QUIZ ANSWERS

1. Sillimanite is a polymorph with kyanite and andalusite.

2. Silimanite that occurs in fibrous masses with a silky luster is called fibrolite.

3. Belemnites lacked external shells, but they had a hard internal structure called a rostrum.

4. Water-clear “Herkimer diamonds” sparkle like real diamonds.

5. “Pecos diamonds” have a geometric diamond shape.

This month’s winners received
a half-gallon bucket of enriched
gem gravel, generously donated
by Ruby City Gems
(www.rubycity.com).

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A Mineral If-Then Challenge Answers
©2012 Darryl Powell/Diamond Dan Publications

1. If a metallic mineral has cubic cleavage, then it is probably galena.

2. If a copper ore is green, and it is not azurite, then it is malachite.

3. If quartz is brown, then it is called citrine.

4. If tourmaline is black, then it is called schorl.

5. If spodumene is pink, then it is called kunzite.

6. If this mineral is hit with steel and a hot spark is formed, then it must be pyrite.

7. If iron ore sticks to steel, then it is called magnetite.

8. If a mineral can dissolve in water and it makes food taste better, then it is called halite.

9. If a mineral specimen has the shape of one mineral but the chemical formula of a different mineral, then it is called a pseudomorph.

10. If you are holding a green variety of feldspar, then you are probably holding amazonite.

11. If this carbon mineral is mixed with clay to make pencil “lead,” then it is called graphite.

12. If a mineral is heated and crushed to form plaster of Paris, then it must be gypsum.

13. If this mineral scratches everything, then it must be diamond.

14. If I am a variety of corundum and I am blue, then I am called sapphire.

by Emma Guy
May 2012

“When a person takes honey out of the honey pot with a spoon,” says May Lapidary of the Month Emma Guy, of Summerland, British Columbia, “they usually dip it into the honey and twist the spoon whilst taking it to the cup. From this practice, the honey spinner was born. Mine are made of solid sterling with a decorative cab on the end of the handle, and are the length of an ordinary teaspoon.
“To make the handles, I twisted two or three round or square wires and cut them to the correct lengths. On one of the handles, I used one copper wire with sterling wire. I then hard-soldered a disk and bezel on one end to mount the cabochon in later. Some of the disk edges were decorated by upsetting them with the ball end of the chasing hammer or by patterning the flat part that extends beyond the bezel.
“The other end was made by hard soldering 16 or 18 gauge, ¾ inch or larger diameter jump rings closed. These were then bent so that they looked like a double capital D without the straight part. These were set up on a soldering block with the points touching, but the spokes not touching. If you use three units, there will be six spokes; if four are used, there will be eight spokes. I used iron binding wire to hold the units together whilst soldering.
“These rounded units were then soldered to the handles with medium solder. On the very bottom, I soldered a small disk with the sterling stamp and my logo on it. Some of the rounded units were made by cutting disks and bending and soldering them. It is such fun, and I believe that imagination is the limit!
“I did not pickle between soldering because I discovered that the oxidation localizes the solder flow to the parts that have been cleaned and fluxed. I left all the spinners in the acid overnight, and the next morning I rinsed them well in baking soda water and set the gemstones in the bezels. Then I tumbled them in an ultrasonic tumbler with steel shot and soap.”

by John Crawford
April 2012

“My entry into rock hunting was a good one,” writes April Lapidary of the Month John Crawford, of Bennington, Vermont. “I met a neighbor, Tony, who is a real rockhound, and my fascination began.

“When I was a kid (I’m now 80), I would swim in a good-size river known as the Roaring Branch, in southern Vermont, which contained rocks from the size of a robin’s egg to Volkswagen-size boulders. When the river would reach flood stage, it rightfully earned its name.
“Last summer, the Branch was the first place I began to look for rocks, and it’s a good place because the river is fed by mountain streams and this part of Vermont is well known for its rock content. I found a nice assortment of native marble, slate, granite, sandstone and quartz. I also found a couple of chicken egg-size nodules of solid black glass.
“I split the nodules, which broke into slabs with razor-sharp edges. The thinner slabs were actually dark purple. Tony researched the material, and we concluded that this glass could be obsidian.
“I’m a retired graphic artist, so I decided to use this beautiful glass in an artistic way. I could not cut the glass with a saw, but I was able to develop shapes by carefully chipping it to a rough shape, then finishing it with a power grinder. I made a mounting from white Corian®, routed out a bed for the glass shape, then epoxied the glass into place.
“I recently felled an old apple tree, and the wood is very pretty, so I carved a letter opener and inlaid the handle wit the black glass. This material is really attractive in many artistic applications. I’ve only scratched the surface.
“Knowing that obsidian is a byproduct of volcanic activity, and since history indicates no volcanic activity in these Eastern zones, including Vermont, the presence of these nodules is quite a mystery.”

QUIZ ANSWERS

1. Exposure to sunlight causes Thomas Range topaz to fade.

2. Utah’s state “rock” is composed of organic material.

3. A pseudomorph takes the external shape of another mineral.

4. Stubby, hexagonal, twin crystals of copper are referred to as copper after aragonite.

5. Malachite rarely forms crystals, preferring a botryoidal form.

March winners received a  grab
bag of minerals and fossils (actual
prize not shown).

——————————————-

PSEUDOMORPHS CROSSWORD ANSWERS

———————-

March 2012: Many Facets column
Mount Ida Barion for Quartz, by Jim Perkins
The diagram and cutting directions did not match. Get the correct information here:
March 2012 Many Facets Correction

QUIZ ANSWERS

1. Apache tears are small nodules of obsidian/volcanic glass.

2. Apache tears are colored by iron oxides.

3. The mountain Big Picacho became known as Apache Leap .

4. Kaolin clay is an effective medicine for stomach problems.

5. Humans, like minerals, are made up of elements and compounds.

 February winners received a
 specimen of the pseudomorph
 gypsum after glauberite from
 Camp Verde, Arizona, generously
 donated by the Mineral of the
 Month Club (www.mineralofthemonthclub.org). 

QUIZ ANSWERS

1. The mollusk family includes clams, octopi and squid.

2. In medieval times, snakes were associated with the devil.

3. Legends about Hilda and Cuthbert were used to explain why the “petrified snakes” had no heads.

4. Before the ice ages, the sea level on theUnited States’ East Coast was higher.

5. The term bivalve describes mollusks with two opposing shells.

 January winners received a piece
 of carnelian from Madagascar, 
 generously donated by the
 Mineral of the Month Club
 (www.mineralofthemonthclub.org). 

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Minerals Named After Places Quiz Answers

1. Amazon River, Brazil   amazonite

2. Franklin, New Jersey   franklinite

3. Muscovy (part of modern Russia)   muscovite

4. Danbury, Connecticut   danburite

5. Mount Vesuvius, Italy   vesuvianite

6. Tanzania, Africa   tanzanite

7. San Benito County, California   benitoite

8. Island of Cyprus   copper

9. Brazil, South America   brazilianite

10. Labrador, Canada   labradorite

11. Island of Elba, Italy   elbaite

12. Andalusia, Spain   andalusite

13. Boleo, Baja California   boleite

14. Autun, France   autunite

15. Kern County, California   kernite

16. Magnesia, Greece   magnetite

by Bob Rush
March 2012

One of my favorite stones is carnelian agate,” says March Lapidary of the Month Bob Rush, of Valley Springs, California, “especially when it is set in silver. I wanted to make something that used multiple cabs of this agate. I also wanted to do something that utilized a wax pen and a special formula of highly flexible casting wax to ‘draw’ a design. This decorative box project fulfilled all those requirements.

“I started by making a sketch of the box that was close to the final size so I could determine the shapes and sizes of the cabs. The dimensions of the box are 3½ inches wide, 2 inches high, and 2 inches deep. I wanted all the cabs to be as similar to each other as possible. I was able to find a large enough slab of Brazilian carnelian agate from which to cut all of them.

“Next, I needed to find something that I could use as a form to ‘draw’ the box on. I had a block of glass that would work perfectly. I started out by drawing a wax design on the outer perimeter of the back of the largest cab, which was going to be mounted in the lid of the box. This first line of wax would become the seat for the cab. I used this method on all the remaining cabs.

“Next, I started drawing the prongs from this seat up over the cab, keeping the spacing nearly equidistant from each other. After finishing this, I placed the cab on the center top of the glass block and started the web pattern that was to be the top of the box. Next, I drew a continuous line around the outside of the uppermost area of the glass block, ¼ inch below the top. This would be the lower edge of the top frame. I incorporated the small cab into the latch.

“I started locating the cabs around the perimeter of the bottom area by establishing the seat for the front cab, adding the prongs, and locating the cab on the block. I drew the web pattern around it, then proceeded to do the remainder of the cabs on the sides and back. As I filled in the bottom pattern, I added four small balls to the pattern, one in each corner.  These were to be the feet for the box.

“The final step for the wax work involved shaping the wax to make two hinges for the lid and receiving tabs on the lower section. The final step before casting was to remove the cabs by flexing the prongs away from the cabs and labeling each one so I would know where they were to go during the assembly steps. The special formula wax that I use has a lot of plastic in it, so the entire wax pieces are very tough and flexible.

“Next, I attached sprues to the top piece and the bottom piece. I placed the pieces in the casting crucible, added investment, burned out the wax, and cast the pieces in a centrifugal casting machine. After the pieces were cleaned and polished, I drilled the hinge tabs for a pin. The prongs for the cabs were bent back to create the opening for the cabs. The cabs were positioned and the prongs were bent over them. I gave everything a final polish, installed the hinge pins, and hammered over the ends to hold them in place. This project turned out just as I had hoped it would and I was quite
pleased with the results.”

by Carl Rundle
February 2012

“I have been working in cabochon cutting and doing silver work for some time but mostly using either black or olive green jade,” writes February Lapidary of the Month Carl Rundle, of Pasadena, Maryland. “I wanted to incorporate jade with silver and an opportunity came up to learn about precious metal clay (PMC) at the Patuxent Lapidary Guild. The instructor thought the design that I came up with might be a little difficult for the first-time user of PMC, but I am always jumping in with both feet on things that I want to accomplish.

“I was told that the PMC shrinks about 25% when fired in the kiln. The PMC object comes out as .999 fine silver. I started with a piece of dark olive-green jade. I cut two oval cabs. The first one was 30.5mm and the second one was 24.2mm. I shaped and polished both cabs. I wanted to make my wife something special for our 43rd anniversary. She is into butterflies, and I wanted to combine jade with silver. I used a metal butterfly pendant and made a mold of it. I then filled the mold with PMC and put it on a small hot plate to dry it thoroughly before firing. If it is not thoroughly dry, the PMC will explode in the kiln.

“Once dry, the PMC is removed from the mold. I then proceeded to sand, trim and cut where needed before putting the object in the kiln. You save all the filings from your trimming and put them in a small jar with a drop of water to keep them moist. This is the silver solder that you will use to solder your pieces together.

“I was then able to use the smaller cab I had cut. I rolled out PMC and used a cap the size of the larger stone to make the PMC round for the backing of the pendant. This was also dried and baked in the kiln. I used a doming block and punch set to shape the butterfly to fit the smaller cab. I soldered the backing on the underside of the butterfly so that the small stone could slide in between the two pieces. I used a small dragonfly mold with PMC, dried it on the hot plate and baked that in the kiln also.

“I used a round piece of sterling silver wire and hammered it flat to use as a loop for the chain. The flat piece of silver was soldered to the back of the round piece. The small dragonfly was then soldered to the end of the flat piece of silver. The stone was placed in between the round piece and the silver butterfly. I used round-nose pliers on the flat silver piece to bend it to form a loop with the small dragonfly on front which holds the jade in place. I used diamond bur drills to drill out two small holes in between the two butterfly wings. I then set two red rubies into the holes.”

January 2012

Collector’s Guide to the Beryl Group, by Robert J. Lauf
Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 4880 Lower Valley Road, Atglen, PA 19310, (610) 593-1777; www.schifferbooks.com

February 2012

Gems and Minerals: Earth Treasures of the Royal Ontario Museum, by Dr. Kimberly Tait
Firefly Books Ltd.,  (800) 387-5085; www.fireflybooks.com

Cenozoic Fossils II: The Neogene, by Bruce L. Stinchcomb
Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 4880 Lower Valley Road, Atglen, PA 19310, (610) 593-1777; www.schifferbooks.com