Mounting style

Henry, I have been using Duco Cement. I think the apatite is a "goner"

I believe Duco is soluble in acetone (safety precautions should be in place when using flameable organic solvents - and prevent, breathing and skin contact).

Bryan,

Duco is soluble in several organics. I believe David is correct about acetone, but the rate is slow. Seems like I used to use MEK and xylenes, and back in the good old days, regular gasoline (wouldn't recommend modern gas with its witch’s brew of components!). A quick search should turn up others. Apatite is likely not going to be hurt by any of the organic solvents.

Henry

Thanks guys, I was looking for nail polish remover (acetone) last night, but my wife must have used it all. Should I let the apatite/matrix sit in the acetone for a while? I know that acetone evaporates quickly.

Bryan,

I would suggest using 2-3 ml of acetone in a covered container. A shot glass firmly covered with aluminum foil should work. Please remember that acetone is flammable (as discussed above), so keep the container in a well ventillated area away from ignition sources.

Let the apatite soak for a day or so at room temperature and the cement should be swollen (somewhat gooey) with acetone. At this point you can pick it off (with a tool softer than apatite - a toothpick?)

Regards,

Lou

A couple of warnings first:-

Most cosmetic "Nail Polish Removers" are a mixture of acetone and an oil to prevent damage to the nail and surrounding skin. Be prepared to de-oil a specimen soaked in it using either pure acetone or lighter fluid.

Isopropanol (as supplied as tape head cleaner etc) has the disadvantage of being extremely hygroscopic - it will de-water a specimen of its water of crystallisation long before it dissolves glues, so use with caution. (and adding a little water to the alcohol destroys its solvent properties).

Now the fun stuff:-

For anyone who needs a stronger "petroleum" type solvent, there are three excellent products:-

"Evo-Stik" glue cleaner (for removing the glue of that name in the UK, presumably other countries will have something similar) - it's a vicious mixture of solvents (mainly aliphatic, but the smell suggests a few aromatics in there too).

"Hammerite" do a thinners/brush cleaner for their paint products - it used to be xylene, but these days it's mainly acetone (propanone)

Lighter fluid (for the old-fashioned petrol lighters) This is commonly known as petroleum ether - light petroleum fractions without any additives. (I use this for removing sticky-label residues from plastics as well as removing glue from things)

Usual precautions required - these solvents are all extremely flammable, and are hazardous by both inhalation and skin contact (degreasants which remove the skin's natural oils, use only VINYL disposable gloves as polyethylene and latex are transparent to these solvents). All form explosive mixtures with air, and none are miscible with water.

For those ultra-light cleaning moments -
Spray car-de-icer is usually a mixture of isopropanol and diethyl ether,
Easy Start is probably a mixture of diethyl ether and possibly ethyl-methyl and diethyl ethers (Warning:- DAMP START is an oil product akin to WD40, and is not recommended unless you want an oily mess on your hands)

These last two are both extremely volatile at low temperatures, so don't expect them to hang around for long while you use them. These two products have a strong anaesthetic action (ethers), so lots of fresh air or sealed containers please.

When you invited me to see your etchings, I didn't expect to see so much degraded quartz. Really.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/2009 02:27PM by Alysson Rowan.

Thanks for all the info!!

Why not simply use Excel to creat a label
One cell for name
One for mine
One for locality
One for Number etc
Place a wide border for appearance and ease of trimming

Select your font size and print

Then laminate the label (protect from greasy hands and small annoying insects) and then trim to size You can print a great number of labels on one page.

It will take a bit of trial and error to get down to the size that you want
Generally for thumbnails I stick to 8 point with the print output reduced to 80% which gives the standard size I want. Output can be reduced more than 80% if you wish.
By selecting a small font and then reducing the overall print output you should be able to get pretty much any size and ultimately shape label - widen or shorten the cells.
You should be able to print out labels on paper - no bigger than half inch square with name, mine locality and number and they should be able to be attached to any size box that you use.

Keith, Great tip! I had never noticed the option under Print Preferences to reduce the pirint size by a given percentage.

Henry,

Get a hypodermic needle with a metal hub and solder it to the tip of you low temp glue gun. That would give you finer control.

Excellent idea, I'll give it a try!

Henry Barwood
Troy University
Troy, Alabama USA

That actually sounds interesting...where do you find hypodermics with metal hubs, and secondly, the back pressure with such a fine tip, would be hunormous wouldn't it, and last but not least , doesn't it clog badly when the glue cools..

Well Ray good questions.
Metal hubbed needles can be found on the internet and some retail stores that sale vet supplies like for horses.

As far as back pressure goes, yes it would increase but you push push lighter on the glue stick or pull lighter on the trigger.

And yes it clogs badly when the glue cools just like the metal tip clogs on the glue gun when it is unplugged. The needle being metal hubbed and soldered to the metal tip of the gun would transfer the heat and make the glue flow.

I found this one site using metal hub needle in google.
I have never ordered from them.
[www.air-tite-shop.com] 20g x1/2" box of 10 $3.25

Best Regards,

Alan



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/2009 05:44PM by Alan Rice.

email me with possible answer ASAP/.