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The award winning
Agatizer
&
SOUTH
BAY
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PI D
AR
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South Bay Lapidary & Mineral Society, Inc.
P.O. Box 1606 Torrance, Ca. 90505
Pacific Ocean
SOCIETY
Affiliated with The California Federation of
Mineralogical Societies and The American
Federation of Mineralogical Societies
A Taste of Mexican Coconut
I knew this one below had to have something good inside by
the fish scale rind on the outside and its slightly lighter
density, indicating a hollow center.
With a little help from my friends (the Polliards), we were
able to do the lady a favor. I had the CRS Gripper to hold
the sphere and Craig had a 26 inch, rock saw to slice it
lickety-split like a cantaloupe.
Lovely Las Choyas “Coconut” Amethyst Geode
Very likely, this is your father’s geode! Back in the 60’s and
70’s these geodes were plentiful and beautiful. Now they’re not
so plentiful nor are they as pretty as they used to come out of the
mines. Most now have white chalcedony with clear quartz
crystals.
I was recently introduced to one of these when I was was
referred to a lady named Michelle. She was looking for
someone to cut a couple rocks that were left to her by her father.
I have to admit, I was kind of eager to see what was inside
this geode since this was my first Mexican Coconut, even
though it wasn’t mine. It turned out beautiful just like the
picture on the upper left (my photo didn’t show its color
properly) . I estimated it was worth at least $100 to a
collector. Mexican Laguna agates are selling at $300 a
pound!
Cutting and collecting geodes can become additive,
particularly if you have a high quality supply. Children love
to watch the process, waiting for their surprise. It’s no
wonder some clubs cut and sell geodes at their shows. I
guess you never loose your excitement over a potential
pleasant surprise.
If you are interested in purchasing Mexican Geodes, I
suggest you go to the February Tucson, Arizona shows.
______________________________
The Agatizer
Jul 2015, Vol. LX No. 7
South Bay Lapidary & Mineral Society
OFFICERS FOR 2015
President
Nancy Pekarek
310 257-8152 pekareks@hotmail.com
Vice President Mattia Corbo
310 328-2762 mattiacorbo@hotmail.com
Secretary
Megan Fox
310 433-3230 allaboutmefox@gmail.com
Treasurer
Leslie Neff
310 318-2170 lesneff@aol.com
& Lynette Vandeveer 310 379-5852 lyndyla@aol.com
Fed Director
Terry Vasseur 310 644-2029 wookman@dslextreme.com
STANDING COMMITTEE CHAIRFOLKS
Displays
Larry Hoskinson 310 318-2170 lesneff@aol.com
Drawings
Leslie Neff
310 318-2170 lesneff@aol.com
Education
Leslie Neff
310 318-2170 lesneff@aol.com
Workshop
Editor
Terry Vasseur
310 644-2029 wookman@dslextreme.com
Wally Ford
Larry Hoskinson 310 318-2170 lesneff@aol.com
Scholarship Fund
Field Trip
Craig Polliard 310-533-4931 craigpolliard@yahoo.com
Coordinators Chris Curtin
310-480-4378 gundodude26@aol.com
Getting-toCraig Polliard
310-533-4931 craigpolliard@yahoo.com
know-you
Historian
Gale Fussello
310 702-3633 fussello@yahoo.com
Hospitality
Jim Erickson
310 640-6199 bmcjim@att.net
Membership
Gale Fussello
310 702-3633 fussello@yahoo.com
Property
Steve Pekarek
310 257-8152 pekareks@hotmail.com
Publicity
Kathy Polliard
310 533-4931 kjpolliard@yahoo.com
Refreshment
Al Richards
310 675-6606 al4bty25@att.net
Director
2016 Show
Andrea Fabian & 323 485-6041 a.fabian@ymail.com
Chairs
Richard Egger
310 291-9855 eggerRj87@gmail.com
Transportation
Manager
Display & Donate and Refreshments
July 7
Display & Donate: Matia Corbo, Al Richards,
Peggy Hill, Andrea Fabian
ICE CREAM SOCIAL BRING A
TOPPING
Aug 4
Display & Donate: Terry Vasseur, Megan Fox,
Craig Polliard, Lynette Vandeveer
Drinks: Ed & Maureen Whitefire, Edward &
Alma Bonilla
Munches:
Kitty Lake, Chris Lemaster
CLUB EXPERTS
Chris Curtin - Fossil Preparation
Burt Dobratz - Fused Glass
Larry Hoskinson - Opal Cutting
Peggy Hill - Lapidary & Beads
Ken Oullette - Cuttle Bone Casting & Silver Fabrication
Chris LeMaster - Tumbling
Ricky McArthur - Inlay (Intarsia)
Ken Pauley - Zeolite Minerals
Craig Polliard - Lost Wax Casting
Toy Sato - Suiseki (Stone Appreciation)
Terry Vasseur - Silver Fabrication
MISSION STATEMENT
This society was formed to collect and study minerals; to teach lapidary arts,
to disseminate knowledge of mineralogy, lapidary work, and related
activities; to exhibit specimens for public education; and to exchange
information related to the earth sciences.
MONTHLY MEETINGS
Meetings are scheduled on the First Tuesday of the month, 6:30 p.m., in the
meeting room of the Torrance Public Library, 3301, Torrance Blvd.. Visitors
and guests are always welcomed at all club events.
MEMBERSHIP
Annual dues for a single member is $15 and $20 for a family payable by the
1st of the year. An annual 12 month subscription to the Agatizer comes with
membership. A subscription to the Agatizer alone is $20.
WEBSITE
Webmaster: Roger Mills palosverdes.com/sblap
PDF READER LINK
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
AGATIZER CIRCULATION
Dec 2014, 103 - June 2015, 99
SBL&MS TAX STATUS
The South Bay Lapidary & Mineral Society is a nonprofit
501 ( c ) 3 organization, Tax ID # 95-350730
The Agatizer
2
Like rocks? Join the South Bay Lapidary & Mineral
Society Inc. (Or any rock club for that matter).
Gale Fussello
Kathy Polliard
Toy Sato
Lynette Vandeveer
Ava Hill
Kitty Lake
Roger Mills
July Birthdays
July
July
July
July
July
July
July
3
7
14
15
23
25
31
July Anniversaries
Edwardo & Elma Bonilla
July 4
Larry & Leslie
July 14
Jul 2015, Vol. LX No. 7
South Bay Lapidary & Mineral Society
From the President's Laptop
From The Editor’s Desk
Terry Vasseur
Dear Club Members and
Friends,
I see Rock & Gem is looking for
a few good salesmen. They will
sell you Rock & Gem magazines
at 50% off the cover price and
you can sell them at the cover
price, $5.99 to your buddies.
Someone, who’s a relatively
new member, asked a long
time member how they ever
learned to identify rocks…
Well, they couldn’t have
joined a better club for a good
start when it comes to learning
about “rocks”!
Minimum order is 10 copies.
They will send them to you ahead
of when the stores get their’s and
they say you will get credit for
what you don’t sell.
Nancy Pekarek
Come to meetings. We have a
great vice president, Mattia
Corbo, who is searching out new and interesting speakers.
Larry Hoskinson has members taking turns during the year
to Display something that they collected or made and to be
prepared to share about it.
Opportunist, you too can become a Trump amongst the
rock & mineral family!
____________________
I bought a new Canon laser printer earlier this year to
replace an older model. The new one is wireless and prints
double side flawlessly, a big improvement when it comes
to printing our newsletter.
Our newsletter, the Agatizer, is loaded with information on
rocks and minerals and lapidary skills. Terry Vaseur
includes a list of Club Experts, 12 members who are willing
to answer question from beads to zeolites and help when
they can.
It would be nice to have color printing except for the cost
of the multi color inks and other problems like; ink jets
clogging, leaking, and longer print times.
Work the show. When Richard Egger and Andrea Fabian
are looking for help for the show speak up right away and
take a turn in Rough Rocks, Slabs, Petrified Wood and/or
Polished Rocks. You can learn from the “old timers” and
customers too.
Laser printers also have some cons but nothing that really
negatively effects what I am doing with it except for one
little thing.
I have had some problems printing award certificates that
have metallic foils in the certificate's borders. Last year
some certificates were OK, others had random, sprinkled
pepper bits of toner or ghosts (a light shadow of an object
preceded printed).
Go on field trips. Chris Curtin and Craig Polliard are
usually prepared with samples of what you may find and
often bring them to the meeting before the trip. Our CFMS
representative, Terry Vasseur keeps us informed about what
is happening with the proposed closure of local areas for
surface collecting of specimens. CFMS is working with
American Land Access Association so there can still be
field trips.
The new printer was surprisingly worse. I tried a number
of things with only marginal improvement. It was late and
I let it go hoping no one would notice. Fat chance, I was
caught with my pants down. In this case an inkjet printer
would probably had worked better.
Please note: Terry will be giving his report on the 2015
CFMS Annual Conference at the July meeting. Plan on
coming; learn what’s new.
In the laser printer, the metallic boarder on the certificate
somehow interferes with the process of transferring the
toner ink on a drum, onto the paper by using electrostatic
charges.
So learning about rocks? New rock hound or old our club
is a good place to be.
____________________
Oh, and have you thought about taking a position on the
board or as a Standing Committee Chairfolk? Getting
actively involved is a good way to connect with other club
members who share your interest and will do what they can
to help you learn about their hobby. Think about it. Before
you know we’ll be looking for a few new people to help
with the leadership of the club…
___________________________
The Agatizer
Don’t blame your vendors for high prices. They aren’t
getting rich off of you. If you have to blame someone,
maybe you should take a look at city and county
governments.
Just as apartment rentals are soaring so are venues suited
for a gem & mineral show. The Culver Club has taken a
look for an alternate show venue and came up with only
one, a hotel ballroom for two days, $28,000.
____________________________
3
Jul 2015, Vol. LX No. 7
South Bay Lapidary & Mineral Society
Secretaries’ Minutes of the
June 2, 2015 General Meeting
May Drawing
Type
Meeting called to order at 6:40
by President Nancy Pekarek
Megan Fox
1st
Prize
Donated By
Winner
Sphere
Club
Breanna Brown
2nd
Crystal
Club
Richard Egger
Pledge of Allegiance led by
Nancy Pekarek
3rd
Polished Nodule
Club
Eugenia Dickson
Badge
Specimen
Club
Anthony
Approval of May minutes. MTA
1st Al Richards, 2nd Roger
Door
Ocean Jasper
Club
Richard Egger
Birthday
$5
Club
Secretary report, nothing new to
report
Member
Amethyst Crystal
Chris Curtin
Megan Fox
Member
Amethyst Crystal
Chris Curtin
Member
Onyx Heart
Eugenia Dickson
Anthony
Guzman
Matt
Club
Amethyst
Specimen
Club
Megan Fox
Club
Club
Anthony Guzman
Club
Amethyst
Specimen
Dino Bone
Club
Al Richards
Club
Dendrite Agate
Club
Roger Hill
Club
Mineral Book
Club
Randy Darnell
Club
Petrified Wood
Club
Randy Darnell
Treasures report, there will be a
May/June report in July
Federation, going to CFMS show next weekend and will
return with something to report
Agitizer, no report
Field trips, May trip canceled. Was working with Keith on
a trip to museum. Unfortunately Keith passed away.
Nothing planned for June or July will put an Email
together if the weather is nice.
Show chairs. Transportation, shed clean up, repair of
artisan cases
Virtual Museum of Geology
On Facebook
Hospitality 22 members 4 visitors
New mineral find - RED QUARTZ - discovered in
October, 2014 in the Tinejdad Mine, Meknes-Tafilalet
Region, Errachidia prov., Morocco. Crystals of clear
quartz completely covered by a 2 to 4mm thick crust of a
second generation of brick-red hematinic quartz. A great
new addition to a mineral collection.
Program VP Mattia Corbo Next months meeting is the ice
cream social. Please bring in toppings to share. We have
asked our "kids" to present their collections and share with
us what they love about collecting and learning.
Show and tell, Chris share some agate he collected in
Palmdale. Also had some petrified wood. when it cools
down would like to take the group to collect in Castle
Butte
Eugenia Dickinson share her embroidery skills and some
gift rocks.
This is a sample of what you will find on the “Virtual
Museum of Geology” on Facebook
Meeting adjourned 8:30
___________________________
DON’T FORGET THE ICE CREAM
SOCIAL
JULY 7
6:30pm
http://www.facebook.com/virtualmuseumofgeolog
Photo courtesy of Jurassic World Rock Shop - also
on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/jurassicworldshop
_________________________
The Agatizer
4
Jul 2015, Vol. LX No. 7
South Bay Lapidary & Mineral Society
– – June Presentation – –
The Bulletin Board
Home Coming With Frances Lau
You can go home again but be prepared for the change.
NEXT MEETING: 6:30 PM, July 7
BOARD MEETING: 6:10 p.m., July 7
PROGRAM: Ice Cream Social with
presentations by our young members. Members
are asked to bring a topping of some kind to
share. If everyone brings just a little there will
be more than enough!
FIELD TRIPS: See page 9
FEEDBACK
L to R: Breanna Brown, Frances Lau, Kitty Lake,
Eugenia Dickson, & Matia Corbo
Letters to the Editor
Frances Lau once again returned to the South Bay. Some
time in the 80’s and possibly the early 90’s he was a member
in the South Bay club. He also once had a store in Torrance.
Since then he became a pearl farmer in China and moved
somewhere around Monterey Park where he joined a club
there. His club is gone now and he slowing down preparing
to retire. As he said, the one thing that never changes is
pearls, a magnet that makes women smile.
_____________________
Open loop, no feedback this month.
2015 SHOW CALENDAR
 No known shows in July in Southern California
You will have to go way up North where the
Summer heat is cherished to find a lapidary, gem,
& mineral show. Good Luck.
discharged from tailing dams and ponds and rock dumps over
the last + 100-year period into residential areas within the
town site of Randsburg and thence into Fiddler Gulch and
Fremont Valley Wash and then into the Koehn Lake Basin
and floodplain areas.
Desert Winds Blow Poisonous Mine Debris
Into California Towns
(A Fox News Headline in 2008)
The historic lode mines in the Randsburg District include
the Yellow Aster, Baltic and Olympus Mines, which were
actively mined for lode gold mainly during the 1890's 1942 period. The historic Yellow Aster 100-ton Mill was
constructed during the early 1900's and was replaced in
the 1910's - 1920's with a large-scale cyanidation mill
processing circuits. Roughly $25 Million dollars of gold
bullion was produced by the mine during its 50-year mine
life, at 1920's gold prices. Approximately 500,000 tons of
mill tailings and 500,000 tons of waste rock were
generated by milling and mining operations, respectively.
The Randsburg lode mill tailings and waste rock has been
discovered recently to contain highly elevated levels of
arsenic (5,000-13,000 ppm). These tailings have
The Agatizer
Significant potential human health risks to the community
and regional environmental impacts may have resulted from
release of arsenic-bearing tailings into the waters of the state
and airborne sources. This area has now been designated as
an AML CERCLA site. Sample results from water, sediment,
and biota indicate elevated arsenic and mercury level exist in
the floodplain sediments. A CERCLA time-critical
remediation process has been implemented.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
_________________________________
5
Jul 2015, Vol. LX No. 7
South Bay Lapidary & Mineral Society
FEDERATION REPORT
strictly for students working to receive advanced degrees.
That seems there is little chance of having any connection
between the membership and the recipient. Oh well, that’s
the AFMS. It was past 3:30, time to see Bob Jones’s
presentation “Collecting Amethyst on Four Peaks, Arizona”
at the Jackson Hall.
On The CFMS Show at Lodi, California, 2015
Fed Director: Terry Vasseur
Normally, the annual CFMS show is put on by one of the
Federation’s 98 (current in good standing) clubs. This year
no club in the North half of the Federation was willing to
step up and host the 2015 CFMS show, so the CFMS took it
upon themselves.
Twenty years ago, I went to shows like this to peruse the
vendor’s in the bazaar. I always came early to get a first
look at what was for sale. Now, I am mostly interested in
fraternizing with the leading fellow experts of the hobby.
That in my opinion is the best reason to go to shows like
this and meet people like Bob Jones (Rock & Gem &
minerals), Walt Wright (petrified wood), Mike Havstad
(meteorites), Bob Rush (Rock & Gem, lapidary) and the
not so well known but who are doing interesting things.
We left early on Friday the 12th. I wanted to catch up to
Tom Burchard so he could sign my 18 certificates awarding
our bulletin editors and article authors who had participated
in our 2015 CFMS contests. I found him at the CFMS
Executive Committee Meeting in the Burgundy Room. No,
there was no wine to be poured but Lodi proudly happens to
be near ground zero for California’s massive wine business,
manifest by the many murals and grapevines everywhere.
Four Peaks Amethyst has intrigued me for some time. It is
second to Russian amethyst (according to Bob) in deep
color and quality. You can actually see the mine from the
base of the mountains near Phoenix. Bob’s talk on it
confirmed that you can go there and collect but it will
require the stamina of a mountain goat or the cash to hire a
helicopter to drop you off at the mine. Unlike many payfor-play, collect at a patented mine; you can keep what you
find.
It was over at 4:30 and I had my signed certificates; time to
check in at the hotel, freshen up, and get dinner. We
followed Marty and Linda Dougherty to the un-official,
designated popular eatery.
The Entrance to the Show
When I arrived the current officers, some past leaders, plus a
few other odds, and ends like myself, were already causally
seated in about 100 degree heat talking about a need to
increase participation at the annual CFMS Zzyzx Camp in
April. In recent years it has quickly sold out to regulars
leaving new people left out. Marion Roberts (current AFMS
President) pointed out that the original intent of the Zzyzx
Camp was to teach and disseminate lapidary, jewelry, and
other Earth Science techniques to new members just starting
in the hobby. As it is now, it is just an annual get together
workshop for the regulars. The solution appears to be to try
and get another week at Zzyzx from CSU (the California
State University Desert Studies Center) or find another week
at another venue. In the short turn, they are going to
“institute a new protocol where first time applications will
get ahead of the line”.
The Cracker Barrel
The Cracker Barrel is
mostly a social get
together. From tales
of yesteryears, it used
to be a highlight of
the weekend. It is
also a platform for the
club directors or
anyone for that
matter, to let go with
what is on their mind.
The Refresh Station
I Only recall one new
thing brought up. That was that Ventura is planning on
hosting the 2017 CFMS Show. Then there was talk about
next year’s CFMS show
together with the World
Championship Gold
Panning at the El Dorado
County Fair Grounds in
Placerville, California, “The
Gateway to the Mother
Lode”. The expectation of a
worldwide audience on
A week earlier Tom sent an E-mail out asking if anyone had
something they might want to add to the agenda. After
getting another invitation this year to Nominate for the
CFMS Jury of Awards for an AFMS Scholarship Foundation
Honoree, I admitted I had no idea how this thing worked. I
said ‘in my opinion the instructions, The Guidelines for
nominating an Honoree, are confusing and incomplete.’ He
agreed and brought it up. So, they had a discourse amongst
themselves and I don’t know what came out of it but I did
learn a little more about the AFMS’s scholarships. They are
- Continued on page 7
The Agatizer
6
Jul 2015, Vol. LX No. 7
South Bay Lapidary & Mineral Society
Continued from page 6 - FEDERATION REPORT
That reminds me; there was some talk about how can we
better communicate and accommodate with our fellow other
club members in or outside our federation, that are
interested in joining in on some of our field trips or just
some help in finding where to go. I hope they put some
thought into it. I think it has some merit.
September 11-18, has the El Dorado County Mineral &
Gem Society planning for hotels as far a 20 miles away!
So, you might want to get your reservations in early.
When we went to dinner we ran into several familiar faces.
I saw Walt Wright and I remembered I had a small rock in
my car for just this kind of opportunity. I don’t remember
where it came from but it was an odd end cut I polished. I
almost threw it away several times but hung onto it for some
unknown reason. Anyway, I asked Walt if we would like to
take a look at it and he said sure. He pulled out his tiny loop
and carefully examined it then said it was petrified juniper.
Bingo! That broke the ice so I brought my backpack to the
Cracker Barrel with three specimens I picked up on the
North side of Red Rock Canyon. Walt looked two over but
couldn’t find any remnants of wood rings. They were just
casts. I guess there is nothing much else you can say about
them. The third piece from the same place I thought was
palm root, he thought was some kind of petrified grass
stems; interesting, but ho hum.
Explore the Midway
After lunch we came back to the show to take a stroll
through the vendor and display aisles. I wanted to sit in on
Walt Wright’s Petrified Wood talk but by mistake; I walked
in on Marylou Wencloff’s Art Clay Silver presentation. It
turned out to be a fortunate slip-up. It said in her
abbreviated bio, she is a Certified Senior Level Instructor in
silver art clay and after looking over some of her work, I
had to agree. I am hoping to get her as a demonstrator next
year at our show and I may just have to take a little closer
look into this popular technique myself.
I skipped on Walt. Instead, we decided to go back to the
hotel and relax for a while before going to the banquet.
When we got there we found Dottie Beachler in distress.
The Saturday Morning Convention Meeting
We had dropped her off at the hotel after lunch.
Apparently, she was locked out of her room some time in
the afternoon and she was waiting for us to return. There
was some kind of screw up in her reservations that no one
could explain. Someone else had her room and there were
no other vacancies.
When we arrived on Friday, we had a down stairs room
with king size bed. Marylou Wencloff was also in the
office pleading to get a down stair room because she
couldn’t climb stairs, so we traded. I guess it was lucky for
Dottie we ended up with two queens on the second floor. It
was only for one night but I don’t think I will be staying at
a Best Western every again. Anybody know what a
thousand points are worth?…a six pack maybe?
The biannual business meeting usually runs about three
hours plus, covering over 50 items and a 15 minute break or
two. This meeting seemed to flow rather routinely with
little contention, despite that the CFMS had to conduct the
annual federation show this year.
Margaret Kolaczyk, 2nd VP, was
credited for taking the
responsibility of show chair and
managing to pull off a success.
And we were also introduced to
two visitors from Oregon; Tomko
& Hidemi Kira. Hidemi is the 1st
Margaret Kolaczyk
VP from the Northwest
Federation Mineral
Societies. More and
more we seem to be
reaching out beyond our
clubs and our federations.
Marylou Wencloff Demonstrating Silver Art Clay
Tomko & Hidemi Kira
- Continued on page 8
The Agatizer
7
Jul 2015, Vol. LX No. 7
South Bay Lapidary & Mineral Society
Continued from page 7 - FEDERATION REPORT
couldn’t hold back laughing, a bottle of wine for a rock I
nearly threw away.
The Banquet
The Editor’s Breakfast
The Banquet is the highlight that differentiates a CFMS
show from a club show. It’s dinner served at a table, a glass
of wine or spirits, men showing off their favorite bola tie,
and women brandishing their favorite baubles. Well,…any
way that’s how it used to be. Maybe it was just Lodi and
the triple digit heat.
This was my second editor’s breakfast. Two years ago the
CFMS was entertaining the idea of combining the bulletin
& article contests into the Saturday night banquet. I was
against it. Now I’m not so sure. While participation in the
contests has remained steady, audience numbers at the
breakfast has slipped.
Having a contest without anyone present to receive their
winnings, is a recipe for a flat award presentation. We even
lost most of the CFMS members in the same clubs of the
winners who usually would pick up their club’s winnings.
Their absence this year was due to having jobs in the show.
Pictures Thanks to
Jennifer Haley, Don Ogden, & John Martins
Come & Get it!
The Banquet is also an awards show for Competitive
Exhibit Awards, AFMS Scholarships, the Golden Bear
Award, and other special categories.
Uranium Glass Under Ultraviolet Light
Marty & Linda Dougherty Coveting the
DIAMOND PACIFIC TROPHY FOR CABOCHONS
Judging is Intense
Now all you guys & gals chasing ribbons at the county fair,
take another look at what is possible. It may help to do a
little schmoozing with the experts and have a little judge
schooling under your belt to cull out the mistakes of a
newcomer learning the hard way but here it is.
The definition of a hard core petrified wood collector has to
be Walt Wright. He brought up a conversation again earlier
during the day about that petrified nub I showed him on
Friday. He wanted to take another look at it again so I
decided I would give it to him the next time I saw him.
On the way out of the banquet I gave him my rock; in turn,
he handed me his bottle of wine that was part of the table
centerpiece he won at the table. It cracked me up, I
Mike Havstad’s Winning Meteorite Display
He was worried about losing a point over a curled Label
- Continued on page 10
The Agatizer
8
Jul 2015, Vol. LX No. 7
South Bay Lapidary & Mineral Society
TIPS FROM A
JEWELER’S BENCH
Brad Smith brad@greenheart.com
[BenchTips]
Upcoming Field Trips
SOLDERING PRONGS
From Field Trip Co-Chair: Chris Curtin
I often use prongs to hold an
irregular cab or other object on rings and pendants. But
prongs can be a little tricky to solder. You have to find
some way to hold them all upright while soldering, and the
simple butt joint that looks strong sometimes breaks when
you start to bend the prong over the stone. There's nothing
worse than having a prong break off when you're setting
the stone *#~*!
July and August
There will be no scheduled field trip in July due to the heat.
If we get a break in the weather I will do a spur of the
moment trip and notify all by email.
On August 29, 2015, we will be going to the Natural
History Museum of Los Angeles.
The museum, among other things, has fantastic gem,
mineral, gold and fossil displays.
I solved both problems with one little trick. It holds the
prongs in position while soldering and it gives you a
stronger joint at the same time.
We will meet in the Museum lobby by the gift shop at
10:00 am.
Locate and center punch the position for each prong. Then
drill holes a little smaller than your prong wire. Sand a
small taper on the ends of your prong wires and stand them
up in the holes. The wires support themselves, soldering is
easy, and the joint is stronger because of the increased
soldering area.
Admission is $12 adults, $9.00 seniors, $ 9.00 for 13-17
yrs. and $5.00 3-12 yrs.
Parking is $10.00.
\
Address: 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles
Phone : 213-763-DINO
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
TWISTING WIRE
Directions: Take the 110 Harbor Freeway North to
Exposition Blvd.
Twisting wire can be
done with an old hand
drill but goes much
faster with a power
tool. My preference is
to use a screw gun,
although a Foredom
should do well.
From the South Bay. Turn West (left) on Exposition and
go to Bill Robertson Lane.
Turn South (left) on Bill Robertson Lane to Museum
parking lot.
For online map and directions please visit:
www.nhm.org/site/plan-your-visit/directions-parking
Just make a little hook
out of coat hanger wire
(or use a screw-in cup hook) and chuck it up in your screw
gun. Grip the free ends of the wire in a vice and slip the
looped end onto your hook. Keep a little tension on the
wires as you twist.
Please let me know if you plan on attending.
Chris Curtin
Field Trip Co-Chair
310-480-4378
___________________
Note that a power drill is too fast a tool for this unless you
have one with variable speed.
A picture is attached
=========================================
Get all 101 of Brad's bench tips in
"Bench Tips for Jewelry Making" on Amazon
The Agatizer
9
Jul 2015, Vol. LX No. 7
South Bay Lapidary & Mineral Society
Continued from page 8 - FEDERATION REPORT
Benitoite specimen, California’s State Mineral, BaTiSi3O9
Some times it takes weeks and weeks in
acid to expose the crystals
This is an interesting display of vials of sand taken from Hollywood
movie sets on sandy locations.
It has been a long time since I cut and polished Texas Springs limb
casts, found in the Northeast corner of Nevada. It is incredibly hard
and it takes a beautiful polish. This display is a picture
representation of industrious, hard work.
In 2012 during the Lyrids meteor shower, a bolide (bright meteor)
passed over Califonia and Nevada. A few grams were found
including two pieces on the Sutter’s Mill park, here displayed
South Bay Lapidary & Mineral Society, Inc.
P.O. Box 1606
Torrance, California 90505
The Agatizer
10
Jul 2015, Vol. LX No. 7