CULVER CITY ROCK AND MINERAL CLUB P.O. BOX 3324 Culver City, Ca 90231

Monday, June 9, 6:30 pm Executive Committee: Multi-Purpose Room in the Veterans Bldg.Monday, June 9, 7:30 pm GENERAL MEETING Multi-Purpose Room in the Veterans Bldg

(There will be no program, join us for a working meeting for the Fiesta of Gems Show.

JUNE 2008

PAGE 1 June 2008 THE NUGGET

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

June is the month for rhyming. The club can croon a tune from the heart of Culver City. It’s the month before the month of July when we have the Gem Show. All the pieces of the Gem Show puzzle are out there waiting patiently to be meshed. At our June meeting on the 9th, we will be putting stamps on many pieces of the puzzle -- postcards. These go out to all for whom we have an address, especially the folks who have attended in the past. Postcards, grab bags and whatever else the show chair needs will be handled at our June meeting. We all become workshop elves. Hope to see you there.

Edgar, the Prez

The Crow and Iby Lucia Pasquinelli

What a beautiful sunny day! To me this is the best incentive for creativity and so I pick up my silver and tools and go to the shop – I am going to realize my multi-stones pieces! There, I find some more people cutting rocks and making cabs - it’s always nice to share our work and ideas, and get a little distracted, including by that beautiful crow that just landed at our back door – he seems quite domesticated; he accepts food and doesn’t fly away – OK, back to work! And cut and assemble and solder and sand… ready for the drilling now… I pile all my pieces in front of me, the Foredom ready to operate, the Optivisor on my eyes, and in few seconds I’ll be ready to polish! Suddenly, here is the crow again – oh my, this time he enters the shop and lands right on my bench and he just looks at me! Well, I can’t resist. I start playing with him using my file and he picks up the end once, twice, and then he stops and looks at me… suddenly my blood freezes with fear: I know what he’s going to do! He takes a quick look at the pile of silver pieces, looks at me again and in a fraction of second, he grabs half of the pieces of jewelry and flies out! I cannot believe what just happened – I run after him and he is right next door on a telephone post – I am still in shock and try to telepathically convince the bird to drop my pieces down – then I get back to real-ity and I swear at him, and he starts having fun with me! He gently puts the jewelry down, screams at me three times, grabs the jewelry and moves up one step, and he does it again and again, until he flies away. So, I was laughed at by a crow and left with three different sets of jewelry totally messed up – but you know what? Besides having amused everybody, I completed the jewelry, I went to my client, told the crow story, and sold all the pieces! Look for the fun out in everything!

An uninvited and unlikely guest steals a bird’s eye view of the Rock Shop through this open door.

The work-bench where Lucia befriended a dashing thief.

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MINUTES OF THE EXECUTIVE MEETING l May 12, 2008MINUTES OF THE EXECUTIVE MEETING l May 12, 2008

PAGE 2THE NUGGET June 2008

MINUTES OF THE GENERAL MTGMay 12, 2008

Those present: Ed Montgomery, Dolores Dace, Ted Hanf, Leda Rogers, Rick and Mary Ellen Shaffer, Ellen Moe and Bruce Mensinger. The meeting was called to order at 6:43 pm by president Ed Montgomery. The minutes were approved as corrected: St. Mark’s School rather than St. Martin’s School. It was announced that club member John Riordon was honored for his contri-bution to Culver City Middle School.The California State Mining and Minerals Association needs support to prevent its being closed due to the state budget problems. Membership cards were passed out and are available to all club members wishing them.Treasurer report:: Two tax forms filled out by Trea-surer Mary Ellen Shaffer were shared. The club is still quite solvent.• Education Chair Dolores Dace will deliver a small specimen box to Howe Elementary School in response to their thank you letter for books presented to their library. • Field Trip Chair Ellen Moe announced no trips this month. However she will be going up to Oxnard to help fill their rock specimen boxes to get a feel for how it is done. They collect specimens of a certain size on their field trips. Ellen suggested we send a small group after the show to help and find out about the process.Dolores read a letter from the Culver City Education Foundation soliciting funds for a special laboratory at El Rincon School. Rick Shaffer indicated The Founda-tion was not officially under the Culver city aegis and said we should investigate giving a donation directly to the school. The matter was tabled.• Ellen Moe suggested we should consider a program presentation by Justin Zzyzx (formerly Butt) about field trip sites across the country.• Membership Chair Leda Rogers reported two new members bringing the dues paying membership to 97.• Rick Shaffer, Show Co-chair, said we need to update our membership brochure. Dolores Dace will edit the form and Sue Acosta will review the By-Laws.• Corresponding Secretary Leda Rogers sent out two earlier requested thank you letters.• Rick Shaffer reported on price research for the cloth bags: 250 bags - one-side logo = $2092. ($8.37 each) and two-sided logo $2400. ($9.75 each).It was announced that clubs can join the local Chamber of Commerce for $150/year. There are monthly break-

The meeting was called to order at 7:40 pm by President Ed Montgomery who led the Pledge of Allegiance. The minutes were approved as corrected. Ken Rogers warned of increased danger from poison ivy and oak, their oils being particularly potent this year. Ellen Moe added that ticks and coyotes are also a problem. Also there have been more rattlers sighted so members are advised to be vigilant on field trips. • Rick Shaffer, Show co-chair, mentioned that June is a work meeting, preparing the grab bags and the post-cards. Plants are needed for the Show. Printed an-nouncements were distributed, July 11 will be the set up day. Cookies for the vendors are needed by July 10 and can be taken to the Shaffers’.• Gary Mitchell reported on the Mineral Symposium held in Lompoc recently about Owens Valley mining and minerals. The Darwin Mine will be reopened be-cause in addition to lead and silver, a copper vein has been discovered making it financially feasible. He had specimens for the club members. Next week he is going to the opal mine and will bag some of the tailings to bring back and sell to members for $30• Guests Tom, Heather, Lana and Matthew were intro-duced.• Ellen Moe, Field Trip chair, mentioned the presenta-tion by Justin Zzyzx on field trip sites, She also asked for club suggestions for future club trips. • The Trading Post will be held tonight.The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 pm.

Respectfully submitted,Sue Acosta

Recording Secretary

fast, lunch and dinner meetings. It might be in the club’s interest to join for the public relations benefit. Rick Shaffer moved that we join and Dolores Dace seconded it. The motion passed.The meeting was adjourned at 7:28 pm.

Respectfully submitted,Sue Acosta

Recording Secretary

THE NUGGETPAGE 3 June 2008

PROGRAM REPORT: The World of Agates

Once again Conrad Grundke, a retired engineer and Professor of lapidary and intarsia at Saddle Back Community College, gave an interesting and informa-tive talk on “The World of Agates.”He began by defining agates, how they are formed and how to identify various types.Most rocks are a form of quartz (about 80 percent). Quartz is composed of hydrosalicic acid and when wa-ter is added it becomes silica in solution that reacts to alkaline and acidic salts. When silica gel loses water it becomes agate. A test is to put vinegar on the speci-men: if it bubbles it can be agate. If it is alkaline it is chert. Rocks contain lots of water.A volcano produces lava that has air bubbles. Differ-ent vent pipes produce basalt and obsidian, which is silica dioxide and the bubbles become geodes.Among the types of quartz are: opals, agates, am-ethysts, turquoise, malachite, azurite, etc. There are rock families, i.e., lapis and quartz. Under quartz come sandstone, granite, chalcedony, jasper chryso-phrase and onyx. Also diamonds. There are several types: mega crystalline (big crystals), micro crystalline (tiny crystals) and amorphous (no crystals).Mega crystalline includes clear quartz, milky quartz (contains more water), rose quartz (contains iron), amethyst and citrine.Micro crystalline includes calcedony, agate, jasper, chert, flint, petrified and opalized wood and bone, et al.Crypto crystalline includes jasper, which has the smallest crystals.Quartz has a hardness of 7. Amorphous includes obsidian. Opals are at least 15 percent water and are very fragile. Virgin Valley opals are a good example.

He showed slides of various examples of quartz: transparent and translucent can be agates or chal-cedony. Opaque is jasper. Some of the slides included druse, inclusions: banded, rings, rutile (needles) sagenite (large needles), plume and lace, and dendritic (bush like). Minerals provide color to bands in agate and tiger’s eye.In Ida Oberstein in Germany they started cutting and polishing agates. The method used is still used today. It looked most uncomfortable, with workers lying prone over a padded sawhorse and working with large sandstone grinding wheels. A headrest was provided.Today the most brilliant agates are dyed or heat-treat-ed (500 degrees). They need to cool slowly or they will crack.It was a talk up to Mr. Grundke’s high standards.

Respectfully submitted,Sue Acosta

Recording Secretary

Member Bruce Mensinger’s agate photograph appears on this year’s Fiesta of Gems postcard.

Tips and HintsIvory Care – Do not put ivory in the dark. It is one substance that needs light. If it has started to yellow, take a lemon and dip it in some salt, then rub it over the ivory object. The lemon will work on the yellow discoloration. After it is dry, dampen a soft cloth with lukewarm water and rub the ivory piece to give it a bright finish. Pegmatite, Rockcollector 2/08

Untangle Chains – A fine chain can be very frustrat-ing when it knots. Put a drop of salad oil on a piece of waxed paper. Lay the knot in the oil and pick at it with two straight pins. It should come apart.

Blue Agate News 1/08 – The Rockcollector 2/08

Tips and Hintscontinued on page 4

PAGE 4THE NUGGET June 2008

FIESTA OF GEMS SHOW REPORT

Volunteers Needed July 12-13 We are quickly approaching our Fiesta of Gems Club Show weekend. We have about a month to final-ize show preparations and will need many volunteers to make it successful. Many members volunteer every year, members who can be counted on to fill in the details by working in more then one area as needed. Some volunteers focus only on the Fiesta of Gems show and are critical for our success. Please contact me to volunteer in this fantastic show.

Robert Thirlaway, Show Chairman thirlawr@gmail.

com

MEMBERSHIP REPORT

As the days are getting warmer and warmer our club is getting hotter and hotter with new members joining at every monthly Monday night meeting and also at the shop. Yes, we’re growing stronger than ever in our membership and all of you can help keep up the pace by telling friends, family and other people you might run into over the course of a day about our club. Word of mouth goes a long way and others will get infected with your enthusiasm and possibly join the club themselves. Last year I went to a sign company to order a sign for our Fiesta of Gems show and had to explain to the guy what “Gem Show” meant. He told me he had always been interested in rocks and loved to go looking for them. He wound up buying a raffle ticket from me and came to the show. You never know who likes rocks until you talk to them. Who knows, may-be you’ll recruit a new member! Whether you do or whether you don’t, thank you for being the member that you are: active, loyal, considerate and generous.

Leda RogersMembership Chair

Polishing Jasper – Jasper is much more trouble-some to polish than agate because many varieties are “earthy” and “porous” and others contain hematite which in itself is difficult to polish. If you are on a field trip, a good way to test jasper is to wet it. If it absorbs the water and dries rapidly, throw it away. It will not polish. If it stays wet and does not dry right away, it contains a high amount of chalcedony and will take a good polish. Most jaspers polish well on leather with Linde A, but good results can be obtained with tin oxide on either leather or felt. Always re-member that a good fine sanding job is the secret of good polishing. Keep a log in your techniques and inspirations. You will come up with a journal full of useful tips, and maybe even an educational article or two.

The Rockcollector 2/08

Eliminating Flats by Ted Robles A while back, someone was saying that he was having problems with getting “flats” on his cabs, that there was insufficient “give” in his wheels, and it didn’t seem to make any difference in matter how much pres-sure he applied. That was his first mistake. Diamond and corundum are two different animals; relatively speaking, about the same difference as be-tween quartz and chalk. If you “lean into” a diamond wheel, you will get 10 results [flats, etc] on your stone, and your wheels will wear out long before their time. diamond, you try to do your cutting by almost not touching the wheel. Use essentially no force. Don’t grind the stone. The technique is simply to use the whole face of the wheel, and keep your cab moving. Any time you stop, you just bought a “flat”. Can’t help it! It’s the same principle as sharpening a knife on an emery wheel. If you don’t want notches in your blade, you keep it moving. Do almost all cutting on the coarsest wheel you have. If you leave any flats on the pre-form, you’re going to have them on the final piece. And finally, practice, practice, practice. Machines, like people, take some acquaintanceship before you really know what you can get out of them.

Mountain Gem 11/01 - Rockcollector 2/08

More Tips and Hints

THE NUGGETJune 2008PAGE 5

MONTHLY SHOW DATESJUNE 2008

FIELD TRIPS ON HOLDHOW ABOUT VOLUNTEERING IN THE ROCK SHOP!

There are no group field trips being advertised that I could recommend. I don’t know if people are burned out or if the cost of gas has discouraged everyone. With this last heat wave, people are going to think twice before setting up a field trip. I could really use some help in preparing prizes for the children’s games for the Fiesta of Gems Show. We received a donation of petrified wood to be given away to children at the Show. There are three buckets under the desk at the shop of the pieces that have been washed and sorted. I need members to help cut down the pieces so that we can get them to more kids. And, I would also love - if possible - to have

Jonathan Barnes

Sylvia Binkley

Tom Fuentes

Steve Fuentes

Juliane Hoskins

Justin Zzyzy

Ted Hanf June 1Woody Shaffer June 1Justin Zzvzy June 5 Felice Gan June 13Wilber Williams June 16Shirley Hanf June 20Mary Ellen Shaffer June 21Sue Acosta June 24Vern Lowe June 27

Welcome New Members!

June 7 - 8 2008, La Habra, CA North Orange County Gem & Mineral Society La Habra Community Center 101 W. La Habra Blvd. Hours: 9 - 5 both days Don Warthen (626) 330-8974 Email: warthen@earthlink.net Website: nocgms.com

June 27 – 29, 2008, Ventura, CA California Federation of Mineralogical Societies Ventura County Fairgrounds Hours: 10-5 Daily Bural LaRue (909) 874-5664 Email: bplarue@earthlink.net

JUNE BIRTHDAYS

help polishing just on face of each piece so that all these kids will see the beauty better. There is a ziploc bag in one bucket with pieces that have been cut – about the size that Bruce and I are aiming for – roughly plum size, with some of the bark-like texture if possible. Bruce and I will be cutting what we can but we’d ap-preciate any volunteers on any day the shop is open. If anyone has questions, they can call me at work (310) 673-2100 or email me at: hmcx2@aol.com

Ellen MoeField Trips Chair

The purpose of the CULVER CITY ROCK & MINERAL CLUB is to bring together persons interested in the earth sciences, to engage in research and study in this realm, and to assist members in the collection and preservation of rocks and minerals and in the study of lapidary and related arts.......................................................................................................http://www.culvercityrocks.org

MEETING SCHEDULES

General Meetings are held the second Monday of every month* at 7:30 p.m. in the Culver City Youth Center,413 Overland Ave. Enter from the rear door. Guests are always welcome.

Executive Committee Meetings are held the first Monday of every month* in a meeting room behind the Veterans Auditorium. All club members are welcome.

*Meeting days occasionally change due to Monday holidays or, in July, because of the Fiesta Of Gems Show (July 11-13, 2008).

DUES & FEESOne time Initiation Fees:

Individuals $20.002 Persons/Same Address $25.00Juniors $15.00

Yearly Membership Dues:Individuals $25.002 Persons/Same Address $35.00Juniors $10.00

(After July 1, dues are $15.00, $25.00 and $5.00 respectively.)

SHOP INFORMATION

The shop is open to all members in good standing over the age of 13 (13-18 have certain restrictions) who sign an indemnification form. Instruction is available at all sessions. Practice slabs are available.Location: 10866 Culver Blvd. in Culver City (behind the Boy Scout clubhouse and next to the paddle tennis courts)Shop Phone: (310) 836-4611

Hours: Tuesday 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm Bruce Mensinger Wednesday 10:00 am - 2:00 pm Vern Lowe - by appointment Thurdsay 10:00 am - 2:00 pm Woody Shaffer Saturday 12:00 am - 4:00 pm Lynne Lukert Sunday 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm Bruce Mensinger

If no one shows, the shop may close early. If you plan to arrive at the shop more than a half hour after the opening time, phone the instructor.

The NuggetThe deadline for all submissions is generally the 15th of every month. All articles or notes without a byline are written by the Editor. Permission to copy is freely given as long as proper credit is noted. The Nugget accepts paid advertisements by club members and non-members. The cost for an eighth of a page (approx. 2” high x 3.5” wide) is $7 per insertion, payable in advance. Ad location is at the discretion of the Editor. Ad layouts, copy or business cards must be received by the 10th of the month. Send materials directly to Lynne Lukert, Editor, 513 1/2 N. Norton Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90004

June 2008THE NUGGET PAGE 6

Officers for 2008

President - Ed MontgomeryVice President - Rick Shaffer

Treasurer - Mary Ellen ShafferRecording Secretary - Sue Acosta

Corresponding Secretary - Leda RogersFederation Director - Anthony Ferrari

Field Trips - Ellen Moe Historian - Bruce Mensinger

Librarian - Ted Hanf Co-chair - Bruce MensingerMembership - Leda Rogers

Co-chair - OpenMinerals - Lorraine Murphy

Parliamentarian - OpenPhotography - Leda Rogers

Co-chair - Sylvia Binkley Program - Ed Montgomery Co-chair - Rosalie Peschel

Publications - Lynne LukertShow - Robert ThirlawayPublicity - Robyn HawkShop - Bruce Mensinger

Social - Sue AcostaSunshine - Lili Gelberg

Trading Post - Steve DoverWeb Master - Anthony Ferrari

Workshops -Brad Smith

BOARD OF DIRECTORSWoody Shaffer(2008)Gary Mitchell (2008)

Sue Acosta (2008)

Dolores Dace (2009)

Bruce Mensinger (2010)Ellen Moe (2010)

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FIRST CLASS

CULVER CITY ROCK & MINERAL CLUB

the Nugget Lynne Lukert, editor 513 1/2 N. Norton Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90004