Mineralogy, Metallurgy

[Greg Howald]

The forum is full of biology and I really am enjoying it. But I haven't seen much of anything concerning mineralogy, metallurgy, petrography.
Is anyone also into these things?
Greg

[Charles]

There have been posts of chemicals in polarized light and circuit boards, but I think the main reason you don't see as many would be that the equipment required for mineralogy/metallurgy would be 10x the cost of a basic biological microscope. For proper mineralogy/metallurgy, you will need an analyzer (preferably rotating), polarizer (again preferably rotating), compensators, a rotating center-able stage or center-able objectives. Along with strain free condenser, head and objectives. Also for metallurgy, you would need an epi lighting system.

[viktor j nilsson]

Actually, if you just want to look at and photography rock thin sections, all you need is to do the regular old trick of putting a piece of linear polarizing film above the nosepiece and another over the light port. You don't need any graduated rotating capabilities to take pretty pictures. I rather think that the limiting factor is getting lpetrographic thin sections to study. It can be done DIY style, by grinding a rock flat, gluing it to a slide, and grinding the other side until it's thin and semi transparent. But it's a lot more work than putting a drop of pond water on a slide! And buying such slides tend to be quite expensive.

[Greg Howald]

I asked because other than biology I also am into mineralogy. I have a very nice and as you say very expensive petrographic microscope. And you can buy the thin sections from Ward Science. Package of 12 for $490.00. I have one sedimentary set. Mostly I crush the minerals with hammer, anvil, mortar and pestle and study grains. It's enjoyable to be able to switch from one scope to another based upon the subject or project involved.
Greg

[BramHuntingNematodes]

Yeah I was going to say a petro setup is pretty doable but back in school days you had grad students making those thin sections had all kinds of equipment long lab hours take a couple quarters to have enough good in situ sphene crystals to write a paper on

[Greg Howald]

That's for sure. And the truth is that I know how to crush rock but I don't know how to grind it uniformly to 1 mm of thickness. I think they know that and that's why they cost so much.
Greg

[Charles]

The reason thin sections cost so much is because of the labor involved in making one. I think the recommended thickness is 0.03mm for a proper thin sections. Here is nice go by. https://davehirsch.com/other/thinsections/

[Element 56]

I have four petrographic stands and I really enjoy using them, however, I can't really say I'm doing any serious study at the moment. I've made some mineral and wood thin sections and I look forward to doing more. I have read as someone already suggested that crushed samples are suitable and even preferred by some so making thin sections isn't a necessity.

Regarding obtaining a proper instrument, the Unitron's can be had for around $100-150. At that price they will need refurbished but they are about the easiest instruments to work on so it's not a big deal. Of course a properly refurbished one would cost a bit more. The analyzers and sometimes the polarizers will need replacing but all they are is film sandwiched between glass. Optically they are fine and they are very well made overall. A Lomo mechanical stage is a nice upgrade if you don't find one already equipped.

Kirby

[microb]

I asked because other than biology I also am into mineralogy. I have a very nice and as you say very expensive petrographic microscope. And you can buy the thin sections from Ward Science. Package of 12 for $490.00. I have one sedimentary set. Mostly I crush the minerals with hammer, anvil, mortar and pestle and study grains. It's enjoyable to be able to switch from one scope to another based upon the subject or project involved.
Greg

I have a bunch of metallurgical set ups, mainly inspection microscopes from Silicon Valley.

But I am setting up to do lapping with vacuum chucks, so might try some petrographic slide making to test with.

[microb]

I have four petrographic stands and I really enjoy using them, however, I can't really say I'm doing any serious study at the moment. I've made some mineral and wood thin sections and I look forward to doing more. I have read as someone already suggested that crushed samples are suitable and even preferred by some so making thin sections isn't a necessity.

Regarding obtaining a proper instrument, the Unitron's can be had for around $100-150. At that price they will need refurbished but they are about the easiest instruments to work on so it's not a big deal. Of course a properly refurbished one would cost a bit more. The analyzers and sometimes the polarizers will need replacing but all they are is film sandwiched between glass. Optically they are fine and they are very well made overall. A Lomo mechanical stage is a nice upgrade if you don't find one already equipped.

Kirby

What Unitron's are you referring to? I have the little inverted ones and toolmakers. I'd like to refurb them, but they're just in storage right now. I don't remember seeing an slide locations for analyzers though.

[Charles]

Look for Unitron MPS. With a set of quick mount objectives, they usually run from $100-200. They look like these. The black one is the Unitron MPS and the white one is a Bristol which probably were made by the same company and rebranded.

Unitron and Bristol Pol with Accessories.jpg (99.14 KiB) Viewed 4774 times

[Element 56]

I have four petrographic stands and I really enjoy using them, however, I can't really say I'm doing any serious study at the moment. I've made some mineral and wood thin sections and I look forward to doing more. I have read as someone already suggested that crushed samples are suitable and even preferred by some so making thin sections isn't a necessity.

Regarding obtaining a proper instrument, the Unitron's can be had for around $100-150. At that price they will need refurbished but they are about the easiest instruments to work on so it's not a big deal. Of course a properly refurbished one would cost a bit more. The analyzers and sometimes the polarizers will need replacing but all they are is film sandwiched between glass. Optically they are fine and they are very well made overall. A Lomo mechanical stage is a nice upgrade if you don't find one already equipped.

Kirby

What Unitron's are you referring to? I have the little inverted ones and toolmakers. I'd like to refurb them, but they're just in storage right now. I don't remember seeing an slide locations for analyzers though.

Just what Charles has shown. Nice little inexpensive instrument.

Kirby