Fossil diatom arrangement - Triskele second attempt
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
Fossil diatom arrangement - Triskele second attempt
I posted one of these before but labelled it a failure due to the blizzard of floaters shaken loose during mounting. Not happy. Anyway, I made a new batch of fixative which has been working far better, so I chanced another go.
This one went perfectly. A total of 247 forms from various locations with approximately 170 different species (or more - it's tough to count them).
This one went perfectly. A total of 247 forms from various locations with approximately 170 different species (or more - it's tough to count them).
-
- Posts: 215
- Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 2:30 pm
- Location: Bedford UK
- arturoag75
- Posts: 1600
- Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2010 1:05 am
- Location: italy
- Contact:
-
- Posts: 607
- Joined: Sun Oct 01, 2006 7:26 pm
- Location: NW USA
-
- Posts: 2978
- Joined: Fri Nov 20, 2009 11:24 am
- Location: Panama
-
- Posts: 130
- Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2014 10:29 am
- Location: Albuquerque, NM, USA
- carlos.uruguay
- Posts: 5358
- Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2012 8:05 pm
- Location: Uruguay - Montevideo - America del Sur
- Contact:
Thanks for the comments all. To answer your questions...
1. I use Debe's fixative to attach the diatoms to the coverslip while arranging. Thanks to forum-member Raymond for the recommendation as I was using the fixative after Solliday before that, with mixed results. (http://www.diatomsireland.com/diatom-mo ... adhesives/)
2. I mount the finished arrangement in zrax
3. My micromanipulator was inspired by forum-member Raymond too, in his article at http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/art ... atoms.html. I use a stereo zoom instead of a compound microscope and usually work at 40x but will go up to 100x for very small diatoms. The hand-pulled glass needle just moves up and down and the slide is moved around by hand for picking and placement. Picture of my rig below. Note: I improved vastly on Raymond's design by attaching the straightened paper clip with epoxy instead of a clothes peg
Then just lots of patience and practice.
1. I use Debe's fixative to attach the diatoms to the coverslip while arranging. Thanks to forum-member Raymond for the recommendation as I was using the fixative after Solliday before that, with mixed results. (http://www.diatomsireland.com/diatom-mo ... adhesives/)
2. I mount the finished arrangement in zrax
3. My micromanipulator was inspired by forum-member Raymond too, in his article at http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/art ... atoms.html. I use a stereo zoom instead of a compound microscope and usually work at 40x but will go up to 100x for very small diatoms. The hand-pulled glass needle just moves up and down and the slide is moved around by hand for picking and placement. Picture of my rig below. Note: I improved vastly on Raymond's design by attaching the straightened paper clip with epoxy instead of a clothes peg
Then just lots of patience and practice.
- Cactusdave
- Posts: 1631
- Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2009 12:40 pm
- Location: Bromley, Kent, UK
A really lovely, and technically extremely accomplished arrangement. It certainly can stand company with the very best Victorian and modern examples. The illumination and photography is excellent as well and does the arrangement justice.
Leitz Ortholux 1, Zeiss standard, Nikon Diaphot inverted, Canon photographic gear