December 09, January 10 Issue How Safe are Your Work Practices? 1

No Stone Unturned

Club Rooms: Youth Centre Grounds,

129 Mulgrave Rd. Cairns, Queens-

land. PO Box 389, Westcourt

Queensland 4870

Opening Times:

Monday: 7:00pm-9:30pm Wednes-

day: 8:30-4:00pm (7:00pm-9:30pm

tuition) Saturday: 10:ooam-4:00pm

Editor & Publisher:

Jeanne Mora

Phone:

07 4033 0028

News and views of the

Cairns Mineral & Lapidary

Club Inc

Wishing Everyone

A Safe and Happy

Festive Season

2009

December 09, January 10 Issue How Safe are Your Work Practices? 2

OFFICE BEARERS

CLUB PATRON HON. DESLEY BOYLE MP

President Bill Reece Ph 4054 2498

Vice President Allan Rose Ph 4039 3880

Secretary Jeanne Mora Ph 4033 0028

Treasurer Anne Barham

Assistant Secretary David Croft

Assistant Treasurer Jan Saal

OTHER PERSONNEL

Purchasers Betty Reece, Bill Hall, Spec-imen Curators David Croft, Laurel Voigt

Cabochon Instructors Kevin Voigt, Chrissy Wilson

Silver Instructors Bill Hall, Sylvia Rose, Jenni Hedges,

Jan Saal, .

Faceting Advisor Jim Lidstone, Joe Ferk,

Trevor Hannam, Noel Hedges

Carving Advisors Jean Morrow

Machinery Curators David Croft, Jim Lidstone

Specimen Testers David Croft, Trevor Hannam

QLACCA Delegate Bill Reece

Youth Centre Delegate Bill Reece

Librarians Betty Reece, Jean Morrow

Events Coordinators Noel Hedges, Allan Rose

Honorary Auditor Vic Cummings

The positions of Field Officers and carving advisors are yet to be filled

Please give these people all the help you can!

MEETINGS

General Meetings are held at 1:00pm on the first Saturday of each month. (unless otherwise advised) Management Committee Meet-ings held at 10:30am last Saturday of the month (unless advised otherwise)

CLUB HOURS

Monday Nights: 7:00pm to 9:30pm

Wednesday; 8:30am to 4:00pm

Wednesday Night: 7:00pm to 9:30pm (Classes)

Saturday: 10:00 am to 4:00 pm

Club closed on long weekends and public holidays.

MEMBERSHIP FEES (due January 1st)

Family: New $60:00 / year

Family: Renewal $40:00 / year

Adult Member: New $30:00 / year

Adult Member: Renewal $20:00 / year

Junior Member: New $ 20:00 / year

Junior Member Renewal $15:00 / year

(Members are those over 12 years of age. Children under the age of 12 are

welcome on field trips and in the main Clubroom under their parents’ supervi-

sion. (They must not enter the workrooms.)

INSTRUCTION CLASS COSTS

Dates will be advertised on notice board..

Cabbing $30:00 (includes material)

Jewellery $85:00 (includes material)

Faceting $72:00 (includes material)

Carving $8:00 (includes materials)

Casting $5:00 firing/flask (materials extra)

(You must purchase all materials for casting. Please see Bill Hall to order

commercial waxes, which take up to three weeks to arrive. We sell carv-

ing wax, for those who’d like to make their own was mould. Investment

powder, wax & silver are all available for purchase at the counter.)

WORKROOM FEES (payable at counter before sessions)

Monday Night : $4:00

Wednesday: Full day: $8:00

Half Day: $4:00

Saturday : Full day: $6:00

Half Day: $4:00 (Meeting Satur-

days, no work is to be done while meeting is in progress)

CUTTING FEES

30c / inch² (members)

50c / inch² (non-members)

December Birthdays

Jennifer Reilly, Victor Lahtinen, Steve Williams,

George Donnelly

January Birthdays

Robyn Ridley, Jackie Kvello, Dexter Schutz, Val

Evans, Leanne Peard, Janine Paterson, Jock Mc Donald,

Sid Faithfull, Richard Barham, Laurel Voigt, Jo-

anne McCullock, Robert Guiliany, Ryan Fraser, Ben

Williamson, Andrew Meiliunas, Kate Prynne, Ethel

Mackie, Chrissy Wilson

We wish you all a Happy Birthday .

The Editor wishes to advise that articles or advertisements for inclusion in “No Stone Unturned” should be handed to the editor or emailed. All articles must be signed and will be pub-lished at the Editor’s discretion. The Editor reserves the right to emend all copy used. Contributions should be submitted 2 weeks before the monthly meeting.

Opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the Club or the Editor. The Publisher is not responsible for any

consequence of inaccuracy or omission. The Publisher excludes all warranties able by law to be excluded.

Well I didn’t Know That!

One of the most fascinating things about lapidary, is that you can

always learn something new about the hobby. Almost every time I

talk to a member, I pick up a snippet of information that I’ve never

heard before (or heard and forgotten). I’ll bet you have too! Lets start

passing these tips on to all members. Please let me know of any you

hear for future publications. Editor

December 09, January 10 Issue How Safe are Your Work Practices? 3

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Hi,

Well Christmas is here again. They come

around quickly these days. I hope everybody

has achieved his goals for 2009 and I wish you

the best of luck for 2010.

The club has gained some great improvements

in the past year, thanks to some big efforts by a

variety of members. I will not name them for

fear I may miss someone.

In the new year we will attempt to wipe out

some of our niggling problems such the cab

room and missing items so watch the notice

boards and newsletter for new procedures.

To those who are travelling, have happy an

safe journeys and to all members have a Hap-

py Christmas and a great New Year

Bill

Vice President, Allan Rose has graciously accepted an invitation to be a guest columnist for “No Stone Unturned”. This is his first column.

FOUR YEARS IN A FAMILIAR PLACE

We had recently moved down from behind Ku-randa where we had built our “dream house”. Illness and a string of circumstances somewhat put an end to that dream. Sylvia had accumu-lated expansive skills at jewellery making and lapidary and had just given up her fully equipped workroom for the first time in twenty years.

We were driving along Mulgrave Road, still feeling our way around Cairns. We had on the odd occasion spoken about joining a club…if there was one here. Into our focus came the billboard in the middle of the road…..”GEMFEST THIS WEEKEND” Good old serendipidy was again playing its part in our life drama.

“Lets go!” Putting aside any other plans we might have had we immediately pulled over and drove into the Youth Centre grounds. There it was all so familiar.

Sylvia had been a member of a Sydney lapidary club for ages and had taught silver-smithing and jewellery making . We’d had fossicking holidays and trips and were involved, although I had been only a social member because of work pressures. It all seemed so very similar. We were home again.

Allan Rose Vice President.

PRIZE WINNER TICKET

Set of Bath Towels Jennifer Jeanneret 5987

Gold Ring Carol Douglas 6126

Jewellery Box Bill Reece 6094

Faceted Smoky Quartz Leanne Rahle 5845

Choker Necklace Jeanne Mora 6099

Flower Pendant & Chain P Hamilton 5944

Christmas Raffle Winners

December 09, January 10 Issue How Safe are Your Work Practices? 4

Happenings from

around the Club

MEMBERSHIP FEES DUE.

Membership fee for 2010 are due by the January 1st.

Due to ever increasing costs, the general meeting has

voted to raise membership fees. Fees are still reasona-

ble. The new fees will be as follows:-

New Membership Adult: $30 / person / year

New Membership Junior : $20 / person / year

(over 12 years old)

Renewed Membership Adult: $20 / person / year

Renewed Membership Junior: $15 / person / year

People joining between July 1st and Jan 1

st (following

year) will pay 50% of the fees.

CHRISTMAS BREAK

The club will be closed from closing time Saturday,

December 19th, 2009 until Monday, January 11th,

2010. Please mark this on your calendar.

RECENT WORK-SHOPS AT THE CLUB

Club members recently had the opportunity to attend

two workshops, a gem-tree making workshop and a

gem identification workshop. Pictured right are some

members at work. Many thanks to Val and Victor

(instructors).

INTERESTING BOTTLE

Life member, Keith Hill, brought in an old bottle with a

very unusual screw top made of glass. The inscription

embossed on the side reads: “Walker & Hall Trade,

Instantaneous Plate Cleaner. Mark. Sheffield.”

Pictured left is the bottle with a close up of the glass

screw top. Some of our older members will remember

the old Holbrook’s Sauce

bottles with a smooth

glass stopper. No-one at

the club has ever seen a

screw-in glass stopper

before.

Right:

Victor adjusts an

instrument ready

to explain its use

to the group. As

he said, the

identification of

gems is an

exacting and time

consuming craft

which needs

plenty of practice.

Left:

Les Kenny at

work with the

microscope

which is one of

the most useful

tools for gem

identification.

Further work-

shops will be

held next year.

CHRISTMAS PARTY

The annual Christmas party was as good as ever with over

30 members attending. Members produced many excellent

salads, side dishes and deserts. Many thanks to Betty

Reece and her band of helpers, who organized the lunch. It

was excellent!

THANKS

Thanks to the members, Allan Rose, Bill Hall and Jeanne

Mora who brought in sale items with the proceeds to go to

the club. This seems to have been a good idea. There was

no cost to the club and no work involved (to speak of).

GEM IDENTIFICATION

In the new year, Victor will be available to identify gem-

stones for both members and visitors. For this service there

will be a fee of $10, which will be paid to the club. Thanks

Victor.

.MAGAZINE

“No Stone Unturned” will not be printed in January. The

next edition will be available in February.

December 09, January 10 Issue How Safe are Your Work Practices? 5

Last month I did the Refractometer for you, but it was hard to read in black and white (sorry about that) but this month I bring you the:

SPECIFIC GRAVITY (Hanneman Balance and Other)

Another of the most important instruments to help in identifying gemstones is the Specific Gravity Balance.

This instrument though easy to use, does require a bit of time to set up and use.

Testing a gem stone to show specific gravity is one of the diagnostic tools in identifying it. Though time consuming it will help separate two almost identical minerals.

The formula for specific gravity is quite simple.

(X) is the dry weight of the gem stone and (Y) is the weight of the gemstone weighed in demineralised water.

For example; a piece of gemstone weighs 10 grams (10 units) which we will call (X). This gem stone is then weighed in water suspended by a small wire hanger. This weight comes to 7.16 (7.16 units) which we will call (Y). By using the above formula we can work out the specific gravity of this mineral.

(X) = 10 Therefore the Specific Gravity =3.521

(X - Y) 10 - 7.16

This specific gravity rules out quartz (2.65), but puts it in the range of topaz 3.50 to 3.60.

The figure below shows a sketch of a balance used for measuring specific gravity. This balance was made by me using a steel rule marked in millimetres. Each millimetre represents 1 unit of weight.

Cradle Hanger

Fulcrum - Pivot Point

Balance Weight

Demineralised Water

Gem Stone Cut/Rough

Slider with Sight Wire

Guide Limit

Zero Scale Needle

Cup for Holding Water

Screw for Height & Scale Adjusting

Base Stand of Wood

SMALL BUBBLES AND INCLUSIONS IN THE GEM STONE MAY EFFECT OR ALTER READING

December 09, January 10 Issue How Safe are Your Work Practices? 6

Setting Up The Balance

Assemble the balance as per the picture above, just make sure that the beam support rod is firmly pushed down into the hole and the grove is facing you with the front section facing to the left.

Be careful when placing the graduated beam onto the grove of the beam support rod as it is a very fine nylon line. If it breaks you will need to make another from the cord that is supplied with the balance.

Fill the container with around 100 mls of water and hang the upper and lower pan assembly onto the beam balance as shown above (add one drop of detergent to the water). Make sure the lower pan is dangling underneath the water and is free from bubbles.

Attach the beam level weight onto the left hand side of the beam - slide the weight until the beam is level.

Adjust the pointer line up or down using the screw on the top until it is level with the point of the graduated beam.

The Hanneman Balance is now ready for use.

• Using tweezers, place your gemstone onto the upper pan as shown on the photo at right.

• Add counterweights to the right hand side of the graduated beam into the grove as shown on the photo to the lower left.

• Start with the large counterweight holder (5 to 150 ct weight) and keep hanging hooked weights to the counterweight holder until you get quite close to the zero line. Use the salt supplied or fine sand to add to the tiny bucket to get the graduated beam pointer to be level with the zero line, as per photo below left.

• Once the pointer comes back to the zero line, lift the gemstone from the upper pan and carefully place into the lower pan. Ensure that the gemstone is fully covered with water and that no air bubbles are apparent on the surface of the stone.

• Carefully slide the counterweight holder with all its hanging hooks etc towards the left hand side until balance once again comes to rest at the zero point.

• Now read the specific gravity directly off the scale as per the photo on the right.

You can see from the photo on the right, that the reading is

3.51 to 3.52 - this rules out Quartz which is 2.65, but puts it

in the range of topaz 3.50 to 3.60.

So until next month - Catch you later. Big Trev F.G.A.

USING A HANNEMAN BALANCE

Nylon Thread

Grove Grove Grove

Beam Level

Container

with water

Upper pan

Beam Support

Base Support

Graduated Beam

Beam Pointer

Adjusting Screw

Level Support

Pan used for fine sand or salt

to bring balance back to level

Hooked weights

December 09, January 10 Issue How Safe are Your Work Practices? 7

AROUND THE CAMPFIRE Quoted from the Australian Shooter

Magazine:

“If you consider that there has been

an average of 160,000 troops in the Iraq theatre of

operations during the past 22 months, and a total of

2112 deaths, that gives a firearm death rate of 60 per

100,000 soldiers.

The firearm death rate in Washington, DC is 80.6% for

the same period. That means you are about 25% more

likely to be shot & killed in the US capital, which has

some of the strictest gun control laws in the US, than you

are in Iraq.

Conclusion: The US should pull out of Washington.”

(Don’t you love that Aussie logic?”)

Three men were out hiking when they came across a

violent, raging river. Needing to get to the other side, the

first man prayed.

“Oh Lord, give me the strength to cross this river.”

Poof! God gave him strong legs for swimming and he

dived into the swirling water. After battling the currents

for hours he finally struggled, exhausted to the opposite

bank.

The second man, seeing how hard the swim was,

prayed. “Oh Lord, give me the strength and tools to cross

this river!”

Poof! God gave him a canoe and strong arms and after a

huge effort, he too ended up on the far side of the river,

where he collapsed on the bank, gasping for breath.

The third man, after witnessing this, decided he too

needed divine intervention, so he prayed,

“Oh Lord, please give me the strength and intelligence to

cross this river.”

Poof! God turned him into a woman. She consulted the

map in her back-back, hiked the 100 yards downstream

to the bridge where she crossed to the other side.

The following gives us something to think about with all our new electronic technology. GPS

A couple of weeks ago a friend told me that someone she knew had their car broken into while they were at a football game. Their car was parked on the green which was adjacent to the football stadium and specially allot-ted to football fans. Things stolen from the car included a garage door remote control, some money and a GPS which had been prominently mounted on the dash-board. When the victims got home, they found that their house had been ransacked and just about everything worth anything had been stolen.. The thieves had used the GPS to guide them to the house. They then used the garage remote control to open the garage door and gain entry to the house. The thieves knew the owners were at the football game, they knew what time the game was scheduled to finish and so they knew how much time they had to clean out the house. It would appear that they had brought a truck to empty the house of its contents. Something to consider if you have a GPS - don't put your home address in it. Put a nearby address (like a store or gas station) so you can still find your way home if you need to, but no one else would know where you live if your GPS were stolen. Mobiles I never thought of this.......

This lady has now changed the way she lists her names on her mobile phone after her handbag was stolen. Her handbag, which contained her cell phone, credit card, wallet, etc...was stolen. 20 minutes later when she called her hubby, from a pay phone telling him what had happened, hubby says 'I just received your text asking about our Pin number and I replied a little while ago.' * When they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the money was already withdrawn. The thief had actually used the stolen cell phone to text 'hubby' in the contact list and got hold of the pin number. Within 20 minutes he had withdrawn all the money from their bank account. Moral of the lesson: Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in your contact list. Avoid using names like Home, Honey, Hubby, Sweetheart, Dad, Mom, etc.... And very importantly, when sensitive info is being asked through texts, CONFIRM by calling back. Also, when you're being texted by friends or family to meet them somewhere, be sure to call back to confirm that the message came from them. If you don't reach them, be very careful about going places to meet 'family and friends' who text you. As of now, I no longer have 'home' listed on my cell phone. * One has to wonder why the wife didn’t know her own pin number. Seriously though, be aware that any information getting into the wrong hands may assist with the theft of your identity, a growing concern in this electronic age. - Ed

December 09, January 10 Issue How Safe are Your Work Practices? 8

CAIRNS MINERAL & LAPIDARY CLUB INC.

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Unturned”

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Please complete the form below and submit it to the Treasurer with your membership fees for 2010