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Sun Lakes Rock Gem & Silver Club

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Category Archives: learn

Free Time

Sun Lakes Rock Gem & Silver Club

Congratulations! You live in beautiful Sun Lakes – where most of us are retired folks who describe our days like this; “I’ve got nothing to do and all day to do it.” And right now you’re probably trying to figure out what to do with some of your new found FREE time. Easy Question: Can you name one of the largest and (we think) the best of all the clubs in Sun Lakes? Hint: Yes, it is us! So let us say “WELCOME” from the Sun Lakes Rock, Gem & Silver Club! Dumb Question: Do I have to be a … Continue reading →

Flash from the Past

Sun Lakes Rock Gem & Silver Club

The SLRGS Club has been around an exceptionally long time.  Opal M. Rickensrud was the Secretary of the Club in 1984. This a great article written by her in the Splash in April 1984. She is an entertaining writer. Makes for some fun reading. She starts by telling how a guest speaker from the National Treasure Hunters League located in Apache Junction whose subject is Metal Detectors spoke to the Club. How metal detecting sounds like a great hobby for people “our age – not too strenuous”. Do people still do that?  Sounds interesting. And their March field trip to Deming, New Mexico. Fourteen club … Continue reading →

Gorgeous Glass

Sun Lakes Rock Gem & Silver Club

Discover the world of gorgeous glass at the Sun Lakes Rock Gem and Silver Club. No need for previous experience as the club offers wonderful instructions in many types of glass. Glass has been used since Ancient Greek and Roman times. Notably stained glass to depict religious scenes in churches, etc. SLRGS offers three types of glass classes. Stained glass is cold glass. It involves cutting and combining different colored glass and textures. Then using copper foiling and soldering techniques to bind the pieces together. Fused glass which is warm glass involved using a kiln. The glass is fired at … Continue reading →

The Heart of the Club

Sun Lakes Rock Gem & Silver Club

Here is what’s Happening and How YOU can get involved. Classes are offered in a variety of skills including lapidary, lost wax, stained glass, dichroic glass, silversmithing, wire wrapping, faceting, opals, gourds and Ming trees just to mention a few. We invite you to join our club and participate in one or more of these classes. You need no background in art, just a willingness to try something new. Once you successfully complete a class you are eligible to pay a small fee and work in the open shop designated for that art form. Schedules, fees, prerequisites for advanced classes … Continue reading →

Woven Wire Bracelets

Sun Lakes Rock Gem & Silver Club

Creating wire wrapped jewelry can be fun and extremely rewarding. ​ Woven wire bracelets can be made using many kinds of wire incorporated in a multitude of designs. You can use just one specific wire or choose to mix the wire; copper, bronze, gold, or silver just to mention a few. You can use any kind of less expensive nontoxic metal wire; mixed metals are currently extremely popular. Your design can be made with thin wire such as 22 gauge or a thicker wire such as 10 to 8 gauge, the thicker the wire the lower the gauge. It is … Continue reading →

Turquoise, the Sacred Stone of the Southwest

Sun Lakes Rock Gem & Silver Club

Turquoise was thought to have been sacred pieces of the sky by Persians, Tibetans and Mayans. This stone is a combination of aluminum, copper, phosphorous, water and other local ingredients responsible for changing the color or adding matrix. The most rare and valuable stones are found right here, in the Southwest. There are about twenty mines in the Southwest United States that supply or have supplied gem quality turquoise. The most common mines are found in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada. Most of these mines have been mined out with the exception of Nevada and a few in Arizona. … Continue reading →

Lost Wax

Sun Lakes Rock Gem & Silver Club

The lost wax casting process is widely used as it offers asymmetrical casting with very fine details to be manufactured relatively inexpensively. The process involves producing a metal casting using a refractory mold made from a wax replica pattern. Steps involved in the process of lost wax casting are: Create a wax pattern of your piece. Pre-made wax patterns are available in our shops. Sprue the wax pattern. Mix Investment material, add to can with the wax pattern. Set to harden. Eliminate the wax pattern by melting it (inside the furnace or in hot water). This will create a new … Continue reading →

Precious Metal Clay (PMC)

Sun Lakes Rock Gem & Silver Club

One of the more interesting classes being offered through Sun Lakes Rock Gem and Silver class is Precious Metal Clay (PMC). No special tools are required and the results are only restricted only by the imagination of the students to transform a clay-like substance into any shape they desire. Under the tutelage of an instructor they learn to mold, texture and form the clay into jewelry and other small objects of decor. Once they are satisfied with the form, it is dried under heat to a leather-like texture. Then it is cleaned, trimmed and rough edges removed for the final … Continue reading →

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