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The Mid Tennessee Gem & Mineral Society, Inc. (MTGMS) is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) chartered to offer educational programs related to Earth Science and Lapidary Arts (Jewelry Making) in Middle Tennessee. To accomplish this mission, MTGMS has partnered for many years with FiftyForward Donelson Station in Donelson and Coffee County Senior Citizens Center in Tullahoma to offer Lapidary Arts classes. These two Centers’ offer the classrooms space, while MTGMS offers the tools, equipment and outstanding Instructor’s. A small course fee is, charges, which goes to the Center, and a small maintenance fee is charged which goes to MTGMS to cover the upkeep and cost of tools and equipment. Most classes meet a few hours once a week during the daytime, nighttime, or on Saturday. The courses continue over a period of 6 to 12 weeks during each of the four quarter. In some cases, courses are offered for a 3-day weekend class or a 5-day weekly class. The weekend classes are offered during the last month in each quarter and the week long classes are offered during the Summer Quarter. Class Schedules and Sign Ups
FiftyForward Donelson Station
School – 615.883.8375
Faceted Gemstones Silver Jewelry Wire Art Jewelry
The Lapidary Classroom is where you learn to cut cabochons out of various materials like opal, jade, agate, and jasper. The room is equipment with a number of Genies, saws, and polishers for the students use. The Lapidary courses can handle up to 10 students per class depending on the skill level of students who signup. The regular Lapidary courses run 12 weeks (quarter) and are offered during the week day and night. Special course study may be at other times. In a Lapidary class, you learn how to cut and polish different gemstone materials, which can be cut to go into Jewelry. You learn how to saw the rough stones into slabs and then trim, before you start shaping the stone. All the equipment uses diamond in the grinding and sawing process. You use one of the grinder/polishers to form the stone, round the top, and then polish the completed stone, ready to go into your jewelry project. It is a place where much is learned, but more important, a place to make friends for a lifetime. In the Lapidary Classes, you will be given an agate or jasper to use for your first stone if you’re a beginner. After that material is available from MTGMS for sale at a very low price and even other students or instructors may have different material they have collected, for sale. Lapidary Cabochons Coffee County Senior Citizens Center –
931.455.2504
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Last Revised on
May 30, 2011 |
(Updated 03-14-2012)
The
Metal’s Classroom is where skilled and experienced Instructors
teach Silver Jewelry, Wire Jewelry, PMC Jewelry, Cold Connection Jewelry,
Gemstone Faceting, and other subjects on a weekly basis. These classes may be
for beginner and/or advanced level to better accommodate your skills. Many of
these classes are 6-week classes to allow more students the chance to take a
class. You do not need to be a member of either the Center or MTGMS, but your
class fee, which goes to the Center, will be higher for non-members. Besides the
Course Fee, which goes to the Center, a small Maintenance Fee is charges for
each course, which goes to MTGMS. MTGMS and/or the Instructors provide the tools
you will need. You may bring your on materials needed for the course, or in most
cases the Instructor will have materials available for sale. In some courses,
the Instructor may require an instructor fee to cover kits, supplies and printed
material. All Instructors volunteer their time to teach classes, so their fee
maybe to help cover their transportation cost.
At
the Tullahoma Center, Lapidary is behind the center in a metal building next to
the driveway. It has two rooms, one for the cutting and polishing of cabochons,
and the front room, which is used to teach Faceting and how to make Silver
Jewelry, Wire Jewelry, and Cold Connection Jewelry. Courses are offered during
the weekday, at night, and on Saturday. Tullahoma requires that you be a member
of the Center. A class fee is charged for each course with that money going to
help support the MTGMS classes. The funds are used to buy and maintain the
equipment. Some classes may have an Instructor fee to cover transportation
and/or materials supplied. Some classes may require you to buy the kits offered
for the course. For more information contact the Center or Ken Swan. Map
mtgms.org