Author: Alan Molineux

The bulletin
Newsletter of victor valley
Gem and mineral club
July 2007

Learning how it’s done

I was at the shop on Wednesday, June 13th. A few regulars were there— Lloyd Guilliam, Bob Menelly, Jim Fosse and Kate Waterman. I was taking photos of members working around the shop for the July issue of the Bulletin. Kathleen Holbrook came in the shop and was showing me some of her work. Bob Menelly set up the “All You Need” and helped Kathleen work on one of her cabs. He worked with her patiently through each step and answered all of her questions. We all learned a lot. Thank you Bob!

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Your officers for 2007
2007 Executive Committee
President……………………..Tom Laszlo……………………...247-5369
1st V.P (Membership)..Jim Fosse………………………..245-8644
2nd V.P (Education)…….Mary Lou Flecher………...949-9347
Recording Secretary….Patti Deer……………………...553-6550
Treasurer…………………….Janet Flecher………………..949-9347
Board Members
Cyndy Mandell………………...244-7169
Chuck Forsyth…….1-503-851-9050
Joe Kosik………………………...241-0894
Virgil Melton……………………948-2849
Past President……………..Nick Beall…………………..……246-7117
CFMS Representative..Bob Harper……………………..947-6383
Standing Committee Chairmen
Wagon Master…………..Janet Flecher…………………..949-9347
Historian…………………….Elizabeth Clark…...…………..241-9786
Maintenance……………...Chuck Forsyth………1-503-851-9050
Librarian…………………….Ralph Powers…………………….951-2937
Newsletter…………...….Alan Molineux…….……………..951-7064
Sunshine Lady………….Carol Laszlo……………………….247-5369
Displays………….………….Kate Waterman………………..946-5881
Raffles……………………...Charles Toles…...……………...242-9240
Scholarships…………….Andrew Turner….……………..962-0095
Legislative Rep………..(Vacant)
Photography…………...Bob Harper………………………...947-6383
Hospitality………………(Vacant)
Parliamentarian……..Dennis Harbison………………….247-5559
Gem Show & Tailgate
Co-ordinator…………..JoAnn Beall………………………….246-7117
Instructors
Nick Beall, Janet Flecher, Jim Fosse, Gil Gilbert, Dennis Harbison, Tom Laszlo, Virgil Melton, Oscar Delgado, Joe Kosik, and Kate Waterman
Club Website—fosse.schema-root.org/vvgmc/

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The victor valley gem and mineral Club
was organized in 1947 and has been the focal point of High Desert rock hounds for the past 60 years. The club takes active roles in various civic activities. Membership is open to all persons interested in the gem and mineral hobby and lapidary arts. Meetings are held at the clubhouse located at 15056-B, 7th Street (behind Kaman Bearing) in the center of Victorville.
Visitors are always welcome.
For further information, call (760) 243-2330.
Meeting dates
The June general meeting was held on Tuesday, 26th at 7:00p.m. and the July meeting will be held on Tuesday the 24th.
Tools available for check out
The Foredom Flex Shaft is similar to a Dremel high speed grinding and polishing tool. You must be certified to use this and it is available to be checked out from the instructor on duty. It must be returned when you are finished with it,
The Gripper is used for gripping odd shaped rocks and also for the ease in gripping Geodes. This clamp can be checked out from the instructor on duty. You must be certified to use it and it must be returned clean and in good shape.
Our club is indeed forturnate to have had a number of dedicated volunteers working on our shop equipment. Their expertise and labor has saved the club thousands of dollars over the years. Chuck Forsyth and Charles Toles currently maintain our equipment with the help of other members. On behalf of the membership, thank you…..Ed

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Let's Work Some Soapstone By Pat Warner Rockhound Rambling March 2003
California soapstone is 90 million years old and was formed from layers of sediment which were surrounded and fused by magma. The layers are still present like the layers in wood. Characteristics Watch for the bedding or grain of your stone - too much hammering or chiseling will break the stone along this grain. Avoid these stress lines when designing your sculptures. Thin fish, hands, fingers, even noses on some sculptures require delicacy in hammering and chiseling. Soapstone is temperamental about the directions you rasp it. On one of my pieces, I could file it in only one direction. I also found this true when I sanded it. Often the stone will almost explode, suddenly breaking off in small flakes, leaving small craters. Changing directions often solves this problem. First Steps Since most of the carvings done in our workshop have been small enough to carry back and forth with ease, very little chiseling has been done. The heavy cutting has been confined to blocking out small carvings. Very little sawing has been done; however, several of our carvers have found it feasible to use a carbide blade in their power saw to block out the basic design. Most of the carving can be accomplished with rasps. The larger the rasp and the coarser the teeth, the faster it cuts, but it also leaves deep scratches. These can be removed with finer cuts of either a rasp or file. I find a very fine file very helpful in taking off the larger scratches. Some of the scratches can be scraped away with a curved knife blade. Soapstone, because of its sculpture, may develop openings like cracks along the layers. These openings should be filled for a professional finish. Patching A good patch mixture is drywall spackle (hardware store), acrylic paints to color, and soapstone dust to thicken. Artists' paint colors of burnt sienna, burnt umber, yellow ochre, mars black, thalo blue, hookers green and titanium white will enable you to mix almost any color you will need to match your rock. The patch material is a resin product called Akemi. It is manufactured for the repair of stone products and is available with its own compatible pigments. Both should be applied in the consistency of moist putty.

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(Let’s work with Soapstone—cont.)
Leave a little for refilling in case of shrinkage. Let it dry for 24 hours before sanding, going through 220, 320, and 600 grit. After you have done this and filled all the cracks, you are ready for finishing. There is nothing that says you have to have a highly polished surface, except in competition under the Federation rules, which stress the polished surface. If you want to highlight things in white, you can polish the entire surface, then etch the area with a fine riffler. Polishing Soapstone
Soapstone is absolutely gorgeous when polished, and the best way to polish it is under a stream or trickle of water. For abrasives, use wet or dry sandpaper, 220 grit and 500 grit, finishing with 600 grit. Use a pan of water and a sponge to remove the dust from your abrasive. Your carving needs to be checked, so let your piece dry and inspect your work. When all possible deep scratches have been removed, go on to the next grit. Final Touches Priming your piece with a deep penetrating wood sealer gives you the richest colors. A good sealer is a clear wood sealer and varathane. The trick here is to use a soft brush and coat the piece with a liberal amount of sealer, wait five minutes, and wipe off the excess. Next, spray with a thin varathane, let dry for 24 hours and sand with 600 grit again. Do this process 3 times. The final step is giving the carving a clear coat of wax. Almost any wax will do. Apply with a soft cloth or finger, give a compete coat over the entire surface, and let set for 5 minutes. Finish by polishing with a soft cloth. Your carving will be protected because of these final steps. Congratulations! You have completed a beautiful and long lasting piece of art. Claim it with your signature, plus the year. . REFERENCE: Carver's Success Book, published by M&M Soapstone, Angels Camp. Original source unknown. via The Gemrock, 10/98 via ROCKONTEUR 02/03. This article was set to me by Doug Arnold.
Sunshine report
This month has been a very healthy one for most of our members. Just before I was going to get this information off, we were informed that Faith Harper was in Desert Valley Hospital with a Blood Clot and Pneumonia. A cheerful card is on its way to her. If anyone knows of a member who is not well or is pending surgery or has had surgery and is recovering, please let me know by calling Carol at 760-247-5369. Stay healthy and smile, as it is a Great Day in your life.

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July 2007

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
1Battle / of Gettysburg 1863 Workshop begins at 12 noon.	2 / Instructor’s / Meeting—7p.m.	3 Board / Meeting 7p.m.	4 / Declaration of / Independence 1776.	5 Workshop / 1—9p.m.	6	7 Workshop / 12—9p.m.
8 Workshop / begins at 12 noon.	9	10 Workshop / 6—9p.m.	11 Workshop / 1—9p.m.	12 / Wagon / Master’s Mtg 7p.m.	13	14 Workshop / 12—9p.m.
15 Workshop / begins at 12 noon.	16	17 / Education Meeting / 7p.m.	18 Workshop / 1—9p.m.	19 Workshop / 1—9p.m.	20 Man walks / on the moon in / 1969.	21 Workshop / 12—9p.m.
22 Workshop / begins at 12 noon.	23	24 Pot / Luck—6:30p.m. / General Meeting 7p.m.	25 Workshop / 1—9p.m.	26 Workshop / 1—9p.m.	27	28 Workshop / 12—9p.m.
29 Workshop / begins at 12 noon.	30	31Workshop / 6—9p.m.

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Around the shop

Jim Fosse is grinding a piece of Kate Waterman is working on a cab Montana Agate. of dinosaur bone.

Lloyd Guilliam works on a wire wrapped Bob Menelly helps Lloyd out, pendant with copper and silver wire. hand polishing the pendant.

Here’s a close up of Lloyd’s pendant. I just had to photo these fluorescent rocks.

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Around the shop (cont.)

Kate has a variety of rocks and slabs Kathleen Holbrook has a fine sel– ready to turned into new projects. of polished cabs.

Everyone has a tote to carry their tools and projects. I had a peek inside Kathleen’s. Bob is instructing Kathleen on the “All You Need.”

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Tom Laszlo recently cast this silver signet ring. Tom likes to keep his hand in with the various aspects of lapidary. You did a good job Tom. Tom is the club president and so has a lot of administrative duties to tend to. When he can find the time, he likes to get in the shop and work on some of the many projects that he has on the go at any one time.

Support your sponsors

Some of our sponsors are club members and others are vendors that you might find useful. In any case, support these vendors if you can. The club benefits from the advertising.

Wanted—Rocks, Lapidary Materials
and Equipment.
Call Charles Toles
Home (760) 242-9240 or Cell (760) 220-6748.

Select Rocks & Slabs for Sale!
A huge selection of both local and “imported” rocks and slabs.
Call for details—
Janet Flecher
(760) 949-0796.

Rocks, Rocks, Rocks,
Buy slabs, cabs & rough from Joe!
Brazilian, Moss Agate, Wood, Jasper,
and Obsidian.
There is a sale on Bolo cords.
Club members (any club) 20% off at my house or 10% off at gem shows. I sell crushed Agate, Wood & Jasper for tumbling at $1.00
per pound. Call Joe Kosik (760) 241-0894.

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Desert River 21810 Hwy 18, #6
Apple Valley,
CA 92307.
(760) 961-2743
Cindy Hinojosa
Semi-precious gemstones, You can find us on the northern glass, metal, wood and side of Hwy 18.
bone beads. Freshwater East of Navajo Road, and a little pearls, seed beads, east of Rite-Aid. Come find usfindings, stringings, tools, we’re worth look. There’s plenty supplies, of parking in
classes the rear.
and more.

BEADS

Micky Coats
Assistant
Loan Officer
(760) 900-1846

Bob Coats
Loan Officer
(760) 912-9989

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Coast Cities Financial
Refinance and Reverse Mortgage Specialists

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Mail
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Another
bulletin
Expressly for

Victor Valley Gem & Mineral Club
15056-B Seventh Street
Victorville, CA 92395-3811.
bulletin is the official monthly newsletter published by victor valley gem & mineral club and is distributed free of charge to both members and non
members.
Views expressed by authors in the articles which appear in the bulletin do not necessarily reflect those of victor valley gem & mineral club. Responsibility is taken by the editor alone.
Articles from this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part in other lapidary news-letters if proper credit is given to the author and the bulletin.

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