March 2016 Gem & Mineral Journal Page 3
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GEM & MINERAL JOURNAL Official Monthly Publication of the Gem & Mineral Society of Lynchburg, VA, Inc MARCH 2016 VOLUME 25~ ISSUE 3 www.lynchburgrockclub.org President’s Message: Hello To All, Cheer up!! Spring is almost here. Dave Callahan has several field trips planned for the next couple of months, so we can get out there and stretch our rock hounding muscles again. The trip to J.M.U. last week was great. Dr. Lance Kearns was a great host once again. Coffee and sweet treats were a welcome sight as well as the trip Thanks to Natalie Darling for her program at the to the Mineral Museum. He had added a nice piece of February meeting it really drew a nice crowd. If any of Topaz from the Moorefield Mine which he placed in the you have an idea for an interesting program please let a Virginia Mineral Cabinet. It is always great to see all the Club Officer know. Remember to bring your favorite other goodies he has procured over the years. We also snack to share at the meeting, it makes for a nice had several minerals identified with the help of the X-ray selection at break time. I hope to see you at the March Defractor machine. It’s always nice to have a printout of 16th meeting. Until then, your minerals. Please remember we will start the Club workshop on Keep Looking Down, the second Saturday of each month as soon as the John Haskins weather breaks. See Dave Callahan for details. Chatoyant Gems - The Cat’s Eye From the First V.P. Phenomenon Have you ever attempted to make a cabochon? It seems What causes the bright line of reflected light easy at first, doesn't it? Then you find that the material that moves under the surface of a chatoyant isn't properly centered or that the bevel could be better, much better in fact. There are more variables to conquer gem? then one might guess in forming a chunk of stone into a pretty piece of jewelry, especially if you are trying to What is Chatoyance? bring out the perfect cat's eye from a promising stone. This month's article brings to light the whole subject of Chatoyance is an optical phenomenon in which a band the cat's eye, what it is, what stones have the potential of reflected light, known as a “cat’s eye,” moves just for the effect, and the beauty of the cabochon beneath the surface of a cabochon-cut gemstone. possessing one. The website is http://geology.com/ Chrysoberyl and tiger’s eye are two of the best-known gemstones/chatoyancy/. Inspired? Well go ahead and gem materials that exhibit this phenomenon. Excellent have a crack at it! specimens of chrysoberyl exhibit the finest chatoyance, and tiger's eye is the chatoyant gem most widely used in Happy Hunting, jewelry. <<<Chrysoberyl is the gem that exhibits the finest "cat's Jack Curtin eye." When the name "cat's eye" is used alone, it is understood that the speaker is referring to a cat's eye chrysoberyl. When the speaker is referring to any other gem with a cat's eye, the name of that gem is used after Article continues on the words "cat's eye." For example: "cat's eye apatite." page 13 This green cat's eye chrysoberyl was produced in Sri Lanka and is about 5.6 x 4 millimeters in size. MARCH 2016 GEM & MINERAL JOURNAL PAGE 2 2016 ELECTED OFFICERS February Mee!ng Minu"s PRESIDENT - John Haskins (434) 525-8430 Meeting: Wednesday, February First VP: Jack Curtin- not present. [email protected] 17,2016 @ 7:00 PM Second V.P. – Dave Callahan: Upcoming field trips: February 27- First Vice President Attendance: 38 members fieldtrip to James Madison University Jack Curtin – see sign up sheet. (434) 384 -6249 Host: Noell Weller was host for March – Fieldtrip to Faber Mine. [email protected] tonight’s meeting, Jean and Frank April – American Rutile. Midkiff will host the March meeting. Second Vice President Treasurer: Frank Midkiff- the current David Callahan On Time Drawing Winners: Bob balance of $6,199.07. (540) 297-1853 McIntire, Jennifer Adams, Grayson [email protected] Adams, Pam Routon, Dave Woolley, Program: Natalie Darling gave a presentation on her trip to Secretary Jesse Dudley, Mary McIntire Noell Linda Noble Cappadocia, Turkey. She also Weller, Joel Follmeyer, Rebecca (434) 332-4869 Couture, Deborah Tyler, Tom Davis, supplied information on a Gallery in [email protected] Siglinde Allbeck , Nick Wilson, Natalie Harrisonburg, VA. Natalie is the Darling, Frank Midkiff, Gabby Routon, Featured Artist at Oasis Gallery for Editor - Natalie Darling Pam Cline, Don McIntyre the month of March, and encourages (434) 941-1899 anyone in or near Harrisonburg to [email protected] 50/50 drawing winner: Rebecca stop by and see what this fabulous gallery has to offer. Oasis Fine Art Treasurer - Frank Midkiff Couture (434) 660-1565 and Craft; 103 South Main St, [email protected] President - John Haskins- Old Harrisonburg, VA. Business: Don McIntyre instated the Minutes submitted by 2016 Officers Members At Large- John Haskins-President Linda Noble, Secretary Bernardino Rivera & Jack Curtin – First Vice President Eric Routon Dave Callahan- Second Vice President Natalie Darling – Editor Hello Spring! Frank Midkiff – Treasurer COMMITTEE Linda Noble - Secretary CHAIR PERSONS: Bernard Rivera and Eric Routon- Members at Large Field Trips– David Callahan Hospitality- Monthly Volunteers New Business:John Mitchell has News Articles– Natalie Darling contacted club to see if we are Silent Auction– Warren Darling interested in purchasing 23,000 Ibs of Swap for Rocks–Warren Darling rock. Thom Noble has emailed him Website– Casper Voogt but received no reply. Workshops– Dave Callahan Phillip Durston brought his collection FRA Adult Liaison- OPEN to sell to club members. Membership- Thom Noble The Gem and Mineral Society of Lynchburg, VA. Inc. www.lynchburgrockclub.org MARCH 2016 GEM & MINERAL JOURNAL PAGE 3 For the February 17, 2016 meeting, Natalie Darling shared her experiences visiting and viewing the Rock formations and underground city of Cappadocia, Turkey. PROGRAMS The program for our March meeting has not yet been determined. Please join us on Wednesday, March 16th at 7:00 PM. BenchTips by Brad Smith "Get all 101 of Brad's bench tips in "Bench Tips for Jewelry Making" & “Broom Casting for Creative Jewelry” on Amazon" IDENTIFYING UNMARKED SOLDERS INEXPENSIVE ELECTRIC WAX PEN There are plenty of ways to mark your sheet or wire You can make your own wax pen from a small soldering solders, but suppose you forgot to mark them and have iron plugged into a light dimmer switch for heat control. a couple that you can't identify. The answer is to Both components are easily found at Radio Shack, a big compare the melting temperature of the unknowns with hardware store or at Harbor Freight. As an example of that of a known solder. What I do is take a thick scrap of the components, see www.harborfreight.com items copper or nickel and arrange several solders on it. #43060 and #47887 Ideally, I would have a sample of easy, medium and hard known solders surrounding the unknown solder. Then I File the tip of the soldering iron into the shape you prefer heat the plate from the bottom and watch the order in or even better get a soldering iron with replaceable tips. which the solders melt. Then you can make several tip shapes for different tasks. Set the dimmer control just hot enough to melt the wax without producing any smoke. A tip design that I find ideal for some work is a length of small gauge wire that lets me reach in around the model to melt some wax. The wire is about 15mm long and 18 or 20 gauge. To conduct heat all the way to the tip, I use Sterling wire and silver solder it into a hole on the end of a copper or brass rod that will fit into the soldering iron. ========================================= The Gem and Mineral Society of Lynchburg, VA. Inc. www.lynchburgrockclub.org MARCH 2016 GEM & MINERAL JOURNAL PAGE 4 Contact Information FIELD TRIP REPORT... for Field Trips David Callahan, Field Trip Chairman Home phone: 540-297-1853 Cell Phone- 540-874-5201 E-mail [email protected] 2nd VP Report for March 2016 was also a very nice selection of minerals and JMU Re-scheduled field trip report. publications to purchase with the proceeds going toward future museum purchases. Dr. Kearns tried something new for our group this year. He had two very large and The weather was cold but clear and sunny for our re- beautiful museum quality specimens that he set out for a scheduled annual visit to the Geology Department and silent auction. The bidding was aggressive and each Mineral Museum at James Madison University in item went for over $150. Harrisonburg on Saturday February 27th. We had a We departed at noon and several of us went rock tremendous group of 50 members about equally divided hunting along the South River. We found some beautiful between the Lynchburg and Roanoke Clubs present. rocks to cut up for club projects. The Lab was full but we visited the museum in smaller This could be the last opportunity for this type of visit groups so people could move around without bumping to JMU. Things are changing in the geology curriculum into the display cases and setting off the alarms. offered there and Dr. Kearns will soon be retiring. Dr. Everyone had a great time and Dr. Kearns identified Kearns has been a gracious host for many years giving many minerals members brought for identification.