Jewelers tool to move small items (sticky pen?)

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wild2020
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Jewelers tool to move small items (sticky pen?)

#1 Post by wild2020 » Sun Feb 26, 2023 5:03 pm

Hello I seem to remember some sort of sticky pen that you could use to move tiny easy to drop items under a microscope but I cannot find it if anyone knows the name that would be great to help me find it the things are so tiny that it's easy for them to fire off with tweezers and be lost for good which is very frustrating

thanks

Phill Brown
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Re: Jewelers tool to move small items (sticky pen?)

#2 Post by Phill Brown » Sun Feb 26, 2023 9:24 pm

Try a 000 sable brush. It's cost effective if nothing else.
Multiple uses.

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zzffnn
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Re: Jewelers tool to move small items (sticky pen?)

#3 Post by zzffnn » Sun Feb 26, 2023 10:15 pm

Phil, please elaborate: why not use 20/0, or 10/0 paint brush as pick up tool (say for foraminifera)? I happen to be think about the same application for micro paint brushes, but don’t know which one to get due to lack of experience. Thank you.

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Re: Jewelers tool to move small items (sticky pen?)

#4 Post by Phill Brown » Mon Feb 27, 2023 12:32 am

I don't have anything smaller than 000.
It only takes a single sable hair, they are quite fine at the tip and well supported by surrounding hairs.
Can be used dry or with water, IPA or xylene.
Also about right for ringing slides.
Useful for picking up a dust particle or fibre with minimal risk compared to tweezers.
It's just one of the choice of methods, not saying it's right for everything but worth considering.

wild2020
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Re: Jewelers tool to move small items (sticky pen?)

#5 Post by wild2020 » Mon Feb 27, 2023 3:26 pm

Thanks for all your suggestions I have bought some Bergeon 7007-26 Adhesive Watch Cleaning Swabs.

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Re: Jewelers tool to move small items (sticky pen?)

#6 Post by zzffnn » Mon Feb 27, 2023 6:35 pm

So I tried a modified method based on Phil Brown’s method last night, it worked quite well.

For micro shells / foraminifera of around 1mm or less, I used a very fine tweezer to push them aside. Then a 000 synthetic paint brush could pick them up with electrostatic force, and dropped them off after a gentle taping. This works much better than using the tweezer along, which tends to either shoot out the micro shells or crush them.

I don’t know how adhesive tools would work. I prefer something not so adhesive because otherwise dropping them off would be difficult?

For micro shells of around 2mm and larger, my tweezers can handle them safely and effectively.

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Re: Jewelers tool to move small items (sticky pen?)

#7 Post by Phill Brown » Mon Feb 27, 2023 6:57 pm

For solid surfaces like ruby jewels and shells bluetac/whitetac shaped into a point is effective, just making contact is usually enough to pick up, the sharper the point the easier it will be to remove with a brush.
Work over a takeaway style tub,if it falls off, it's in the tub.
Dipping the tip of the brush in IPA/water/xylene sticks with surface tension which is plenty strong enough and reduces flinging and pinging.
Seem to recall shaping a dot of bluetac on the end of a cocktail stick also.

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Re: Jewelers tool to move small items (sticky pen?)

#8 Post by zzffnn » Mon Feb 27, 2023 7:10 pm

Maybe for hard subjects, also try a sharp pencil with its sharp tip carefully dipped into E6000 glue. Then let the tiny amount of glue cure on the pencil tip (this may be done in less than 10 minutes on a good day).

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Re: Jewelers tool to move small items (sticky pen?)

#9 Post by zzffnn » Wed Mar 01, 2023 3:08 am

After some trials, I found that in my hands, two tools will work for almost everything:

for subjects of around 1mm and less, a 20/0 or 10/0 synthetic paint brush works well;

for subjects of around 2mm and more, a set of super fine tweezers dipped in water will pick up easily (though they are too sticky sometimes, when wet).

when necessary, tweezers (dry or wet) can work with paint brush too.

I think 20/0 brush may be too fine for some people. Ideally, a series of 20/0, 10/0, 5/0, 000, 00, 0, 1 would be nice. If you only get one brush, 0000 or 000 may be the best compromise.

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Re: Jewelers tool to move small items (sticky pen?)

#10 Post by apochronaut » Wed Mar 01, 2023 3:16 am

A ROUND toothpick dipped in glycerin or in water as well. A wooden skewer is a larger alternative with a much longer reach. The points can be easily sanded or filed to a desired point.

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Re: Jewelers tool to move small items (sticky pen?)

#11 Post by iconoclastica » Tue Mar 07, 2023 3:11 pm

We used cat whiskers glued to a stick to pick up individual nematodes.

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