. The next shift supervisor will then re-open the shop.
Photo
courte
sy o
f Caity
Sta
ckhouse
Shop Fee Chart
Metered Equipment:
$0.50 per 1/10 hour actual use.
Non-Metered Equipment:
Turquoise/Opal Saw—$3.00 for first hour; prorated $0.75 per additional 1/4 hour increment
Other - $5.00 for first hour; prorated $1.25 per additional 1/4 hour incre-ment
www.sngmsshop.wix.com/home
New users just need to come in, we’ll even
give you a slab to make your first
cabochon from. No additional equipment
or experience is necessary, we have
everything you need to get started doing
lapidary work, and will teach you all the
basics at any time that the shop is open.
Please bring your 2013-14 membership
card with you when you come to use the
shop’s resources so we can verify your
current membership. If you haven’t paid
your dues yet you can do so at the shop
and the supervisor can issue your card.
Please note the new shop hours posted on
the calendar found on page 4.
PAGE 10 T H E P O L I S H E D S L A B D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 3
Please if you hear of any SNGMS member in need of a bit of sunshine due to accident, illness, death in the family or other need, call me—Dottie Fusch at 648-5886 (recorder on). Cards will be sent to let the member know that we care and wish them well.
from Dottie Auerswald
Please, under no circumstances, park in front of Unit 124 or Unit 126 (the units next to the Shop). The owners of the units come in at odd hours and need access to their parking spaces. There is ample parking across from the Shop that is not in front of any unit.
A hearty welcome to members who joined or rejoined SNGMS . We look forward to getting to know you better!
Kevin & Annette Dude, James W. & Deborah Evans, Kaya & Cole Simmons, Charlotte & Brent Foley, Janey & Dick Frei, Lawrence & Jackie Halle, Daron & Deborah Johnson, Orion Lawlor,k Carole & Ron Liccardo, Holly Petz, Carla Stone, Maqnuel & Marie Touzjian
Leo Karnes, Rita Bergeron, Simy Bryant, Diane Burgess, Susan Conway, Sandra Cunningham, Doris Currington,
Kevin Donovan, Tracy Drown, Ali Ess-Haghabdi, Joseph Krusa, Bob Lofaro, Eli Lopez, Athena Manasses, Lance
Silva, Jeff Meckley, Roy L. Mobley, Bill Moore, Patricia Skeary, Ronald Nelder, James Tesmer, Inday Timbers, Jack
Toogood, Jon Herring, Sharon Westeren, Nancy Wheeler, Dottie Woody
Wishes for a swift recovery go out to Rita Bergeron who broke her shoulder.
T H E P O L I S H E D S L A B D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 3 PAGE 11
2014 Board of Directors
President……..……….Sue Moore……………...……...702-434-6072
Vice-President……...Tony Duran
Secretary………….....Lorrilee Stackhouse………..702-631-5291
Treasurer………….....Pat Skeary
Parliamentarian…...Danny Fesler
Three Year Board...John Miller
Two Year Board…….Shannon Funk
One Year Board…….Sheri Johnson
John Stackhouse
——————————————————————————————
Committee Chairmen
Bulletin………………..Theresa Brooks……..702-239-0438
ByLaws…………………Sheri Johnson
Education……………..Mary Beth Paladino
Federation…………….Mary Beth Paladino
Alt. Federation……..Mary Brandt
Field Trip……………….Board of Directors
Financial Manager..George Messenger
Shop Foreman …… John Stackhouse…………..702-239-0437
Historian………………..Jack Toogood
Hospitality……………..Bob and Sue Lofaro
Librarian………………..Danny Fesler and Kevin Ware
Membership…………..Lorrilee Stackhouse..…..702-239-0437
Program………………...Board of Directors
Publicity………………...Scott Edwards
Raffle……………………..Tom Skeary
50-50 Raffle…………..JoAnne Sprott
Refreshments………..Open
Rock Stars……………..Mary Beth Paladino….…..702-255-1647
Rock Hounds
Show Chairperson..Board of Directors
Sunshine……………...Dottie Auerswald.……....702-648-5886
Webmaster…………..Jack Toogood……………....702-642-4788
Contact any Board member to volunteer for a position, or a
Committee Chairman to offer to help on their committee.
January 1 - February 28, 2014, Quartzsite Show and Swapmeet Admission: All shows free and open to the public
On Interstate 10: 129 miles (2 hours) west of Phoenix, and 18 miles east of California border
February 1-15 Tuscon, AZ Arizona Mineral and Fossil Show 3 locations: 1333 N. Oracle Rd., Tucson, AZ, 475 N. Granada, Tucson, AZ, 665 N. Freeway, Tucson, AZ
Show Hours: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. (Sat. Feb. 15, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.)
These are only a sampling of shows that are fairly close to the Las Vegas area. There are rock clubs throughout the United States and
the computer is your friend in finding information about clubs and shows. Just search for the area you are interested in and rock club and you
should find plenty to keep you busy, wherever you are going.
Some links that you may find helpful are: Rocky Mountain Federation http://www.rmfms.org/rock_shows_by_date.htm California Federation - http://www.cfmsinc.org/shows/cfmsshow.htm and the Rock & Gem website - http://www.rockngem.com/show-dates-display/?ShowState=ALL
www.sngms.com
Southern Nevada Gem & Mineral Society
3111 S. Valley View Blvd, E-125
Las Vegas, NV 89102
Return Service Requested
The Southern Nevada Gem and Mineral Society is a non-profit corporation, organized to educate ourselves and the community in the science and arts related to rocks, minerals, gems, fossils, and nature in general. Fostering an understanding and appreciation of the physical world, we can use it and protect it for future generations.
Club Mascot: Rock Wren
Club Gemstone: Turquoise
Club Logo: Rocks-R-Us
Membership is open to anyone with an interest
in: Rocks, Gems, Geology, Fossils, Lapidary Arts or
Silversmithing
Annual Dues: Individual - $20; Family - $30
Meetings are held the first Monday of the month
at the Moose Lodge, 1600 Gragson. No meeting is
held in December. Instead we have our annual
awards dinner.
Visitors are always welcome and bring a friend or
two.
Polished Slab Advertising Rates
Ad Size Six Months Yearly
Business Card $18 $30
Quarter Page $48 $90
Half Page $90 $170
Full Page $150 $275
SNGMS Web Page Ads and Links to your Web Page
are available for additional fees.
First month is free to club members. Ads must be
paid in full prior to publication. Make checks pay-
able to Southern Nevada Gem & Mineral Society.
Mail to : SNGMS/Attn: Editor, 3111 S. Valley View
Blvd, E-125 Las Vegas, NV 89102