New Editor's Corner
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UNITED STATES FACETERS GUILD Newsletter Promoting the art, skill and teaching of faceting • Expanding the knowledge of natural & man-made crystals • Developing & promoting uniform rules for faceting competitions everywhere • Sponsoring or assisting in managed competitions • Serving as a national repository for faceting designs, published materials & information A Quarterly Newsletter Volume 22, Number 2 • June 2012 New Editor’s The Ceramic How We Discerning Book Review: Dues & Corner Lap Modified My Unknown Facet Cutting Newsletter Howard Bromley lays Peter L. Herschman’s OMF Angles Gemstones, A Policy out his plans as the new in-depth article from Charles McCoy writes Howard Bromley Beginner’s Page 33 newsletter editor The North York about how he and continues his pursuit of Guide to Page 1 Faceting Guild Dalan Hargrave faceting accuracy Officers/Board Page 5 modified his concave Page 17 Faceting Reviewed by Paul of Directors/ President’s faceting machine Page 10 Brantner Staff Message Future Page 23 Page 33 L. Bruce Jones Emeralds Faceters announces plans for a Faceting For Found in Needed IFC 2012 Application for new members-only Closed Fun The youngest faceter interactive website Dave Crookston Results Membership Hiddenite ever? Page 25 Page 34 Page 2 reviews Jim Perkins’ Page 19 Mine concave faceting Texas Faceters’ Linda Behr from The discussion at the Gem Designs 2012 USFG Mountain Gem FFF 5.0 Pages 26 – 31 Guild Richland Lithic and Will Smith writes SSC Cutter writes about a great Charles McCoy reviews Lapidary Society about the upcoming Entry Form new find meeting Advertising the TFG’s March Page 9 Franklin Faceters Frolic Page 35 Page 13 Page 32 meeting Page 20 Page 3 New Editor’s Corner 1. I have a wealth of older newsletters By Howard R. Bromley, MD, MBA from some of our global faceting groups, including the Texas This is my first Faceting Group and the North York Others have inquired about my ability article as your new Faceting Group. Keith Wyman to perform as the USFG Newsletter USFG Newsletter provided me with many of these Editor. In response I can write that I editor and I am published newsletters. I plan on was the co-editor of my High School very excited. So, I using an article and at least one yearbook (yes, it was pre-computer thought I would design from one of these era!), and the editor of my Medical take the newsletters every quarter. Please School yearbook for all 4 years of opportunity to start note that many of the older designs medical school. Since then, I have been right here on the first page. are not in Gemcad format. an editor or co-editor of various medical publications. 2. I would like to have a Beginner’s Many of you have emailed me to section every Newsletter. This congratulate me on my new position, My plans for the USFG Newsletter could be written by a number of and I would like to extend my personal include the following: the experienced faceters. “thank you”. June 2012 1 UNITED STATES FACETERS GUILD NEWSLETTER 3. I would like a Master’s section many more cutters, both amateur and every Newsletter. Of course, these professional, foreign and domestic, and articles would be authored by President’s there are more consumers world-wide Masters and Grand Masters. as well. 4. I would like a Question & Answer section. Members could email me with questions, and I would elicit Message I'm mindful of the fact that the more we responses for the next newsletter. USFG members share information and 5. I would like to reprint some pool resources, the stronger we become important issues from the USFG list, hosted by Jeff Ford. By L. as a group and the more 6. Charlie Moon has agreed to assist Bruce knowledgeable and successful we me by heading up the Advertising become as individual artists. To that Section. We both agreed to return end I am engaged in the initial to a previous layout for the ads. Jones planning for a powerful new Any USFG member is allowed to advertise free of charge, as long as Summer is interactive Web Site, available to USFG it deals with faceting. More about just about members only. I hope to have an this later, but for now, I will use the upon us and overview document available in the previous newsletter’s longer days next USFG newsletter for comment. In advertisements. and warmer temperatures beckon us to the interim, if any of you find this topic 7. My wife, Victoria Houseman spend more time outdoors. I suppose of interest I invite you to contact me (www.VictoriaHouseman.com), a published author and editor, has some faceters have vacation time in the at [email protected] agreed to assist me by performing summer that they use to pursue our final editing for this publication. hobby, while others are relieved by the Until then, Happy Cutting! 8. Last, the USFG has newsletter end of Winter and the ability to get reciprocity exchange with other outside. There is also the opportunity guilds world-wide. I plan on to do a little gem mining. It might be reprinting interesting material from other guilds’ newsletters. sunstone in Oregon, garnets in Idaho, tourmaline in Maine or sapphire in If any readers have additional interests Montana, but if you have not tried your or requests, please email me at hand at collecting your own gem [email protected]. I would like to material, it could be something to have as much reader input as possible. consider. You are the USFG, and you have all the experience. Much more than me, indeed! This year at Tucson I experienced a bit of sticker shock at the prices of rough. I In closing, I hope that the world doesn’t come to an end in December 2012, as I reminisced back to my first experience want to publish more than 2 in Tucson in the mid 70s and thought Newsletters! I’m not through cutting about the prices I used to pay back URGENTLY NEEDED! stones yet, either. So, hopefully, the then. I pulled out a copy of John Articles, diagrams, photos… basically masters of the calendar will extend us Sinkankas' Van Nostrand Standard for another century. anything that can be placed into this Catalogue of Gems and noted the list of publication. Please email them to: Keep reading - it’s fun and a part of prices of various sizes of colored stone [email protected] o r your membership. And keep those rough. It's pretty sobering stuff to note [email protected] articles coming! I need all I can get. the increases. Of course, demand is much higher these days. There are June 2012 2 UNITED STATES FACETERS GUILD NEWSLETTER Texas Faceters’ Guild By Charles McCoy President Texas Faceters’ Guild, Registered Gemologist (ISG) faceters in the evening. The Texas State Gem is topaz and the only county in Texas that has topaz is Diane Eames owner of Gems of the Hill Mason County. On the fourth Saturday Country allows other members to in March, Mason Texas has a festival display and maybe sell their gems in called Texas Topaz Day. Last year the her store (what a lady). At 10 AM the Texas Faceters’ Guild voted to sponsor topaz guided hunt started, 98 rock Texas Topaz Day and the next day hold hounds went on the hunt and 4 or 5 its seminar on the following Sunday in pieces of topaz were found. I didn’t get Mason. much of a chance to partake of the activities during the day because I was I live in Georgetown, Texas about 100 at Gems of the Hill Country trying to miles east of Mason and the weekend sell a few gems to offset the cost of my of March 24 & 25, 2012 was the peak of Above is a picture of the meeting area; hobby. I did sell five. wild flower season in central Texas. For this is one big room. Sunday started those not familiar with the area with a breakfast casserole made by Here is what Will Smith of Tennessee Georgetown is on the eastern edge of Diane. After breakfast at 9 AM a short wrote about Mason, Texas. the hill country and Mason is in the hill business meeting was held. Our constitution states we are to elect country. On Saturday morning I left for “Mason was a beautiful little town. Many officers in October, but since we didn’t Mason and along TX29 there were dealers around the square were selling have an election last October, no patches of wild flowers, but when I got rough and lapidary products. Inside the officers were elected. Tom Nuchols west of Llano both sides of the road Gems of the Hill Country you were given a motioned we suspend the by-laws looked like they had been carpeted warm welcome by the owner Diane Eames, temporarily to allow for the election of with wild flowers. the president of TFG, along with so many officers; Ewing Evans seconded. other faceters and dealers. Many beautiful Motion passed. cut stones (with Texas Lone Stars cut in them) were available for sale, along with a Slate of officers: Charles McCoy: lot of Topaz from the area and other types of President; Dalan Hargrave: Vice rough. Charles Covill was there and had to President; Hollis Thompson: Secretary- tell us about his new design CD for those Treasurer. A motion was made and “Crazy” Faceters, who have so much free seconded, then passed to elect this time, they want to cut designs with 200- slate.