The Bitterroot Conglomerate
Newsletter of the Bitterroot Gem & Mineral Society
Vol. XXVIII issue 12
Presidents Column
I would like to thank all of the Club members for supporting me this past year. It was not easy trying to be a good President and being the program chairman at the same time.
Please support our new President, Mike McConnell. There are many chairs to be filled. Step forward and fill these positions. We have a strong Club and many new members to help. I really love the Club and look forward to being a member for many more years to come.
Jo Farley, Outgoing President
Editors Notes
Please note that the dues are expected to be paid by the December potluck or mailed to either the Club address which is on the front of the newsletter or Wayne Farley at 274 Cartwright Way, Hamilton, MT 59840 before the end of December.
I will need reports from the Chairperson of the various Committees during the 1st week of each month so they can be included in the newsletter.
The Editor is not responsible for the accuracy of articles accepted, items for sale, nor are the opinions expressed therein necessarily those of the Club Officers, members and/or the Club Editor. ********************************************************************************
BGMS Minutes November 10, 2009
A video was shown on gemstones formation in the United States. Charlene made sure we had beverages and treats for break.
In absence of the President, Vice President Mary Ann led the pledge to the flag.
Correspondence included newsleters from Hellgate in Missoula and the Yellowstone from the Billings clubs. Northwest Federation would like to have dues paid by the first of the year. We received a request from Salvation Army for a donation. No one proposed a motion so it was dropped.
2010 slate of officers was presented:
Mike McConnell for President
Pam Meyers for Vice President
Wayne Farley for Treasurer
Diane Ayers for Secretary
There were no nominations from the floor so they were voted in by acclimation. They will be installed in December at the dinner.
The last meeting of this month may be a program by Cliff Simonson if he is available. If not there will be a video.
The Christmas Dinner will be on December 12 at noon. Turkey and ham will be provided so please bring complimentary dishes. There will be a live auction after dinner.
Hellgate rents a bus for the Spokane Show in March. They have asked if there are not enough riders to pay the cost of the bus if we would help share the cost. Ralph made the motion and Wayne seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Posey was drawn for the door prize brought by Harvey.
Meeting adjourned.
Acting Secretary, Margaret Sharp
BGMS Minutes Nov. 24, 2009
We opened the meeting with a program presented by Wayne Farley. Wayne showed the video on “What’s Hot in Tucson” Rock Show. It was excellent. They started out with gorgeous tourmaline Crystals and ran through many different Vendors and their specimens from all over the world. A Dealer from Santa Rosa, CA showed a fairly common looking mineral, then he turned it over to reveal a Beautiful Carving on the other side. WOW. What talent. We got through only about half the video, so maybe we will get to see the other half sometime. Thank you very much, Wayne. After a delicious snack served by Sharlene Farley and their Daughter, Cindy who was home for the Thanksgiving Holiday, we resumed order and had the business meeting. The meeting was called to order by President, Jo Farley. Following the Pledge of Allegiance to our Flag, the 23 Members and 1 Guest started the meeting. Wayne Farley, our Treasurer gave his report, showing an ending balance. This does not count the money set aside for the Show next year. Committee Reports:
Show: Steve Veith reported the Fairgrounds has been reserved. Larry Trexler with his Dinosaurs is planning his display which will include the “T-Rex”. There are 12 Confirmed Dealers as of tonight, leaving room for only the 3 more to bring the total to 15. When asked why only 15, it was pointed out that more will only cut into the amount each vendor will be able to share with the size crowd we have. Our 2008 show had TOO many and therefore not ALL were able to make enough money to be considered a “Good” show for them to attend. The Insurance Policy for one million dollars has been ordered and will cost between $350 and $380. This will cover us from opening on Friday morning to 9 pm on Saturday night. Steve assured Wayne there is plenty of room for his Black Light Display.
MaryAnn Scanland suggested we have a Kids Table and/or a Wire Wrap display and teaching space. There is plenty of room for both if we have someone to man it.
Old Business: None
New Business: Ralph Luther still has copies of our Revised By-Laws. Some were requested and passed out to the members.
More discussion was about what to do with our money. A motion was made, seconded and passed to donate an extra check in the amount of $200 to Haven House for them to purchase whatever they needed most to furnish the Bitterroot Valley’s needy with food. They will be requested to send us a letter back notifying us of “how the money” was spent.
The Christmas Party: December 12th at noon and eating at 1 pm. All are encourage to again bring a food donation to Haven House in addition to the check. There will also be a Silent Auction following our eating.
Harvey Sharp again brought up the idea to have cases (to be put together) showing various rocks, minerals and gems to be taken to the various schools in the Valley. This will be our Clubs way of getting the Youth involved and interested in our hobby.
The discussion once again came back to “how to spend our money”. Yearly some members go to Spokane for their Rock Show. The cost has been $25.00 per person to go over (with the Missoula Club) in a Bus. There are usually 15 to 20 people attend. The bus holds up to 44 people. A motion by Margaret Sharp and 2nd by Harvey Sharp to pay $15.00 from our Treasurery to each member who wants to attend. Discussion and the motion was passed.
Further discussion and a reminder that our Blue Grouse Mine in Idaho will be in need of a renewal of the Performance Bond-which is expected to increase in price. We also will need an excavator to fill in some of our existing holes and excavate new ones for 2010. It is possible to drive to the claim (with 4 wheel drive), then one must walk on in, maybe 50 to 100 or more feet. It is possible to take a 4-Wheeler up the hill to get to the higher area. This summer will need members to go up and help do the assessment work and have a Great Field trip finding common Blue OPAL. (or better yet some with fire)
The Club owns a Cabing Machine. It presently is at the Chris Ponder home. Jo suggested that if someone talks to them before she calls for the Christmas Party to please ask them to return it for others to take their turns and use it. Maybe Dan Farley can e-mail them and see if they will bring it to the Party.
2010 – MEETINGS:
A reminder that the 2nd (second Saturdays in January and February) the club will meet at 2pm in the afternoon so we will not need to drive at night in bad weather.
There is no door prize; Posey will need to bring to the next meeting. The 50/50 drawing was won by Betty Swift and amounted to $10.50. The Club keeps the other half.
Myra Peltier made a motion and Dan Rochon seconded to adjourn the meeting. All in favor.
Respectfully Submitted,
Dianne Ayres, Secretary
Field Trip or Show Report
A deposit has been made to secure the building at the Fairgrounds for our show May 14th and 15th.
Start thinking about where you would like to go on a field trip next year, then communicate that thought to the field trip chairman so it can be incorporated into the field trip schedule.
Member Field Trip Reports
None
Mining Committee Report
I called Rory Deloughan and talked with him about getting his excavator onto our Opal Claim next spring to reclaim some areas and open others. He said to contact him in the spring to set up a schedule. It will be expensive but if we plan to keep and use the Claim it may be worth it. MT Council Report
None
N. W. Federation Report Nothing to report this month.
Sunshine Committee
Nola Edgar is doing well with her recovery from a fractured vertebra. She has started to drive some and may be able to attend our Christmas potluck.
Don Contraman is still home recovering from a severely mangled foot which was received in a very severe auto accident that occurred in California. He is hoping the Doctor will allow him to start putting some weight on his foot soon so he can start exercising it to aid in his recovery.
Programs
None.
For Sale. An ore car from the Betty O’Neil Mine near Battle Mountain, Nevada. In good shape. $500.00. Contact Posey at 961-4116
For Sale. Jim Rayner in Hamilton has a 12” Rock Saw for $500 and a Fram Tom Tock Grinder Set-up with 2 diamond wheels, and a 10” trim saw with new blade, new motor on a steel stand for $800. 375-0663
Some Lapidary tips
Listed are various assorted lapidary tips or suggestions working with stones.***If you have a tumbler with a rubber barrel that needs to be relined, or any other rubber coated item, send an e-mail to: sales@industrialscreen.com in Casper, WY *** A few more suggestions on tumbling are as follows: When getting started in the rough grit stage, check to see that no edges on a chip or slab taper off to almost nothing. Use a tile nipper, to chip off the thin edges because this stone will not tumble into a useable stone. The very thin edge will always stay the same and continue to break thin in the tumbler. ***When tumbling in a barrel tumbler, a mix of rough chips and broken slabs (flats) can be tumbled successfully together, although the final polish time in agates and jaspers took 4-5 days longer, the polish was great! The rounded stones were ready at two weeks of polishing, but the flats needed more time. All it took was an extra five days and no harm was done to the rounded stones with extra days of polishing. A schedule we like to follow for rotary or barrel tumbling for beautiful polished agates and jaspers is 6 weeks for the Course grit stage (60/90), 2 weeks for Medium grit (150/220), 2 weeks Fine grit (500F), and Polish at two weeks. (Plus an extra five days if flats are included with the small stones.) You'll notice while you are tumbling that the stones in the tumbler are filling less and less space due to the grinding process, and the ground rock, grit and water slurry is covering the stones more and more. Each week when adding more course grit (since the course grit breaks down quickly), we first drain the extra liquid (grit and water slurry) back down to a level of one to two inches below the stones, then add the fresh Course grit (one tablespoon per estimated weight of rock remaining in the tumbler). Too much water slows the grinding process. Recently on the start of the third week of Course grit tumbling, small dogtooth amethyst crystals were added in the tumbler to take advantage of the extra space in the tumbler, and we continued the usual process of four more weeks at course grit, etc. (Another addition was broken picture jasper slabs.) The amethyst and picture jasper did not need as much time tumbling in the course grit for nice smoothing and when the tumbling process had been completed, the added stones turned out quite nice. Remember, the tumbler should be from 1/2 to 3/4 full to achieve maximum grinding action and of course you want to tumble as many stones as possible in the least amount of time. The best way to tumble with the fastest completion time is to have all stones of the same hardness or type of gemstones. But keeping the tumbler full or maximum capacity for tumbling requires you have to have extra similar material for each grind sequence, course and medium to add to the tumbler when processing. (Little material is removed in the Fine grit stage and no additional stones are needed.) If you have no additional stones to add in the course or medium tumbling stage, remember, ceramic media is a nice filler option to use instead and they can be reused. The flats or tumbled polished flat gemstones are ready to be used in earrings, pendants and more by attaching a fold over bail, drilling, etc.
Send Us Your Tips, Help Fellow Rock Hounds
Getting a Great Polish
Use Magnification while working through the grits. When you get a great polish using magnification, you will have a fantastic polish unmagnified.
Keeping Vibe Laps Cleaner
Use a shower cap, or press and seal to cover your Vibrating Lap. Be sure to use a different cap or new press and seal for each grit. Place the cap on, or seal the rim of the pan.
Seeing Better
Use bright lights when working on Gemstones, this give you a better idea as to what the stone will look like in full sun, of course when possible, use full sun. Bright lights help when working with stones like Rainbow Obsidian, and star Garnet, etc.
Get Them Really Shiny
After the polish stage in your tumbler, run the load with soap. Load as much volume of Ivory soap as you would grit. (i.e. 3tsp of grit = 3tsp of Soap) Use Ivory flakes non detergent, or shave a Ivory soap bath bar. Tumble with Plastic Pellets for 1-2 days. You will be surprised about the extra shine.
Contamination
Whether you use a flat lap, tumble, or use a grinding wheel, you have to be very careful full of cross-grit contamination. If you have done everything right, and still can’t get a polish, you might suspect contamination. Check your polish wheels for contamination.
Bad Air!
NEVER breath rock dust. Is that clear enough? Never grind rocks dry, do not breath rock dust. You can get some serious lung problems. DON’T DO IT!
Cabs Always Fall off the Dop.
Well a couple of possible reasons, first, if you are using old dop wax, or wax that has been heated many times, you may have to recharge it to get its tackiness back. Do this by melting some real beeswax in with the dop wax. Second, if you left the dopped cabs in the shop overnight, and the temperature dropped, that is just like putting them in the freezer to detach them. You will have to redo the cab, or bring the dopped cabs inside so they stay warm.
Healed or Not?
If you are not sure as to whether a fracture in a slab is a healed fracture of not, wet your finger and swipe it across the fracture. Watch the fracture as the water dries, the fracture if NOT healed will take a bit longer to dry out. If dries at the same rate as surrounding stone, most likely it is healed.
Diamond Saw Won’t Cut.
If your blade still has diamond on it, and won’t cut, run a brick, concrete, old aluminum oxide grinding wheel, or Obsidian about 3” thru the blade. This will strip off any alloy that is covering the diamond particles allowing them to cut. If you have no diamond left, you need a new blade.
Keep the Oil Out
If you suspect that the rock you are about to cut will soak in oil, you should soak the rock in water for at least 24 hours before cutting. This fills the porous areas with water. Cutting oil can stain some stones. Denim Lapis is an example. Soaking in water really helps to minimize oil soak in.
Secret Recipe
Experiment with polishes. If you are having trouble with that certain stone, try mixing polishes. I use Cerium Oxide mostly, but if I have trouble, I have been known to add a bit of Tin Oxide, or even Linde A. Red Rouge can help with Obsidian. I have used as many as 5 polishes together, and a lot of the time, I will get great results were one polish would not quite do the job. Experiment a little.
Tiny Work.
When polishing small crevices, use a shish kabob stick. the larger ones will fit a Dremel or Dremel like hand piece.
Simply dip the tip in water, then in the polish, and let it go. Fire Agate is a fine example for this tip. Thanks Elmer.
Soap all the way!
Try doing your tumble cycles with “ALL” even in the grinding stages. Gives a deep and very shiny polish. Thanks Guy DiTorrice
Keep your tables from getting scratched
A practice I've started on my polished trim stock (fossils, petrified woods, obsidians, agates, jaspers) and for the polished thunder egg halves - I seal the non-polished portions or surrounding non-polished matrix. Have experimented with a wide range of products and find certain grades of Vinac, Airflex and Flexbond (formaldehyde based) and Butvar (acetone based) as extremely quality products. Gives the finished product a real commercially-prepared feel and provides a non-scratching surface for specimens you don't want to put on a stand or glue felt/fabric on the non-polished surface. Thanks Guy DiTorrice
SAVE USED POSTAGE STAMPS FOR CANCER RESEARCH!
GIVE A HOOT - DON"T POLLUTE! KEEP MONTANA GREEN
