For those tiny crystals http://www.mindat.org/msgboard-60.html Sun, 29 Nov 2009 11:34:19 +0000 Phorum 5.2.8-RC1 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,161081,161081#msg-161081 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,161081,161081#msg-161081 Thanks!]]> Barb Matz Micromounting Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:19:05 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,161080,161080#msg-161080 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,161080,161080#msg-161080 Thanks!]]> Barb Matz Micromounting Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:46:20 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,160783,160783#msg-160783 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,160783,160783#msg-160783 Joseph Taggart, Jr. Micromounting Sun, 29 Nov 2009 08:30:25 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,160739,160739#msg-160739 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,160739,160739#msg-160739 ROBERT A SANTEE Micromounting Sat, 28 Nov 2009 08:30:01 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,159153,159153#msg-159153 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,159153,159153#msg-159153 ROBERT A SANTEE Micromounting Sat, 28 Nov 2009 08:38:55 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,158525,158525#msg-158525 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,158525,158525#msg-158525
Well, its November. If you want to go around again, please confirm. I will look at doing a name draw in a couple of weeks.

Regards
Steve

For rules see either first swap [www.mindat.org] or Ning site [microminerals.ning.com]]]> Steve Sorrell Micromounting Sun, 29 Nov 2009 07:59:39 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,156731,156731#msg-156731 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,156731,156731#msg-156731
I think they'd be great for storing my growing micrmount and thumbnail collection. Any information is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Robert]]> Robert Miller Micromounting Sat, 28 Nov 2009 08:41:03 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,156416,156416#msg-156416 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,156416,156416#msg-156416 Even though I am not directly participating, I have been following the threads on the travelling boxes. I find that I am extremely curious as to what the contents of those boxes are. I am certain I am not alone.
Is there any possibility that those participating members who have digital cameras could take a quick digital snap of what they have received in the mail and post it along with their comments to this thread? I for one would love to see!

greg slak]]> greg slak Micromounting Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:09:35 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,152716,152716#msg-152716 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,152716,152716#msg-152716 Joseph Taggart, Jr. Micromounting Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:00:03 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,152290,152290#msg-152290 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,152290,152290#msg-152290
Anyone have either:

1) a source for readymade arrows; or
2) a quick easy way to make arrows?

By "arrows", I mean those tiny pointed bits of sticky tape/material that point to area of interest on a micromount?

I'm finding that many of my specimens often need some examination before I find the reason for saving/mounting. It gets even worse when showing same to someone who often has no clue as to what they're supposed to see...

"You mean the quartz crystals?"
"No, the tiny brown plate nestled down in..."
"I don't see it - where?"

Thanks in advance!

Hans]]> Johannes Swarts Micromounting Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:02:27 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,151698,151698#msg-151698 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,151698,151698#msg-151698 NZ Micro-Mineral Group
Will make it a lot easier to update and also will be posting a daily (hopefully!!) link of interest to micro mineral collectors.

Todays link is to a PDF file of the 1913 edition of the Minerals of NZ.

Regards
Rod]]> Rod Martin Micromounting Sun, 13 Sep 2009 09:22:37 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,147979,147979#msg-147979 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,147979,147979#msg-147979
How many of these boxes get reused over and over I wonder?

Regards
Steve]]> Steve Sorrell Micromounting Mon, 10 Aug 2009 00:10:59 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,146161,146161#msg-146161 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,146161,146161#msg-146161 By this, I mean that the only minerals you collect are micros,

I am about 99.999 percent a strict micromounter. Clearly this is a choice, and in
my case I think it is driven by what I enjoy most on one hand, and the fact that a person
just can't do everything on the other. At this time I have maybe 3 or 4 miniatures that
have drifted my way, and intend at the first chance to give them to a friend who will
appreciate them. By that time I will have admired and enjoyed them to my satisfaction.
Of course if they were potential micro material, then they would get broken up,
a mount or two made, and the remnants passed along to other mounters, if any
of the remnants had merit (as they often do).

I also really strive to put my mounts in the one size of micro box I have chosen.
A few choice items (very few) stay in some kind of larger box. Also I have some mounts
of historic interest that I keep in their original boxes with original labels. These are what
I call "xenomounts" (what another fellow calls "OP's" for "other peoples" mounts). I only
do this when I know who the mounter is and keep a record of that. I need to enlarge my
collection of such by trading some of my mounts with you, dear reader. When I get mounts
from some unknown source (as I sometimes do), I almost always remount them. This gains
uniformity of course, but also - I hate to say it - I am usually far from satisfied with the
craftsmanship of what comes my way.

I thusly tend to push the envelope in trimming material into my chosen box (in my case the
althor type box, although I buy mine from FLS enterprises, who I think provides a nicer
box of the althor size). I have sometimes regretted not using a larger box, but I also know
a fellow using the slightly larger box (of the size once or still provided by Minresco), who now
laments the fact that his boxes cost 60+ cents (mine cost 17 cents at last purchase).
I am well aware of the "don't risk it, use a bigger box" saying, but I am only involved in a tragedy
very rarely and find it much easier to organize and enjoy a uniformly packaged collection.
As it was put to me, "it is the micromounters job to get the specimen in the box".]]> Tom Trebisky Micromounting Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:54:10 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,145123,145123#msg-145123 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,145123,145123#msg-145123
Eddy Vervloet BE
Chad Cramer USA
Jon Mommers AU
Eric Fritzsch USA
Etienne Médard FR
Steve Stuart USA
Barb Matz USA
Ron LePage USA
and back to me...

Hope you all find something to your liking, and keep us posted!]]> Eddy Vervloet Micromounting Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:07:09 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,143589,143589#msg-143589 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,143589,143589#msg-143589 for micromounting in Mid August. I am proposing a wonderful location in Abbotsford B.C. which is just across the Washington
border at Sumas. Please let me know if you want to get together, and we can work out a date that is good for everybody.]]> Ray Hill Micromounting Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:22:24 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,143585,143585#msg-143585 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,143585,143585#msg-143585
Here's a bizarre question. I don't know the most appropriate forum for this question, but I figure our micromounting friends would be the most likely to have run into this stuff before. Has anyone ever seen or owned any flagstaffite? It's said to be a rare mineral, only found here in Flagstaff, Arizona. Mindat says "alluvial debris washed down from nearby mountains, in buried tree trunks." as the geological setting. Anyway, I'm just curious to know how prevalent this stuff is. I would love to come across some one day. If anyone has any experience with this stuff, I'd like to know anything you can tell me about it!

I have gone out and looked for it, but no luck. Since it's formed in buried tree trunks, I'm thinking that, possibly, it was only formed in extraordinary circumstances? It's not like every rotting tree up here has some. Are there other minerals formed in similar conditions? If anyone does have experience collecting it, or anything similar, what should I look for?

Well, any info would be appreciated! Thanks everyone!

Edit: Flagstaffite is classified as an "organic compound" but is crystallized. Are organic compounds not technically minerals? Either way, I still like it. Since the Flagstaff area is so denuded of good minerals, I'm forced to seek out 2mm clear organic compound crystals!

Ben Kirchner
WorldWideWoot]]> Ben Kirchner Micromounting Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:10:55 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,143132,143132#msg-143132 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,143132,143132#msg-143132
I ask because I've got a huge backlog of self-collected material, all rough, untrimmed that needs to be in other loving homes - if I trim & mount then I would prefer to sell somehow but if the rough is acceptable then donation to that loving home or trade into that loving home would work....

Comments?????......

Don S.]]> Don Saathoff Micromounting Wed, 16 Sep 2009 02:15:05 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,142348,142348#msg-142348 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,142348,142348#msg-142348 Here is the route for this one:

Mark Willoughby AU
Horst Windish SA
Maggie Wilson CA
Bill Lechner CA
Jacques Valverde FR
Rui Nunes PT
Michel Blondieau BE
Edward Johnson US
Mark Willoughby AU

Enjoy,

Eddy]]> Eddy Vervloet Micromounting Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:58:51 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,142085,142085#msg-142085 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,142085,142085#msg-142085 Here is the flowlist:

Jason B. Smith USA
Jean-Marc Johannet France
Steffen Michalski Germany
Robert Miller USA
Dieter Mylius Australia
Joe Mulvey USA
Mark Willoughby Australia
Jim Daly USA

Keep us posted!]]> Eddy Vervloet Micromounting Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:16:56 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,141789,141789#msg-141789 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,141789,141789#msg-141789 I propose we reserve this thread to follow up on this box and I will open another thread as
soon as I have all the addresses for Jason's Box number 2! Just missing one.

Here is the flow for Box Number 1:

Eddy Vervloet - Belgium
Antonio Borrelli - Italy
Jon Mommers - Australia
Andy Givens - USA
Robert Rothenberg - USA
Steve Sorrell - Australia
Keith Compton - Australia
Donald Peck - USA

Kind regards,

Eddy]]> Eddy Vervloet Micromounting Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:30:13 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,141583,141583#msg-141583 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,141583,141583#msg-141583
Eddy Vervloet has come up with an excellent idea for getting an International trade going. See Mindat post [www.mindat.org]

As an extension to this, I have suggested a quarterly International Micro Super Swap, an idea similar to a watercolour painting swap that I participate in. The details are shown below.

Let me know if you think that you would be interested in participating. Email microswap AT crocoite DOT com

-------------------------------------------------------

I think that it would be good to have an "International Micro Super Swap" in addition to "Around the world in 8 micros". I think that the two can be complementary. I'll put some feelers out to other like-minded groups and individuals.

I'd suggest the rules be along the lines of:

• 8 micros in a swap
• A swap every 3 months
• Names drawn from two hats, first one drawn out of Hat A sends to first one drawn out of Hat B, 2nd to 2nd, etc.
• A redraw option if recipient for a sender is the same as the previous swap, or if name out of each hat is the same person
• Only the sender (and the swap manager) know who is the recipient of which package
• If there is an odd-number of swappers, the last name drawn sends to the first recipient (who effectively receives 2 packages)
• Swappers can leave or join any swap
• Swappers must confirm that they are IN any new swap before names are drawn
• Each sender bears the cost of postage and packing

I've set up a special email address for anyone interested - microswap AT crocoite DOT com

Regards
Steve]]> Steve Sorrell Micromounting Sun, 23 Aug 2009 13:06:15 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,141202,141202#msg-141202 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,141202,141202#msg-141202 What about the following idea? I was thinking to start a mineral chain box. I have put together 8 micros. (european style! matrix is maximum 4-5 cm, but the chrystals are all micro). Nothing fancy. Nothing expensive. Some self collected. If seven of you are willing to join in, I thought I would send the package to the first one who responds here. He can either send them on to the next in line, or replace some or all of them by specimens of his own. And so on, till number 8 sends the box back to me. (Well, seeing what the mailboys do to boxes, it might be needed to change the box somewhere along the line! :D ) I am curious to see what I would get back and what route the box would follow around the globe! You can only lose postage money to the next guy...
What do you say? Anyone like the idea?

Here I go:

1- Eddy Vervloet. Belgium]]> Eddy Vervloet Micromounting Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:36:34 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,139221,139221#msg-139221 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,139221,139221#msg-139221 I catalog my micros in MS Excel assigning a catalog number sequentially to each micro, and then physically store each box sequentially. This approach is simple and its easy to use. It is relatively easy to scan through a few drawers or trays to find a specific piece and it is very easy to keep adding new pieces by just adding them on at the end. But I've grown a little less satisfied with this approach as my collection has grown and because I find that I am increasingly interested in specific pieces in the context of others. For example I am usually looking at specimens of the same species from different localities or specimens from the same location rather than looking at specimen number 504 or whatever. While my catalog does allow me to find specific pieces it is a bit of a pain hunting through many more drawers and trays as my collection has grown to find the pieces I'm interested in.

I've been leaning towards organizing them as a set of sub-collections with each sub-collection stored together. The sub-collections would be location based so I'd have a general collection and then a series of locality-based sub-collections such as Laurium, Mont Saint-Hilaire, etc. Within each sub-collection I am thinking of storing them alphabetically.

How do you organize the storage of your micro collection?]]> Frank Ruehlicke Micromounting Fri, 04 Sep 2009 10:42:00 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,137889,137889#msg-137889 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,137889,137889#msg-137889
In case you don't often go to the Scrapbook forum, there is a thread now for sharing your favourite micro photos...

[www.mindat.org]

Regards
Steve]]> Steve Sorrell Micromounting Thu, 14 May 2009 11:42:26 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,137833,137833#msg-137833 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,137833,137833#msg-137833
Put the rock that is to be formatted in a plastic bag and use a hammer to break the rock to smaller pieces. The plastic bag prevents the smaller pieses from flying away. It sounds brutal, but it works very well on some kind of matrixes like granite. Jan's theory was that the hammer was more effective in breaking the rocks across vuggy areas. I usually wash the pieces before I study them.]]> OT. Ljostad Micromounting Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:17:56 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,137687,137687#msg-137687 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,137687,137687#msg-137687 those turntables you mentioned in the other thread sound great! I think I have seen one at the Ste Marie Show.
We had our annual club show last weekend, and I did a little exhibition with the Micro Team of our club.
We filled two display cases with micros, accompanied by photos of the specimens. It had great succes.
Many visitors were surprised pictures could be taken of such small items!
See picture.
Your turntable could be a great idea for next year! Would you happen to have any pictures or design sketches?]]> Eddy Vervloet Micromounting Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:13:57 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,137680,137680#msg-137680 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,137680,137680#msg-137680 This is propaganda for hot melt adhesive. In the context of micromounting, with the requirement for a strong but not irreversible bond, I think hot melt glue trumps the water based adhesives that are commonly mentionned on two points:
-fast setting
-easy removal (from non porous surfaces). A drop of alcohol on the joint for a few seconds reduces the adhesion to the point where the blob of glue can be removed without effort and traces.

best regards,
Dominik]]> Dominik Schläfli Micromounting Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:38:20 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,137628,137628#msg-137628 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,137628,137628#msg-137628
First of all I would like to ask micro collectors on both sides of the Atlantic (or down under!) what your definition of a micromount is? Talking and chatting to our American friends here on mindat makes me believe there is a distinct difference between how Americans and Europeans collect. I get the feeling that the 'mounting' part is still very important in the USA, and also that there are still strict limits on the size of a micromount. A micro HAS to fit in one of those micro boxes (the dimensions escape me here). If a specimen is to big, it will get trimmed until it fits. Also Americans line the boxes with black paper or paint the inside black. And of course, Americans still 'mount', they glue the specimens on a pedestal. A cork or a toothpick or a cactusneedle even...
The Europeans, I think, have a wider definition of a 'micro'. As long as you need a (stereo)microscope to fully enjoy or study a specimen, it is a micro. I for one do not mind if the matrix of a specimen is 2 inches, covered with 1 mm chrystals. I even prefer it, I would never trim it down further.
(surplus matrix will go, of course...) Also we Europeans do not mount a lot. We usually just fix the specimen in a box with tack, or sometimes use a gluegun. Only small grains of very rare minerals will get mounted.

Well, that is how I experience it. B) So tell me if you agree or not! Are there Europeans that collect 'the American way'? Or the other way around?
If you do not show your flag, please state where you are from!]]> Eddy Vervloet Micromounting Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:21:02 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,137541,137541#msg-137541 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,137541,137541#msg-137541
In general, it works. But my labeling program has 8 pt. as the smallest type face. That limits rather severely the information on the large label. Often the species name is longer than the width of the label. I have looked at Microsoft Word 2003 and I have not found a type face smaller than 8 pt. How do you produce your labels? If you use a computer, what do you use for a type font?]]> Donald Peck Micromounting Sat, 11 Jul 2009 11:35:20 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,136767,136767#msg-136767 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,60,136767,136767#msg-136767
I'm fairly new to micromounting, but I've been doing my homework. I have both the Wight and Speckels books and I've been trying to meet everyone that I can who is actively mounting. I've also purchased a few antique micromounts from such greats as G.G. Rakestraw, Neal Yedlin, and Lou Perloff.

The question that I have is what is the current state of micromounting? I don't see any current columns in "Rocks & Gems" or "Rocks & Minerals" (other than the one that Mr. Wight does in July/August as a summary of the entire year), and the Micromounters of New England doesn't list a Hall of Fame member newer than in 2005. Also, the message boards that I check don't seem to be very active on the topic of micromounting.

Thanks in advance for your interest and comments!

Robert]]> Robert Miller Micromounting Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:35:16 +0000