HOW TO FIND OUR MEETING PLACE

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1 HELL S CANYON GEM CLUB Serving the Valley for 64 YEARS P.O. BOX 365 LEWISTON, IDAHO PURPOSE OF HELLS CANYON GEM CLUB, INC. The purpose of this nonprofit, social club is to promote the rock hound hobby by providing opportunities for the collection, working and displaying of gems and minerals, as well as educational programs in the field of geology. MEETINGS: 2nd Friday of each month Business Meeting: 6:45 pm VISITORS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME Dues: Adult [per person] $15.00; Junior [under 18] Free with a responsible adult membership BOARD OF DIRECTORS President Vice President Secretary Treasurer Past President 1st Year Trustee Bruce Borgelt Randy Squires Lola Collinsworth MaryLou Northrup Linn Enger Teresa Stephenson st Year Trustee Richard Pederson 2nd Year Trustee Kyle Prettyman 2nd Year Trustee Mel Wilks Federation Director Jerry Northrup Federation Delegate MaryLou Northrup WSMC Representative Dan Cease HELLS CANYON WEBSITE: WEBMASTER: Rick Westerholm: hcgemclub@yahoo.com =================================================================================================================================== HOW TO FIND OUR MEETING PLACE 1

2 Meeting minutes August 11th, 2016 Reviewed Business Meeting Don Johnson Kids Chairman with help from Dan Cease. Demo tables are filled, Thank you Travis 19 dealers Joe taking applications for displays Theme Golden Years Still looking for gold skirting Ordered 50 posters for cars and such, Bruce has adhesive for posters Noted NO on tailgate sales There will be two prizes for the displays: one for Peoples Choice and one for Members Only Choice. Federation report: 109 displays and 42 dealers Jeremy Giard won for his Intarsia Junior membership is down everywhere. They are our future, we need to work on that. Big thank you to Jerry and Marylou Northrop for the good job being our delegates. Treasurer Report: delegates payed $400 for expenses, Post office bill payed....passed vote New Business: Shop trailer found, 14 x 70 with tip-out Bruce will check on tear-down and setup. Waiting to hear from the Grange to have Counties OK before making purchase. Mary Lou getting info to nominate Ed Shoemaker for Editor Awards from Federation on next years awards. Jerry asking for help and donations for silent auctions at the Show. We need small stuff for the kids games. Show and Tell: Big slate platter, bluelace pokadot, beach stone from California, mushrooms(ha Ha Rocks) from Alaska. Silent Auction was fun and went well. Door prizes given consisted of mostly slabs and plum jelly Minutes by Lola Collinsworth THINGS YOU CAN DO FOR THE CLUB THIS YEAR Call someone you haven t seen at meetings lately Volunteer to present a program. Send your editor some news. Come to each meeting and bring a guest, and/or a member who cannot drive. Come to the meeting ready to help others learn and allow others to listen. Volunteer to help with the Gem Show Or, how about helping here: My name is Nathan Reade and by some mysterious twist of fate, Lynda Grebe and I have been officially charged with organizing and running the raffle at the upcoming Hells Canyon Gem Club show in October. Being newbies at this, our first impression is to solicit items for the raffle from club members who have experience with the quality of raffle items. We are charged with obtaining ten items of sufficient interest to the general public to encourage them to open their wallets and buy raffle tickets. Please spread the word to the members prior to the next meeting so they can contact us at the meeting. It would be much appreciated and helpful to us. Members can contact me or Lynda at any time. Thanks so much. Nathan Reade (208) , Lynda Grebe (509)

3 2016 GEM SHOWS(Partial list, see September 10 & 11 Sat 10 5 Sun 10-5 Marcus Whitman Gem and Mineral Society Walla Walla County Frgnds. Community Cntr. Bldg. 365 Orchard St. Walla Walla, WA Keith Bacus Howard St. Walla Walla, WA October 15 & 16 Sat 10 6 Sun 10-5 Hells Canyon Gem Club Nez Perce County Fair Building 1229 Burrell Avenue Lewiston, ID Linn Enger engerocks@yahoo.com March 24 26, 2017 Spokane County Fair & Expo Fri 10 6 Rock Rollers Club of Center, N. 604 Havana at Spokane, Wa. Sat 10 6 Broadway, Spokane, WA Sun 10-4 April 29 30, 2017 Sat 10 5 Sun 10 5 West Seattle Rock Club Alki Masonic Temple th Avenue SW Seattle, WA Vonnie Dillon showchair@rockrollers.org Diane christensen diane@purns.org Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought. ~ John F. Kennedy.. Standing Committees Gemshow Committees 1. Membership Chairman --- Linn Enger 1. Show Chairman --- Rock Club Officers 2. Juniors Chairman -- David Dabritz 2. Show Treasurer -- Marylou Northrup 3. Fieldtrip Chairman Dealer Chairman -- Tiffany Kite 4. Program Chairman Advertising Chairman -- Randy Squires 5. Show & Tell Chairman Displays Chairman -- Joe Schacher 6. Claims Chairmen -- Rick Westerholm Linn Enger 7. Historian Chairman Demonstrations Chairman -- Travis Heath 8. Library Chairman Silent Auction Chairman -- Jerry Northrup 9. Hostess Chairman Kids Corner Chairman Don Johnson with Dan Cease 10. Admissions Chairman Lola Collinsworth 7. Floorplan Chairman -- Rick Westerholm 10. Bulletin Editor --- Ed Shoemaker 11.--Security Chairman Bruce Borgelt and? 12.--Raffle Chairpersons.-- Nate & Lynda Grebe 13.--Floater for show.-- Bruce Borgelt 3

4 Jeremy and Gail Giard with the National award for Intarsia at the AFMS/NFMS show in Albany, Or. This caps off what might be the best competitive run "ever" for one club in the same class. It includes...five NFMS first place awards Four NFMS sweepstakes awards Two AFMS (National) first place awards Hells Canyon Gem Club is known throughout the Northwest as the "Intarsia Epicenter". 4

5 Gems and Minerals Made By Nature From gorgeous gems to stunning minerals, it turns out stones can be more colorful than a rainbow and as beautiful as a flower. Ocean Inside An Opal Sunset Fire Opal Luz Opal With Galaxy Inside Rose Quartz Geode Worlds Biggest Amethyst Geode, The Empress Of Uruguay Opalized Fossil 5

6 Fluorite Lightning Ridge Black Opal Image #17 Watermelon Tourmaline Rhodochrosite Azurite This is a sample of a total of 24 great photo's of gems and minerals on the link below. Use Google to learn more about each one. ba-bamail.com Link to colorful gems & minerals 6

7 METEOR OF THE MONTH (used by permission, Meteorite Picture of the Day) Canyon Diablo Graphite Nodules 310 grams. Iron, IAB-MG TKW 30 metric tons. Observed fall: no. Impacted about 50,000 years ago. Found 1891 in Coconino County, Arizona, USA, between Flagstaff and Winslow. More information on graphite nodules can be found here More information on this meteor can be found here DOP - DANG IT!!! By Jim Marburger If you have ever been in the lapidary hobby cutting cabochons, I am sure you have said that quote and more. The dopped cabochon you are working on just popped off and frustration sets in. I hope I can help you to avoid this problem, no matter if you are new to it or an old hand, so here goes a short course on Dopping. Dop wax is used to attach a stone to a dop (handle), to hold the stone for greater control in the grinding and polishing of gem stones. The wax used in lapidary arts comes in four softening temperatures and colors. Red softens at 140 F., brown softens at 145 F., green softens at 150 F., and black softens at 175 F. The type selected 7

8 depends on the strength needed; the higher softening temperature is harder and will hold more with less wax. In general, green is a good all around and easy to use wax, with black being used more for the faceting arts where very small surface areas are used. Dop wax has been around for a long time. It was originally used as a sealing wax for envelopes or packages, with the family crest imprinted in the seal. To properly melt the wax, many things can be used. Alcohol lamps, candles, 100 watt light bulb, a tuna fish can on the stove or hot plate, a double boiler, or an electric dop pot. Safety First. Hot dop wax (runny or tacky) is dangerous and will cause major burns when in contact with skin. It will stick to the skin and continue to burn the flesh until it is cool. Have a dish of cool water near the dop station to wet your finger before forming the hot wax and so the wax can be cooled fast if it sticks and is burning your fingers. Another problem is a fire issue. Dop wax is flammable and will burn intensely. This is caused by the flake shellac used as the binding agent in dop wax. It is important to keep the wax below the vapor temperature of the shellac. An electric dop pot eliminates the fire problem of over heating, but skin and flesh burning is still an issue. The main points in the art of dopping stones are: The stone must be clean, dry, free of oil, dust or dirt. The type of dop stick used. From match sticks, wood dowels to metal dops. Correct sizing of the dop stick to the size of stone being dopped. Correct sizing of the dop stick to the size of your hands. Preheating of the stone being dopped. It must be warm-to-hot to the touch. Caution: If the stone is heat sensitive, such as opal, other methods of dopping should be used. Enough wax on the stick to make the transition to the stone. Center the dop stick on the stone. Square up the cabochon to the dop stick. After dopping, let the stone and wax cool to the touch by itself. Do not rush it. If you are having consistent problems with the wax not holding, use fresh wax or add a pinch of flake shellac to the wax. Flake shellac is the same shellac that is dissolved in alcohol to make the old fashioned wood shellac finish. To remove the cabochon from the dop stick (and if it isn t a temperature-sensitive stone), just put it in the freezer for a short time (approximately five minutes) and the stone will drop off or pop off the wax due to the contraction factors of the two different materials. Or the stone can be soaked in a closed container of alcohol which will dissolve the wax over time. Caution: Alcohol is flammable. Also, the color of the wax could transfer to a soft stone. Photos courtesy of Jim and Sharon Marburger via 11/2012 Pick and Shovel via QUARRY QUIPS DEC

9 More thoughts on dop from several people on message boards. I use a propane torch to dop my stones,.it is much easier than using a pot. I just passed over the stone with the torch to dry it out, drip some wax on the stone and the stick (twirling it)and then re-pass the heat over both to stick them together making sure there is a nice 45 degree angle coming down the stick to the stone. I use a piece of granite counter top for a work surface..the extra wax drips pop right off this surface. If you do use a pot clean it and toss the old wax for new once in awhile...wax does go bad. dops are nice for small stones that are extra hard to grab. Dops are also nice for the leather wheel where it is hard to hold onto your stone without it flipping away. However, once in a while a stone will fly off the dop at this stage and when that happens, that stone REALLY flies! We do have a bit of contention at our shop as to which is easier, dop or no dop. I usually don't dop, but I do think for some people who are having a hard time with their cabs, it is easier for them to learn with a dop. Also, if your fingers get tired or sore, or you want to preserve your fingernails, or if you do a lot of stones often or do small stones, the dop is easier. But for bigger stones, which I do a lot of, I find that no dop is easier for me personally. Also, if I do stones that don't like heat, like opals, I prefer to not risk any heat so I don't dop. Seldom need to trim my finger nails with the clippers and keep a container of Aloe Solarcaine for when I inevitably get fuggled. (And yes, diamond cut off blades will cut your pinkies) Anyway, for normal cabbing I use the green wax for cabs, brown diamond wax for faceting. I as of yet have not got into any of the fragile material like opal so i do not yet need to change my ways. Freezing finished cab in freezer works well. Gouge off excess wax prior to grinding with a box knife, keeps wax off of the wheel. I use a propane torch to really warm up the stone and the dop. I use metal dops... The torch also does a great job burning off any oil that might be on it too. So..., After heating up the stone and dop really warm. Almost too warm to touch... I then dip the dop into the wax and wrap a significant amount around the dop. It won't stay on for long because it is pretty warm and wants to fall off the dop. So I have to move quickly to get it to the cab. I then just sort of work it easily. As it cools I am forming it around the dop and getting as much if not all of the stone covered with wax. I also press fairly hard on the wax against the stone as it cools. I don't know for sure, but pressing on the wax as it cools seems to help it adhere even better to the stone. I found that the reason my dop stick was'nt sticking was that I need to clean the slab more. I thought I got all or most of the saw oil off the slab, but I did'nt. I really scrub the slab or preform even more now. I dop the majority of my stones but haven't used dop wax for years. I use gap filling super glue and nails for the dop sticks. I remove the stones by soaking in acetone overnight. Of course, this doesn't work with most stabilized, colorshot or backed material but is great for most types of stones. Water glass (sodium silicate) is a good way to glue the flat side of cut rocks to pieces of 2x4s to maximize the number of slabs. Soaking in water will remove the water glass bond to the rock and 2x4. At our shop, we also use the water glass to glue rocks to wood before sticking into the saws. Usually, we first wack off a slab to make a flat spot and then glue the wood to the flat spot. But sometimes the first cut for the flat spot is not possible. I have several times gotten away with gluing wood to the kinda flat but still bumpy side of a stone. What I did was put one coat of water glass, let that dry, and then drizzle more in, and let that dry, etc, for several times so that lots of water glass was in contact with the stone. When new, water glass is clear and looks like slightly thick water. You need to let it set overnight to harden in the air. As it gets older, it tends to thicken, but still works until it is rock hard. I usually just 9

10 remove a bit out of the main jar and put in a separate jar for regular use, so as to preserve the main jar from too much air exposure and thickening issues. the looking-glass world of contronyms words that are their own antonyms. Left can mean either remaining or departed. If the gentlemen have withdrawn to the drawing room for after-dinner cigars, who s left? (The gentlemen have left and the ladies are left.) Dust, along with the next two words, is a noun turned into a verb meaning either to add or to remove the thing in question. Only the context will tell you which it is. When you dust are you applying dust or removing it? It depends whether you re dusting the crops or the furniture. Stone is another verb to use with caution. You can stone some peaches, but please don t stone your neighbor (even if he says he likes to get stoned). Off means deactivated, as in "to turn off," but also activated, as in "The alarm went off." Weather can mean to withstand or come safely through, as in The company weathered the recession, or it can mean to be worn away : The rock was weathered. Out of means "outside" or "inside": I hardly get out of the house because I work out of my home. The contronym (also spelled contranym ) : goes by many names, including auto-antonym, antagonym, enantiodrome, self-antonym, antilogy and Janus word. The folks at Daily Writing Tips have rounded up even more How much better would life be if a liar s pants really did catch fire? ~ unattributed Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift, that's why it's called The Present. Carrots weren't orange until the 17th century. The first cultivated carrots were purple, yellow, or white. I must be gettin old cuz I don't know if I lost a horse or found a rope! So, while you are out roaming the hills for rocks don't overlook some other items (other than denium) that you might be able to turn into cash!! Most people dig through mines looking for precious stones or minerals. Michael Allen Harris hunts for jeans. The commercial painter from Orange County originally scavenged the abandoned silver mines of California, Nevada, and Arizona for antique bottles. The glass fetched high prices from collectors but not as high as the vintage denim that Harris found tucked beneath the earth, left behind by 19th-century workers. Harris started collecting the old cloth, and he soon evolved into a self-described denim detective. Over the years, he s amassed countless clothing items, including one of the oldest jean jackets in existence and a pair of pants dating back to Harris chronicled some of these findings in his 2010 book Jeans of the Old West, which includes both photos of his rare discoveries and a history of the region's love affair with the durable fabric. The self-taught historian s hobby isn t just pleasurable it s also profitable. According to The Guardian, Harris once sold some jeans to a collector for $30,000, and he s received offers as high as $100,000. Denim companies like Levi s like to nab Harris s finds for their archives so designers can study the wear patterns that give trousers that distinct, lived-in look. Check out Harris's Flickr account to view his pictures of just-dug-up denim. Here are three things to ponder: Why are people born? *Why do they die? and, Why do they spend so much of the intervening time wearing digital watches? 10