Are you interested in looking for rocks and gems?
Are you interested in learning how to prepare a stone for polishing?
We welcome visitors and new members!
Have fun, share experiences and learn from the experts in our midst!
Our workshop activities each Thursday, have begun and usually, alternate between the grounds of Batemans Bay Heritage Museum and the President’s home, from 10 am to 2 pm.
Please refer to the News page or the Calendar (Home page, Upcoming Events column on right if using a computer or at the bottom of the page if using a mobile device ) for further details.
Please add your emergency contact details and serious health issues to the back of your name badge.
Please remember Covid restrictions apply and members will need to contact us if planning to come.
Upcoming event: Monday 15th March: to Grenfell, staying at the caravan park and fossicking in the local area.
We had previously established a workshop at The Original Gold Rush Colony at Mogo which was devastated by bushfires in January. It is very exciting to announce a new partnership with Batemans Bay Heritage Museum providing us with a place from which to operate.
View photos of February 2021 Trip
View Museum and our new location
View our showcases at Batemans Bay Heritage Museum.
A wonderful donation from Barrie Hapgood!
Join us for a meeting where we discuss club matters and correspondence from affiliated lapidary clubs, report on excursions held, plan new trips and activities and examine “show and tell” specimens of fossils, gems, minerals and items of interest brought along by members.
We welcome members to undertake courses, in cutting, polishing and cabochon making.
We conduct fossicking trips and visits to sites of geological interest in our local area. Weekend excursions are held regionally and at times, extended interstate fossicking trips.
Lapidary is the art of cutting and polishing stone. There are four basic lapidary arts: tumbling, cabbing, faceting, and carving.
Tumbling
Rough gem material is placed into a tumbler, a revolving barrel with abrasives. Progressively finer grits or abrasives are used until the gem is polished. This process closely resembles what happens to rocks in a stream or on the beach.
Cabbing
Cabbing or cabochon cutting is probably the most common form of lapidary arts. Cabochons or “cabs” are gems cut with a flat bottom and a curved or domed top.
Faceting
Through a mechanical process of cutting surfaces on a piece of crystal, beautiful gems are created. At present, as we don’t have access to a faceting machine, no faceting activities are being undertaken.
