lint

Hi all,

I was just trying to do photomicrography with tiny Herkimer "diamonds" and no matter what I tried, I could not remove all the bits of tiny lint particles adhering to the crystal. Is there any way to eliminate all the lint from micro crystals ?

Bill

If you can still find one, they used to make anti-static guns for the old vinyl records. You click the trigger with the 'barrel" of the gun about 1/2 inch from the crystal, this produces a piezo electric discharge which can reduce or nullify the static for a time. I also use very fine artist paint brushes to brush away the lint after the sample is in position. Sort of turn the paint brush into a miniature whisk broom.

Thanks Ron, I use a paintbrush also, but the crystal seems to attract tiny bits of stuff from the air. Funny thing: I used canned air to try to blow lint off, but I had the can almost upside down resulting in a fine frost coating everything - looked really pretty, but it melted quickly and the crystal was coated with water droplets.
After I posted my question, I thought perhaps post processing of the photo would work. I'll have to try it.

Bill