THE INFORMER. August 2010 Meeting. From the Front Desk President Betty Scarborough. information or requests to:

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1 PAGE 1 THE INFORMER information or requests to: Ctgms50@gmail.com PRESIDENT S RE- PORT FIELD TRIP RE- PORT PROGRAM 1, 2 2 From the Front Desk President Betty Scarborough ROCK DONATION ELEMINATING FLAT SPOTS MINUTES SHOP REPORT EDITOR NOTES B - DAY & ANNIVERSARIES SHOWS AND EVENTS OFFICERS, AND CHAIRPERSONS August 2010 Meeting Well yet another month has passed. It really is going too fast. School has already started and the winter is fast approaching. Which means it will soon be Halloween and then Thanksgiving is just behind that I am not sure about any of you but I have yet to start thinking about Christmas which is soooo fast approaching. I guess when you have grandkids to shop for you always need to start early. But that would mean being prepared and what fun is that when you can always have the last minute rush. This time of year the meetings are really little so that leaves a lot more time to socialize and visit and especially eat all the goodies our members so graciously bring each month. It is surprising how much you can find out with a little visiting each meeting. Eleminating flat spots on your cabachons Page 2 It is really sad to learn a few of our members are having a tough go right now. We all hope and pray they will recover soon and be back to their old selves soon since all of them are really missed some are readily apparent they are absent since they are fixtures and always in the think of discussions of any topic. The next few months will be trying for me to try to be on time Maria is starting Driver s Ed so be forewarned to watch yourselves on the road If Walt is not in town I will have to have her at the class by 6 and pick her up around 8 so it will be cutting it close for me on meeting nights the rest is just visiting (for me as you all know I don t do The Machines )

2 PAGE 2 Hopefully this will find everyone doing well Our meeting will be the second Monday in September since the first Monday is Labor Day Weekend- Hope everyone has a safe and fun time. Till next month- Betty Rock Donation Richard McKissick donated his collection of rough minerals and rocks to the club. He sold his acreage and had to remove his collection. His son loaded it for him. He called and asked if we would have someone available to unload his pickup. His 1/2 ton pickup had a full load! All the material was in numbered boxes for identification. The only problem is the same one I have.he couldn t find the list. He ll keep working on locating it. As we go through the collection, we will probably sell some of it through silent auctions at the Club and take some of it to the show next year. Be sure to give Richard a big thank you when you see him. By: Gary Hudson ALASKA FIELDTRIP We are in for a treat! Joe and Bobbie Turnbow will be presenting a program on their rock hunting fieldtrip this past summer in Alaska. Mark this date on your calendar.monday, October 11, at 7:00 pm at the Clubhouse. That is the week after the business meeting. Eliminating Flats by Ted Robles A while back, someone was saying that he was having problems with getting flats on his cabs; that there was insufficient give in his wheels and it didn t seem to make any difference no matter how much pressure he applied. That was his first mistake. Diamond and Carborundum are two different animals. Relatively speaking, about the same difference as between quartz and chalk. If you Lean Into a diamond wheel, you will get lousy results (flats, etc.) on your stone, and your wheels will wear out long before their time (I just replaced the first two wheels on my wife s Pixie and she s been Using it for seven years). On diamond, you try to do your cutting (and everything else) by almost not touching the wheel. You use essentially no force. Don t grind the stone let the diamond wear it away, but keep spinning it. The technique is simply to use the whole face of the wheel, and keep your cab moving. Any time you stop, you just bought a flat! Can t help it! It s the same principle as sharpening a knife on an emery wheel. If you don t want notches in your blade, you keep it moving. You do almost ALL of your cutting on the coarsest wheel you have. If you leave ANY flats on the preform, you re going to have them on the final piece can t help it. And, finally, practice practice - practice. Use some agate that you don t care too much about, and go through the procedures until out of ten agate cabs, you get ten you like. Then go to Quartz crystal, and do the same thing. Once you can cut and polish Quartz Crystal, you re proficient enough to go on; but do not expect to walk up to a nice new machine and start turning out flawless work the first thing. Machines, like people, take some acquaintanceship before you really know what you can get out of them. Lapidary Digest 3/98, via Stony Statements 8/10, Via Fredericksburg Rockhounds newsletter 9/2010 I will be sending a reminder the week before. Gary <<< Preview of coming attractions It sounds like they had some fun and excitement! BAD CROSSING

3 Minutes of CTGMS meeting held Monday, August 2, 2010 The meeting was called to order. Approximately 21 members were in attendance. After the pledge of allegiance, and the prayer, the secretary read the minutes of the July 5, 2010, meeting. The treasurer presented the financial report. Both were accepted as presented. Old Business: Gary brought some of the pieces he finished in the second wire-wrapping class and since. Joyce Talley reported that she had sent a card to both Charles and Illa Roberts. Both were reported to be in bad shape. Charles had surgery. New Business: Betty Scarborough, President, pointed out new catalogues and the South Central Federation newsletter on the table. A member wanted to purchase old grinding wheels taken off of old equipment. Jim Owen presented a motion to allow him to do so. The motion was seconded by Gary Hudson. The motion was approved to sell the grinding wheels for $ PAGE 3 New members introduced were Frank and Janice Griffin from Brownwood. A new Silversmithing 2 class is to start. Jim Owen asked for class members to get together after the meeting. Joan Wilks, Scholarship Committee Chairwoman, said that she will start sending out information about the scholarship sometime during September or October. Someone has volunteered to help her. If anyone else is interested, they could use the help. Tim Walker, Shop Foreman, said that one of the machines is not working. Parts have been ordered. The corner machine is also in need of a part. Charlie Lightfoot, Maintenance/Building Chairman, said that he will bring what is needed to kill the grass next to the building. The Club can pay for what is needed. Allen will be going in for a quadruple bypass on August 6, at Hendricks. Joyce said to let her know if there are any other illnesses, and she will send cards. Refreshments for next month s meeting will be provided by Linda Hollowell, Jim Owens, and Ricky Alaniz. The meeting was adjourned. Secretary, Grace Hoy The Shop Report Foreman - Tim Walker As always, what ever you work on at the shop, clean up after yourself. Don t leave it for the next person. Report anything you think needs repairs. We don t want anyone getting hurt. We now have the part to repair the cabbing machine. We need a new bearing for the blue cabbing machine. We ll try to put some slingers on to keep the water and grit out of them. Members need to stay in tune with the shop rules. Some drinks are being left behind along with other items. They re not supposed to be back there. We will have a work day soon to install the lights and wiring in the storage container. We also need to assemble the shelves that were donated and get some of the stuff off the floor.

4 PAGE 4 Editor s Notes: If you have a story or a news item please it to me at ctgms50@clearwire.net Send it in or as a Microsoft Word document attachment. Remember to get it to me by the 20th of the month. Many thanks to Bob and Helen Patterson for having the newsletter printed each month. I finally got around to ordering supplies we needed. The 8 expanding drum and 600 grit belts. We also received some 400 and 600 aluminum oxide polishing grit for our tumblers. The weather is beginning to cool off. Thank goodness for that! It s been so hot, no one could do much rock hunting. Well, almost. I went to the Ranch southwest of Dryden over the holiday. We worked on the Toyota ranch truck. Next we repaired a water line and got all the feeders running. Now was the time to play. My grandson and granddaughter went with me to do some dove hunting. There were very few birds flying which made that boring to her. We bagged quite a few fossils and had a good time together. BIRTHDAYS Steven Smith September 2 Billy Rule September 6 Michael Walker September 9 John Sparks September 12 Tony Steele September 16 Frances Tunnell September 18 Charles Lightfoot September 26 ANNIVERSARIES Gary & Elaine Hudson September 25 GET WELL SOON! Some of the sage was in bloom. I dug a couple up and brought home. We ll see if they live or not. Bill Patrick-on-going battle. Back home Allen McDaniel-out of hospital and in Mesa Springs Richard McKissick-out of hospital and back home

5 PAGE 5 Upcoming Shows SEP ENID, OKLAHOMA: Show; Enid Gem & Mineral Society; Oak Wood Mall, 4125 Owen K. Garriot (Hwy. 412); Fri. 10-6, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 12-5; contact Billy E. Wood, (580) Sep 25-26: LLANO, TX: GOLD & GEM RENDEZVOUS; sixth Annual Great State of Texas Gold Panning Championship; metal detecting; flint knapping; rockhound field trip. At Badu Park on the Northwest side of the Llano River Bridge. Free to visitors; dealer spaces available for $25. For dealer application form, schedule of events, and other info, call Frank Rowell at or visit website enchantedrocksandjewelry.com/rendezvous.html (there s a link to it on the Fredericksburg Rockhounds website s Field Trips/Events page). Sep DENISON TX: Texoma Rockhounds; Denison Senior Center* Oct 9-10 TEMPLE, TX: G&M show and faceting seminar; Tri-City G&MS and Texas Faceters Guild; Mayborn Civic & Convention Center, 3303 N. Third St. Gem & mineral show is free, and features faceted stones, minerals, fossils and artifacts. Faceting seminar fees are $75 for non-members, $40 for those who join the Guild at the seminar; free to Guild members: includes two days of hands-on instructions: bring your faceting machine, camera, and computer. For more G&M show info call ; for more faceting seminar info contact B. Diane Eames, GG, , gemologist@texas-topaz.com Oct 9th & 10th, 2010, 10am - 5pm, Ft Worth, TX We invite you to join us on the Trinity River scenic banks for this event. LMRA Annual Rockfest,, 3400 Bryant Irvin Rd Ft Worth, TX This is a Lapidary & Jewelry Show which appears will be a treat to take in. LMRA Annual Rockfest (Flint, Rock- Gem-Mineral-Jewelry Sale) being held along with LMRA annual Model Railroader s Show & Pottery in the Park Show & Sale. e- mail: steve.l.shearin@lmco.com NEWS LETTERS FROM OTHER CLUBS ON THEIR WEBSITE FREDRICKSBURG,TX ARLINGTON, TX DALLAS, TX MIDLAND, TX OUR WEB SITE SPONSOR

6 PAGE 6 PO Box 7343 Abilene, TX Editor: Gary Hudson ctgms50@yahoo.com We are on the web: OFFICERS 2010 President Betty Scarborough Past President. Bob Patterson Vice President. Linda Hollowell Secretary Grace Hoy Treasurer. Errol Rutledge Corresp Sec Joyce Talley Committees/Chairpersons Show. Sallie Lightfoot Field Trips Tony & Judy Steele Classes. Charlie Lightfoot Nominating.. James Grant Programs.. Shop Tim Walker Club House and Grounds Charlie Lightfoot Dealers for show. Tony & Judy Steele Budget.. Errol Rutledge Scholarship.. JoAn Wilks Show Demonstrations. Jerry Davis Silversmithing Classes Jerry Davis News letter Editor Gary Hudson Web Master.. Jerry Davis Gemstone of the Month SAPPHIRE Sapphire, the September birthstone, has been popular since the Middle Ages and, according to folklore, will protect your loved ones from envy and harm. Medieval clergy wore sapphires to symbolize heaven, while commoners thought the gem attracted heavenly blessings. Blue sapphires range from very light to very dark greenish or violetish blue, as well as various shades of pure blue. The most prized colors are a medium to medium dark blue or slightly violetish blue. Sapphire is a variety of the gem species corundum and occurs in all colors of the rainbow. Pink, purple, green, orange, or yellow corundum are known by their color (pink sapphire, green sapphire). Ruby is the red variety of corundum. Uncut yellow sapphire and Star sapphire SEPTEMBER FLOWER ASTRE MISSION STATEMENT The Central Texas Gem and Mineral Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study of rocks, minerals and fossils. We offer field trips and provide educational opportunities and instruction to members in a variety of areas related to the Lapidary Arts and Jewelry making. We also award a scholarship to a student enrolled at a local college in a field closely related to geology. We provide educational displays related to this hobby at shows of a similar interest. - Jerry