Club hours

Please see the ‘Contact’ tab to register your intention to visit the clubhouse (for COVID-compliance):

Tuesday & Thursday evenings from 7.00 pm – 9.00 pm.
NOTE: On the 3rd Tuesday night of every month, the workshop is closed for a monthly General Meeting.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday from 9.00 am – 12 noon.

The club has 4 weeks recess from December until the 3rd week in January.

NOTE: Our monthly General Meetings are held on the 3rd Tuesday night of each month, so this may not be a good time to make your first visit to our clubhouse.

The Toowoomba Lapidary Club provides its members with tuition in cutting precious and semi-precious gemstones as well as training in basic silversmithing techniques. This tuition is provided by volunteer club members.

The club operates under Workplace Health & Safety guidelines as outlined for Voluntary organisations, with safety training not only being a duty-of-care for all club members, but also a legal requirement. An Orientation Manual is provided to all new club members as part of their orientation and induction training. A Code of Practice provides a summary of these WH&S guidelines and all prospective club members are provided with this information before they join.

Visitors are welcome to pop in to look around and evaluate whether they’d like to join the club.

NOTE: The Management Committee will assess young family members between the ages of 10 and 12 years, to see if they have the capabilities to join as a Junior club member (as per our Workplace Health and Safety guidelines). Children below the age of 10 cannot become members because they are not covered by Public Liability insurance.

Being a member of the Toowoomba Lapidary Club definitely gives you an edge. You can learn where to fossick for your own rough material. Then you learn how to identify what you have found. And then, you can learn the art of cutting, whether they be precious or semi-precious stones.

Tuition in the club workshop is available to members 

Cabochon tuition:
Cabbing for Beginners courses are arranged as required (usually a 1-day weekend workshop).
Once new members have attended a Cabbing for Beginners course, they can integrate into a Tuesday and Thursday evening workshop with further support.

Faceting tuition:
(Currently suspended). Tuesday & Thursday evenings when available.

Silversmithing:       
Silver Artistry with Clare Poppi – date as per arrangement. Usually a full-day workshop on a weekend.

  • NOTE: All new/joining members MUST receive an Club Orientation (WH&S requirement for voluntary organisations) prior to beginning ANY training (cabochon, faceting and silversmithing). This will ONLY be available on a Tuesday or Thursday evening when the clubhouse is open.
  • NOTE:  General Meetings are held on the 3rd Tuesday of each month from 7.00 – 8.00 pm (except January).

Cabbing for Beginners training:  When a person becomes a new club member, and they have received their Club Orientation (either on a Tuesday or Thursday night), then the first training will be to attend the ‘Cabbing for Beginners’ sessions.

  • Material covered includes: sufficient theory to understand definitions, identify shapes, and learn the steps in cabochon cutting. ‘How to select material’, ‘Cutting for jewellery’ and ‘WH&S regarding chemical properties’ (why we cut stones under water) are briefly covered. It includes an introduction to the workshop and how it is set up, and an orientation to the machinery during each stage of the cabochon cutting.
  • Each beginner will complete the first of five projects during this 6-hour training period.