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Decmber 1994 Edition
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Dear Ultra Tec Cousin,
I often credit some Ultra Tec cousin for getting me to do a Newsletter -
someone who stirs me out of my lethargy. During the past year, several
people stirred me pretty good ( I suspect that age makes one harder to
stir ), but something always conspired against it - and the year almost
got away. But finally, in time to serve as a Holiday Greetings (
Yes to you all! ) is the Ultra Tec "Some Times"
NOTEWORTHY AT ULTRA TEC
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My son Robert has now joined Ultra Tec full time. He graduated from the
University of So.California in June with a degree in Business. I tend to
question the practical value of "school learning", but he's
already contributed to shaping us up. We might actually start to run like
a business.
Several of you have asked if I plan to retire. I consider that I retired
over 20 years ago, when I made the Ultra Tec business my hobby - a hobby I
plan to pursue for at least 30 years more. I am going to try to take some
more days off (I here declare it publicly in hope that it will help me
really do it).
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[Now, for those of you who are sceptics in regard to "the
conspiracy that prevents me from gettmg this letter done--at this point in
the writing, the phone rang, and it was Maxine, who had gone out to the
local pharmacy, reporting that our car had just been stolen. The next
hours {set aside to do this letter) were devoted to police reports and
finding a rental car on Thanksgiving eve--not easy) so that we could get
to the airport to pick up visiting relatives (our other vehicle being a
pickup truck)--OK? Conspiracy or not.] Well, back to the matter at
hand--quite a few days later:
VISITING AROUND:
Michigan--In August we visited the annual Faceting Seminar given by the
Midwest Faceters Guild. It's held in Hartland, Michigan, where a school is
available, with a very good setup--different classrooms for different
levels, ranging from beginners to experienced facetors.
Having visited this group before, I knew to expect a lively, enjoyable,
and of course, educational weekend. The Guild members really pitch in and
help - I'd like to give recognition to them all, but I'd run out of space
- in particular, however, I want to mention Kathleen Myers and Bill
Horton, who chaired the seminar.
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(Bill,
incidentally, was awarded the Crystalite "Outstanding Gem Cutter of
94" - well deserved). One of the best things about any of these
visits is the chance to get together with the "good ol' boys, and
girls". Many I'd met before; many others I'd spoken to on the phone;
and, of course, there were new friends too. Among them was Joe Kossak,
who passed along an idea for a Transfer Fixture Calibration Rod ( the
"Kossak Kalibrator"? ) - more about that later on in this
letter, under the "New Stuff" heading.
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On to New York
New York was our next stop, where we had a chance to visit with the
faceting group of the Nassau County Gem and Mineral Society. We found
their very nice facility in the Garvey's Point Museum, in Glen Cove.
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George Castas, the faceting
instructor, was leading a group of about 15 facetors on the day we visited
(many of these were Ultra Tec facetors, I was pleased to see)
There were perhaps 40 people in various other lapidary activities in the
busy workshop. Talk about meeting old friends! Maxine spotted the name
Seymour Trepel on a locker - he was there- a neighbour of 50 ( ! ) years
ago. They had plenty to talk about - like what ever happened to .....?
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Southern California
Facetors Guild
- Much closer to home - I spoke at their October meeting. I took the
occasion to add an old Ultra Tec mast, one of the first ones made,to their
collection of "faceting antiques". That was a good lead-in to my
talk, which was about changes on the Ultra Tec machine over the years.
Some changes are very apparent, but others (I added up about 20 changes)
not so apparent - and some completely hidden. Going in, I was afraid a
technical discussion about the equipment (rather than about faceting)
might not be interesting to the group, but it went well (quite a few of
them are Southern California engineers). Anyhow, they said they liked it -
and few things were thrown at me.
Shows
Ultra Tec attended two shows--the Southern California Faceters Guild
Show, in September, at the Orange County Fairgrounds, and, in
November, the Northern California Faceters Fair in Sacramento, at
the California State Fair Grounds. I worked the first day of the Southern
show, and Robert Rubin and Gus Munoz worked the second day--(following up
on the plan to have the young folks involved). I learned that Ken
Leifeste (we wrote about him in an earlier letter, when he won an
Ultra Tec Award), an active Guild member, who was demonstrating on his
Ultra Tec, as he had often done, was retiring "home" to Texas,
near San Antonio. We'll miss him around here, but I'm sure we'll hear from
him. Maxine and I had planned to be in Sacramento, but then we learned
that an overseas customer was to be in town--and so Gus and Delores worked
the show (they have three children now, but with Grandma and Grandpa to do
the baby sitting, the trip worked out--and, of course, they enjoyed it,
for more reasons than three). Gus reports that we had several
demonstrating Ultra Teckers, and our appreciation to Les Sylvester,
Charlie Dortch, E.R. Buchanan, and Dan Lutton.
FACETING TIPS:
Stop the splashing
This is an "upgrade"of an earlier tip: when working on a
stone's girdle, with the edge of the Splashguard pulled down, there's some
splashing that occurs - out of the pulled-down opening. To greatly reduce
that splashing, wedge a sponge between the Lap and the Splashguard, right
before the opening - it wipes away the water that accumulates along the
edge of the lap - from which the water makes its "jump". Here's
the upgrade: instead of using a clip to keep the sponge in place - we
suggest using a particular sponge: a dishwashing type - with a coarse
scraping surface on one side (a brand readily available is 3M Scotch-Brite).
The coarse side's pressing against the Splashquard keeps it in place, and
the sponge side does its job of wiping away the water (and no clip to
wrestle with) - it's nice.
A Water additive
From Dr. Lee Fent, of Newton, Kansas, comes advice for an
additive to driptank water. He and the late Dr. Henry Owens ( who supplied
us with "Polyflow" which some of you may remember) tried many
facet mixtures - seeking one to keep the lap cleaner, make the water
wetter, and hasten and smoothen the cutting and polishing process. Dr.
Fent says he's happy with the following mixture:
Isopropyl alcohol (70% kind) one pint
Kodak Photoflow 200
1 teaspoon
Glycerine
1 Oz. (30 cc)
Water to make
1 gallon
(your tap water may be OK--but may have grit in it)
Use a glass jug - some plastic containers are OK, but the ones that aren't
separate at the seam.
Dr. Fent suggests that when using an oxide for polish, on a tin or lucite
lap, add 1 oz. of 5% vinegar to the solution.
"Extender Fluid"
for thinning diamond solutions. Users of this may notice that it is no
longer on our pricelist. We recommend the use of mineral oil for the
purpose - the kind you get at a drugstore. If you rub it on your baby, you
can call it Baby Oil, and if you rub it on your lap you can call it
Extender Fluid. It will cost you less.
This is not quite a faceting idea
but it uses the Ultra Tec Faceting machine and the Saw Kit. It's from the
irrepressible Jim Feldman, of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and it deals
with cutting pieces for making Opal mosaics. The drawing alone doesn't
tell the whole story--so read the instruction (I underlined what I felt
was the "key" to this process).
1) Make saw cuts into dopped opal to include desired strata.
a) Saw at right angles, or any other direction
depending on the shape of pieces desired.
b) Fill all kerfs with epoxy or other cement to
avoid corners breaking off when sawing slices (as in step 2).
2) Saw across the chunk, obtaining the desired thickness for use-- perhaps
1 mm (.040").
3) Set the slices with cement attached in solvent, long enough to soften
and be removed.
Jim says: "This works!"
NEW STUFF
There are a few special things - perhaps of the not-for-everybody sort,
but interesting:
CALIBRATION BAR
for transfer fixture. As I mentioned above, this one was recommended by Joe
Kossack when I spoke to him at the seminar in Michigan (Yes, Joe, it
is a little different--I had to put my 2¢ into it). This picture tells
most of the story:
When we do the assembly of the Transfer fixture, we line up
the-part-that-provides-the-keying by using a dial indicator. We tighten
the screws well, but suppose you bump it hard enough to move it, or
suppose you purposely remove that part and need to remount it, or suppose
you're the type that just likes to realign things? This calibration bar
lets you realign the keying feature.
A Giant-sized TRANSFER FIXTURE
I can't say this was "recommended"-it sort of
"happened", or better, was "forced" upon us by Stephan
Kotlowski of upstate New York. Stephan is a professional cutter who
undertook some doorknob-sized stones, and needed a transfer fixture
of this size--it allows up to a 6" diameter girdle. The overall
dimension is 10" and the maximum distance between blocks is
6"--it's not keyed (it doesn't have to be on such a large stone).
To make one of anything is very expensive (Stephan was shocked at the
price asked by his local machine shop - and more shocked when I told him
the man would lose money if he took him up on it). But, we made Stephan a
deal - he'd pay our out-of-pocket cost (quite a bit), and we'd try to sell
more at some price that might work - and if the buyers were there, we'd
give him a rebate. It was a deal he couldn't refuse. I thought there might
be some people who would like a transfer fixture this size (now, don't ask
for a bigger one - or, for that matter, a smaller one - this is a
"one size fits all''). There's a grand total of one on the shelf -
and we'll make more if there are orders. It's expensive, yes
(unless you need one). Its on the price list under "Special Purpose
Accessories".
Wasn't there another "New Thing" in the works?
Definitely yes It came within a whisker of being in this newsletter, and
it's almost ready. I'd actually written a descriptive paragraph - we made
the prototype - it works fine - but, I don't want to announce something
that's not on-the-shelf in its final production mode.
So, perhaps it will inspire a newsletter a lot earlier in 1995. How
about this?--you folks send in some "tips". or designs, or any
interesting news--that will fill my "ONL" file quickly--and with
a "New Thing" ready to go--an early newsletter could result. |
DR & DRP DOP CHUCRS
[NOTE: people with machines purchased in the past several years don't
have to bother reading this section - we used to have a design that used
"dop chucks" and unkeyed dops, and this is for people who chose
not to convert to the current design.]
Most existing machines have been converted to the current direct-insertion
keyed-dop design, and consequently, orders for DR and DRP dop chucks
("Draw-Rod", with a slot--and "Draw Rod,
Pin" with a pin) have become very small. A straight business
approach dictated a halt of production on these (I'd even told dealers
that we would). But, having myself been an unhappy victim to product
phase-out, a battle with my conscience ensued--and my conscience won. So,
we will continue to supply DR and DRP dop chucks for the foreseeable
future. The price has edged higher - when quantity goes down, costs go up.
The chuck's front end |
| is new (we've learned some
lessons from the new spindle)--collars and twisting caps are gone, in
favor of set screw retention. The dop is held much more firmly, and it is
comparatively free from later problems of wear. This sketch tells the
story: |
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Do you want to STOP GETTING THIS NEWSLETTER?
It's easy. All you have to do is do nothing.
Do you want to CONTINUE GETTING THIS NEWSLETTER?
that's a little harder--you have to send back the enclosed postcard.
Sending a newsletter is expensive and we'd like to pare the list down to
interested people. Please don't be lazy about this. We did this before,
some years ago, and some people who didn't respond, and consequently
didn't get more newsletters, complained, but they knew who was really to
blame.
MISCELLANEOUS
OK, so the heading says "December"--it is December as I write
this, but after speaking to our printer I realize you won't get the
newsletter until January - well, not too late to wish you Happy New
Year...
Avonnia, who was with us for two years, got an offer she couldn't refuse
from a prior employer, so she's no longer with us. So, we're seeking a
replacement....
New production machine - we've just installed a new computer
controlled machine (for you "knowers", it's a Hardinge T-42),
and now all our production is done on computer controlled machines. One of
the main advantages is the assured quality of parts - with incredible
accuracy and repeatability (like the Ultra Tec)....
Anybody for a trek in the hills? How about the Himalayas!? Geologist, and
Ultra Tec facetor Alan Bassett has been resident in Katmandu,
Nepal, in the shadow of Mt. Everest, for a number of years - and he's
interested in taking a tour group up to the gem mines of Nepal. If that's
something in which you'd be interested, contact me, and I can put you in
touch with him - sounds fantastic.
Many of you know Al Huebler, who represented Ultra Tec in New
Mexico until his recent move to Australia, with his Australian bride,
Helen. Sad to report - he has written us that he's been stricken with
what's known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. I've taken the liberty of sending
him your best wishes, along with our own.
On a happy note--did you know Maxine and I are Grandparents now? The baby,
a boy (Michael) is now a year old (arriving after the last newsletter) and
is altogether an extraordinary child--exceptionally intelligent and
handsome. Just ask Maxine if that's not true. He already knows how to turn
on a faceting machine (and anything else with a switch or button). And
says MAMA and HOT--how's that!!
UNTIL NEXT TIME...
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THE SOME TIMES DESIGNS
KRAZY RAT
Here's a 77 design - by who else than good ol' reliable Bob Hall,
of Pinellas Park, Florida. We're all indebted to him for his inspirations.
This one is the "Krazy Katt" - an eleven fold brilliant. Bob cut
the prototype in a light blue synthetic spinel of 12 mm diameter. It has a
non-faceted girdle. The angles are for spinel--and if you haven't caught
on yet--the index gear is the 77. |
Index 77
PAVILION
Angle
Index
1- 60°
77-07-14-21-28-35-42-49-56-63-70
2- 50°
02-09-16-23-30-37-44-51-58-65-72
3- 46°
04-11-18-25-32-39-46-53-60-67-74
4- 42°
06-13-20-27-34-41-48-55-62-69-76
CROWN
Angle
Index
1- 43°
77-07-14-21-28-35-42-49-56-63-70
2- 35°
02-09-16-23-30-37-44-51-58-65-72
3- 27°
04-11-18-25-32-39-46-53-60-67-74
4- 22°
04-11-18-25-32-39-46-53-60-67-74
0° Table about 54%
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Designs anyone? I do have one or two in reserve, but I'd sure welcome a
few more.
To remind you, we offer undying fame - a mention in the Some Times.
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Newsworthy items? Do you have a club or guild that you'd like to give some
publicity?
Do you have a faceting tip? Whatever - don't be shy. We'll rush them into
print. |
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