I would like to pose a question to the Fraternity of Insulator Collectors. "Should an Insulator be altered in any means after the find? " I'm not talking about the normal cleaning regardless of what methods are used. Neither am I referring to the use of extreme heat to change color as we all know some unscrupulous people have and are using.

What I'm talking about is that rare "old bird" that has several dings or dongs or even very dangerous sharp edges.

As we all know a small ding will have an area of small shattered glass that looks white and detracts from the color. We have that other situation where a portion of the glass has been broken leaving a very sharp edge. I don't believe that any serious collector has not been cut at least once.

For sometime now, I have been playing around with some abrasives on the run of the mill stuff.

At first, these were strictly confined to cleaning. This finally led to removing the unsightly effects of dings and the dulling of sharp edges. I have also acquired a certain amount of success with Insulators that have been etched.

All work thus far has been on worthless material or insulators that are a part of my collection.

Method or means I do not intend to discuss however, if the idea is accepted as being 100% ethical (no additions, only removals) we could make this a matter of future subject material.

Certainly up to now I have found that the effort required to accomplish the objective is not in direct proportion to any improved value of the insulator.

Of course, I would propose that any piece that is altered in any way should be so stated in a trade or sale.

Come on, readers, give me your ideas, pro and con, on this matter and lets help ''Dora'' make this magazine a real success in a hobby that is just in its infancy.

In all fairness, if "Crown Jewels" elects to publish this, I think all acceptances or rebuttals should be addressed to me and I will try to give all an answer through "Crown Jewels. "

A job like this is too big to drop on the magazine's existing staff.