First I would like to apologize to the whole forum for being a part
of this personal attack campaign, my only excuse being I am subject
to all the frailties of the human condition. To get back to the
subject that started this thread. The forum has more than once
discussed the proper use of glues, and many state baldly that is it a
practice to be abhorred. I must admit as a beginning lapidary/jeweler
I started out as a misguided “purist” which may be why I react so
strongly to the pedagogues. Making a statement such as “doublets
always come apart” is obviously absurd on the face of it. Putting
stone together with adhesives has been around much longer than even
us old farts on this forum. It really doesn’t matter if you like the
practice or not, feel it is beneath you or not, the reality is there
are examples of great pieces of jewelry and art in general in every
museum and important collection in the world with different forms of
assembled works. Possibly with the exception of those who refused to
allow the like in their collection because of their own tastes.
Professors and their students are digging up examples somewhere in
this world as I type. For more pertinent purposes you can look these
names up on the internet: Steve Walters, Kreg Scully, Richard Shull,
Michael Dyber, Lew Wackler, Kevin Lane Smith, and my personal
lapidary hero Henry Hunt, inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005, as
announced in a JCK publication. Their are of course many, many more.
Mr. Hunt’s books are in their 4th publication. and should be required
reading for any serious lapidary and jeweler. If you can possibly
afford it, every jeweler that reads these postings should subscribe
to Lapidary Journal, where Merle and her people have kept the flame
burning through some pretty tough times in the publishing world. I
hope I haven’t offended too many people with the previous hyperbole,
and please forgive me for wasting your time with all that. BUT, this
is something, as a 40+ year lapidary that I hope you hear. The
freedom that it will give you and your designs (once you master the
techniques) will bring great joy to your work, and your customers
will feel it! Thomas III
I have made opal doublets (probably the most common doublet
available) but have used some other materials that I have come across
as cut stones, vih garnet back, amethyst and rock crystal ditto. All
of these were taken from old jewellery and were quite common in late
victorian times. I will say that making doublets needs the right
selection of adhesive and only a couple of epoxies reaaly do a good
job. Petropoxy and G1 epoxy from Gatan (available under other trade
names). Both very low viscosity, noelasticity or softening in
acetone. Nick Royall
I for one have LJ’s going back to the late 50’s (that fortunately did
not get destroyed in Katrina as they were stored at my parent’s
home!)…i wouldn’t part with the subscription or Rock and Gem
(despite their rerunning all too similar articles every few years!)
and even though some of the new format and editor (well I guess
after 10 or maybe even 15 years now Merle isn’t so new any more)
there is still a lot to be learned issue to issue. Still not wild
about "Jewelry Artist " as it is somewhere between Lapidary Journal
and Klambach’s “Art Jewlery” magazine but didn’t cancel along with
the host of past subscribers that flipped out when the announcement
was made and the first issues arrived. and lapidary seemed to be put
on a back burner. relative to past content. Fortunately I have all
those years of LJ (and all those stone faceting guides that were
included monthly, DIY plans for saws, lapping machines, etc.) to pull
out now and then. and there are even some discussions about adhesives
and stabilisers in them pre-World Wide Web ! So its nothing new to
disagree about using a smear of adhesive to attach a quartz cap to a
slice of rock or gem material, or if glass caps aren’t the same as
quartz when selling a doublet ot triplet!..life goes on. everyone
has a rant periodically. We are flexible on Orchid!
Fortunately I have all those years of LJ (and all those stone faceting guides that were included monthly, DIY plans for saws, lapping machines, etc.) to pull out now and then. and there are even some discussions about adhesives and stabilisers in them pre-World Wide Web ! So its nothing new to disagree about using a smear of adhesive to attach a quartz cap to a slice of rock or gem material, or if glass caps aren't the same as quartz when selling a doublet ot triplet!...life goes on. everyone has a rant periodically. We are flexible on Orchid!
Wow! You probably don’t know how much better reading that makes me
feel. Allowing my political leanings to spill over like that, is
about as embarrassing as it gets. Whether I am a bleeding heart
liberal, or not, should not be a part of the forum’s discussion, as
no one should care. I have never put up any photos of my work,
because I have always had poor results with my attempts at good
quality shots. I used to use one of those Polaroid one to one camera
set ups to give my customers with a list of materials used, date
made, and signature on the back, for insurance purposes. But Polaroid
has gone the way of the Dodos, so I am sitting on hundreds of
Polaroids that need cleaned up because of age, and then somehow
digitized. I checked Scancafe, and will probably have them do my
transparencies and slides that a professional did for me each year,
so I could get into decent shows, but when I stopped doing shows
(about 1998) I stopped getting quality photos. Paying for a
professional service to do everything is not only too expensive, but
pointless, as I am semi-retired anyway. But if there are any of you
out there that care, and have a collection of old Lapidary Journals,
I am in the dealers addition 1997. Please realize (if you take the
time), that I have grown for better or worse, in the last decade or
so. Thanks for allowing me to save some face! Thomas III