Tooele Senior Citizens Center

April 8 2003

The meeting was called to order by Don Smith every one was welcomed, Don stated he was filling in for Ruth tonight Ruth had surgery yesterday and she is doing well. The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved. The treasurer’s report was read and approved.

Don welcomed the snow birds back, Don showed the little purse Melva is making for wheel prizes, she would like all the club members to save the small butter containers for her so she can make a lot of them, please give them to her or bring them to the meeting so she can pick them up.

Byron Scott announced our field trip to get Honey Onyx the date for the trip was debated and it was decided to go on April 26th, everyone that wanted to go signed up so that they could be contacted in case we cancel the trip, bring your gloves and something to carry your rock in, and anything else you might need such as sun screen water food etc.

A fellow from Gold Prospectors of America called Janet and wanted to know if they could have a gold panning demonstration at our show it was discussed and we decided they could have it outside. Janet found a real good deal on flag pins she thought that we put them on a card to give to people for putting a display in our show.

Lida Chapman is doing better and should be home soon. We discussed what we should do for wheel prizes we think we should buy some and make some. Our steak fry will be the sixteenth of August it was decided that we will start and do crafts at 10 AM., you can start sooner if you wish we will have dinner at 2:00 their will be no lunch, please bring your favorite dish to go with the steaks also bring your table service. We have rented the pavilion for two days August 15th and 16th we also have 6 trailer spaces rented. The seventh of June will be our monthly meeting and rock bag fill it will start at 10:00 AM. we will have a pot luck dinner the club will furnish sloppy joe’s bring your favorite dish, and table service.

We had two visitors Kathy Hunt and Michael Web. Bob and Mickey Titus will bring the treats next month. Larry Higley won the door prize. The meeting was adjourned.

Minutes submitted by

Larry Wilson

Secretary

Note: Field trip 26th of April for honey Onyx. June 7th for rock bag fill and meeting at 10:00 AM. August 16, 10:AM. Steak fry, and crafts.

Each person has the chance to see

A stone as lovely as a tree.

In fact, a tree that once was pressed

Into the Earth’s resilient breast.

A tree that for many centuries lay

Imbedded in the sand and clay;

Immersed where mineral waters seep

Into the wood that is asleep.

Then slowly, slowly, through the years

The wooden fiber disappears.

Then after millions of years have flown,

Where once was tree, is now a stone.

The ringlet circles for each year

Are reproduced quite plain and clear;

The grain is so pronounced that we

Can even name the type of tree.

God made this world and found it fair,

And placed the plants and flowers there.

He created Man, and all things good.

Man dies! His body turns to dust;

Iron and steel corrode and rust;

Cities crumble! Castles fall!

Huge man-made monuments get small;

Is it not strange and very odd

That such a great creative God

Should choose, of things that used to bee…

To petrify and preserve the tree?

Via Osage Hills Gems 4/02

by Sara M. Sanford

Soldering is one of the most basic techniques in metalworking, but also one of the hardest to master. For a very good reason, we are taught in early childhood to fear fire, and the possibility of melting a piece that has a lot of work (and expensive materials) in it is always present. However, as with any process that has a certain mystique about it, understanding how and why soldering works will make us much more comfortable with it. Especially knowing why the process works will let us do some intelligent troubleshooting, rather than simply guessing when a problem arises.

There are five basic areas that make up the soldering process: solder, flux, heat, fit, and cleanliness. If the optimum conditions are maintained in each of these five areas, the soldering process will go smoothly. It is when we begin to “fudge," or get sloppy, that things go wrong. Knowing why something happens will let us solve the problem quickly. Even the pros sometimes have to go back to basics!

Soldering is the process of joining two or more pieces of metal by using a metal alloy whose melting temperature is lower than the metals being joined. Hard soldering is also called low temperature brazing. Soft soldering uses very low melting temperature solder alloys, usually of tin and lead, and is not commonly used in fine jewelry.

Solder is a nonferrous (without iron) metal alloy, the major percentage of which is usually the same as the metal being joined: gold, silver, copper or brass. Gold solder is available in different colors to match various alloys. Because brass and copper solder, both also known as brazing rod, has a high melting temperature and is brittle, silver solder is usually used on these metals as well as on silver. All of the nonferrous metals (gold, silver, copper, brass, or bronze) that have a relatively high melting temperature can be soldered with either gold or silver solder. Both gold and silver solders are available in different melting temperatures, and are manufactured in several forms.

Forms of solder include sheet, wire, pallions (clippings or chips), and paste. Which form of solder to use is a matter of training and personal choice. I prefer to use sheet, cut into small pallions, because wire solder, being round, will sometimes roll away from the force of the flame; sheet stays where you put it (usually).

Paste solder, a mix of tiny bits of solder mixed with a paste flux, is used primarily by mass producers in machine soldering and is the most expensive form of solder. Knowing how much paste solder to use requires a bit of experimenting.

Melting temperatures of solder are determined by the zinc content: the higher the zinc content, the lower the melting temperature. Zinc is what turns the lower melting temperature silver solders a yellowish-gray; to avoid conspicuous solder lines, use the highest temperature solder feasible. Pits in the solder seam are caused when the solder is overheated and the zinc burns out. Again, using a higher temperature solder (and controlling the heat) will help to prevent pitting.

Gold solders come in Hard, Medium, Easy, and Extra Easy as well as different karats and colors. One manufacturer has recently come out with a Medium Hard silver solder, with a melting temperature between that of hard and medium solder.

Because sheet and wire solder are indistinguishable from regular sheet and wire metal, these solders should be maked as soon as they are purchased. Sheet solder can be scribed with 1, 2, 3, or H, M, E (for hard, medium, easy); wire solder can be hammered or even have knots tied in one end. In order to distinguish between the different melting temperatures, some schools like to use a different form for each: wire for hard, sheet for medium, and flattened wire for easy.

Why use different melting temperature solders? When fabricating a complicated piece, using different melting temperature solders will help prevent the previously soldered joints from remelting, and either shifting or coming unsoldered. (Additional techniques to prevent this will be discussed separately.)

There is no industry standard for exact melting temperatures, and each solder manufacturer has its own specifications. Therefore, buying all your solder from one source will help keep the different melting temperature solders straight, although a combination of solders from different manufacturers may give you more versatility.

You will often see two temperatures listed: a melting point and a flowing temperature, which is higher. The melting temperature is when the solder starts to melt, and the flow point occurs when the solder is completely molten. The difference between these two temperatures, or spread, can be from 250F to more than 1000F. It’s important to know the spread, since it will affect where and for how long you apply the heat. Experimenting with solder from different sources will give you the opportunity to find just the right combination that suits you.

Source: http://www.lapidaryjournal.com/tech/l298tech.htm

via Chips 11/00

To eliminate stretching after you have carefully knotted a strand with nylon, suspend the cord on a doorknob (several loops are okay), then hang a pair of pliers from the loops and leave overnight. The nylon is now pre-stretched and will not become loose after being strung.

Soaping or waxing the thread keeps it from tangling. Placing a moistened paper towel on your flat surface while working is helpful. To remove unwanted beads from a row, break them with a pair of all-purpose pliers,  from the Mountain Gem 4/97 via Wasatch Gem Society Pegmatite 2197 via Pebble Pusher 4/01 via Achates 8/02

Via Rock Chip 12/02

A woman received a phone call that her daughter was very sick with a fever. She left work and stopped by the pharmacy for some medication for her daughter. She returned to her car to find she had locked her keys inside. She had to get home to her sick daughter, and didn’t know what to do.

She called her home to the baby sitter, and was told her daughter was getting worse. She said, “You might find a coat hanger and use that to open the door.” The woman found an old rusty coat hanger on the ground, as if someone else had locked their keys in their car. Then she looked at the hanger and said, “I don’t know how to use this.” She bowed her head and asked God for help.

An old rusty car pulled up, driven by a dirty, greasy, bearded man with a biker skull rag on his head. The woman thought, “Great God. This is what you sent to help me?” But she was desperate, and thankful. The man got out of his car and asked if he could help. She said, “Yes, my daughter is very sick. I must get home to her. Please, can you use this hanger to unlock my car.” He said, “SURE.” He walked over to the car and in seconds the car was opened. She hugged the man and through her tears she said, “THANK YOU SO MUCH… You are a very nice man.” The man replied, “Lady, I ain’t a nice man. I just got out of prison for car theft.” The woman hugged the man again and cried out loud…” “THANK YOU GOD FOR SENDING ME A PROFESSIONAL!”

Teds tidbits by Ted Robles, The Mountain Gem, May, 2002

Via MID-TENN GEM’ERS August 2002

If you know of any events coming up, PLEASE let me know as soon as possible. If anything is wrong PLEASE let me know as soon as possible.

Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.

By Julia Cole

The discovery of a new family and species of “giant” clams revealed information about Triassic clams and the Triassic Pacific. George Stanley, a University of Montana (UM) geology professor, and Thomas Yancey, a researcher from Texas A & M University, described the “giant” clams, which range up to 3 feet in diameter, in the February 1999 issue of Paleontology.

In the mid-1980s, Stanley and a student discovered the saucer shaped fossils, silhouetted in white in a wall of black limestone, in a quarry of the Wallowa Mountains in Oregon. Unable at the time to separate the fossils from the limestone, they transported the limestone, more than 400 pounds of rock, to UM. The similar densities of the fossils and their matrix rendered X-rays ineffective. The fossils’ identities remained a mystery until two years ago, when Yancey, having the tools and the time, began removing the surrounding rock, and could see the internal morphologies of the giant clams. The researchers assigned the fossils the family name Wallowaconchidae after the surrounding mountains.

The fossils had unusual wing-like extensions surrounding their central body cavities. According to the scientists, the clams used chambers inside their shell extensions to nurture and house algae. Partially translucent shells or natural fiber optics allowed light to pass through the clams’ shells to the symbiotic algae.

The extinct clams lived in the Triassic period about 200 million years ago. The researchers believe that the clams’ habitat was a shallow lagoon, behind coral reefs, that surrounded isolated volcanic islands like Tahiti or Fiji located in the eastern Pacific. Identical fossils were found in the Yukon and in Sonora, Mexico.

The different locations of the fossils may help geologists reconstruct the paleogeography of the Pacific during the Triassic. “I believe the clams were living in isolation around an island like the Galapagos and eventually plate tectonics brought them crashing into North America. Later fault systems moved them north and south,” Stanley says.

Via Geotimes 8/99

(Thanks, Taylor H. for contributing! -ed)

Via Hy Grader 1/02

Accept that some days you’re the pigeon, and some days you’re the statue.

Via Golden Spike News 12/01

By Roger K. Pabian

I have made some very interesting observations surfing the various on-line auction services such as those offered by eBay© and YAHOO© and have seen hundreds of inaccurate to fraudulent descriptions of merchandise offered by various sellers. A descriptive phrase I encounter often is “Museum Quality”. No real description or definition of “Museum Quality” really is available in the literature or in the trade. In the jewelry trade, the term “Flawless” often appears in the description of a stone being offered for sale. This works because there is a definition for “Flawless” that has been established by the Federal Trade Commission (FCC). A stone can be offered as flawless if no imperfections can be observed on its surface or in its interior at ten-power magnification (10X). If you have a diamond and a small pyrope crystal can be detected inside it at 11X, the stone is legally flawless.

Unfortunately, there is no such easily workable definition for “Museum Quality”. Perhaps to get an understanding of “Museum Quality”, we should look at the role of the museum. To most people, the museum is a place where one can view educational exhibits in a broad array of sciences including geology, mineralogy, paleontology, botany, zoology, ecology, astronomy, anthropology, and many others. The role of the museum that the general public usually does not see is that of a warehouse for research specimens and collections. The above sciences are largely descriptive and subjective. The researcher collects, prepares, describes, analyzes and interprets the data provided by the specimens in the collections. All of the specimens that are used by the researcher are placed in systematic collections (or often stratigraphic collections in geology and paleontology). The specimens are of sufficient value to justify the cost and space of storing. They are Museum Quality. The specimens may be parts of broken valves of braciopods of a very common, nondescript species but they are Museum Quality in every sense of the world.

On the other hand, someone may have a slab of very well preserved crinoids that show exquisite detail and has every bit of splash and pizzazz that makes it a very attractive item for general viewing. Is it Museum Quality? Yes, it is, provided the museum saw fit to allow it space to fill a display. Suppose the same specimen had no geologic or geographic data with it, how does its Museum Quality rate with the brachiopod collection above? Really, it rates quite a bit lower. Its display quality may be very high but its research and teaching potential are pretty low.

We would do much better to use the term “Display Quality” for many specimens. Many very attractive specimens that are highly prized by their owners would likely find no spot in a museum. That is because the accompanying data is absent.

“Collector Grade” is another nebulous term but it is probably desirable to Museum Grade or Museum Quality. This term does not imply that a specimen would necessarily find a place in a museum but it would likely find a place in some private collector’s cabinet. I can live with that term but I keep in mind that it has no real definition.

“Old Estate” or “Vintage” are terms that often appear in the rock descriptions in magazine advertisements or on-line advertisements or auction services. What does “Old Estate” really mean? - That older is better? We often hear agates being described as old material. To my knowledge, all Lake Superior agates are about 1,200 million years old and all Laguna agates are 23 to 40 million years old. Each of these examples are made up of materials that are the same age. The implication is that material that was collected 50 years ago is better than that collected today. There were an awful lot of junky Laguna agates that were mined in 1950 along with the good ones. They all went into the same hopper. Some of the finest Laguna agates are currently being mined. The prices are higher at the mines and at shows, but much of this is a product of inflation rather than demand or rarity.

What does “Vintage” mean? When applied to wines, it can have a great deal of meaning. It seems that a certain grape from a certain area can provide a very fine wine in a given year. The wine gains a reputation among connoisseurs and the “Vintage” becomes desirable. It may be that in the same year as the vintage wine above, another vineyard a hundred miles down the road produced several unit trains of Sneaky Pete Muscatel. Its poor quality implies a lower price and it may find a ready audience only in the skid rows of large cities. Even if it was bottled in the same year as the vintage wine above, the Sneaky Pete isn’t a vintage wine.

Most of these terms are used by sources that have little knowledge, appreciation or understanding of the material they offer for sale. It is still the buyer’s responsibility to apply the caveat emptor (buyer beware) thinking when obtaining rock, mineral and gem specimens. The sellers are usually legally liable for misrepresented materials that they offer. The buyer, however, may not find it worthwhile to go to court for $42.50. That lets many unethical or ill-informed dealers off the hook. The buyer can obtain a great deal of self-protection by perusing the published literature. Knowledge is ones best defense, but in the meantime, keep in mind that terms like “Museum Quality”, “Vintage” and “old Estate” have little if any meaning.

From the Pick & Shovel 9/2001

via The Glacial Drifter, 9/2002

Via Rocky Mountain Federation News 2/03

by Rita O’Neal

Recently I purchased a beautiful Brazilian agate which was glued to a bola slide. When I asked the dealer how I could remove the agate, so I could display it rather than wear it, he replied that he glued it with epoxy, and it was on to stay.

Later I happened to ask another dealer if he knew of a way I could remove the agate from the tie slide. He said they do it all the time. Just put it in the freezer over night. The next morning use a knife with a thin blade and gently push or pry the blade under the edge of the fastener. The tie slide will just pop off. I followed his instructions, and sure enough, it popped right off. I cleaned off the remaining glue with nail polish remover, which was the dealer’s second suggestion if the freezer method didn’t work.

From The Post Rock 6/01

Via The Glacial Drifter 1/03

Crater Lake, centerpiece of Crater Lake National Park, is one of the deepest (1,996 ft.) and one of the highest (6,177 ft.) lakes in the world. The lake, in the caldera of extinct volcano Mount Mazama, has an annual snowfall of 30 to 40 feet. Crater Lake National Park is the sixth oldest national park.

Ref: Historic Preservation News

via Breccia, and taken from

DRYWASHER’S GAZETTE 4/01

Via The Glacial Drifter 1/02

The following article is from Mississippi Gem & Mineral Society, Rocky Echoes, Jackson, Mississippi, March 2001, VOLUME 41, NUMBER 7 Brenda Hankins editor

by Michael Williams

The word “shark” tends to bring images of ferocious, man-eating machines. The Jaws movies portrayed an abnormally large Great White shark that would not stop until all of the beachcombers were eaten. A I 999 movie, Deep Blue Sea, portrayed three incredibly intelligent and violent genetically enhanced mako sharks. In the 17th century, fossil shark teeth were thought to be lizard tongues that had turned to stone and were sold as “tongue stones” to ward away evil spirits by the people of Malta (a Mediterranean island). Shark fossils have continued to be prized throughout the centuries.

Today, there are more than 370 species of living sharks, and their teeth are a main identifying characteristic. Each tooth consists of a primary cusp (the main part of the enameled tooth) and two to four accessory (or secondary) cusps.

Teeth vary according to the prey animals. For example, the teeth of Tiger sharks are short, broad, and curved and are designed for crushing crustaceans and sea turtle shells. Makos, Goblin sharks, and Sand sharks have long, sharp, pointed, narrow teeth for skewering fast-moving fish. The Great White has broad teeth with sharp, serrated edges for sawing through flesh and bone.

Fish are divided into two groups - the bony fish and the cartilaginous fish (which includes the sharks, rays, and skates). The bony fish are so-called because their entire skeletons are made of bone. Cartilaginous fish are so-called because their entire skeletons are made of cartilage, except for the teeth. This is one reason why the only shark fossils we usually find are their teeth (although there are rare instances where we do find their vertebral disks).

Instead of the true scales of bony fish, cartilaginous fish have tooth-like structures called dermal denticles that make up the “skin”. Each denticle is made up of a base plate and a sharpened pedicle. The denticles help to reduce resistance as the animal moves through the water. This is especially advantageous to sharks that rely on stealth as part of their hunting arsenal. These dermal denticles are rare, but have been found in Mississippi’s Cretaceous.

Where bony fish have teeth set into individual sockets, sharks have teeth that rotate on a sort of “conveyer belt” apparatus. This “conveyer belt” allows sharks to replace their teeth. As a tooth falls out, the “conveyer belt” moves up one notch, allowing the next tooth in the row to be exposed and used. This explains why sharks lose thousands of teeth in a lifetime (also explaining why fossil shark teeth are so common).

Sharks have been on earth for over 400 million years. The earliest ancestors of the sharks are believed to be the placoderms. Placoderms were the first cartilaginous fishes to appear. Although the placoderms were cartilaginous, they had one very unique feature - a bony, armored head and trunk shield. The bony armor of these creatures was incredibly thick and could resist the bite of any other marine predator. The great head shield extended into giant armor-piercing “shears” which could also be referred to as “teeth”.

The first placoderms appeared in the Silurian Period, about 430 million years ago, but they diversified and thrived in the Devonian, about 408 million years ago. Placoderms are subdivided into two orders: 1) the Arthrodires and 2) the Antiarchs.

The biggest placoderm was a 40 foot long arthrodire with a head and trunk shield over six feet long and made of bone four inches thick known as Dunkleosieus, (sometimes called Dinichthyes), which first appeared in the Devonian. Although rocks of Devonian age are sparse in Mississippi (mostly concentrated on Island Hill, a small island in Pickwick Lake, Tishomingo County), the bony armor plates of Dunkleosteus have been documented.

References:

Editor’s note: A couple good drawings and a photo of the author were omitted because of scanning Problems, Jim.