Leaf casts (aka Leaf impressions)

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SWmicro
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Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2020 10:52 pm
Location: England.

Leaf casts (aka Leaf impressions)

#1 Post by SWmicro » Fri Nov 27, 2020 1:53 am

a quick experiment that surprised me and showed me something new !

Thanks to Manfred for posting about this :
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=11120&sid=f4b261ccd ... 374#p92668
which raised my curiosity and instituted a google :)

I have never done this before but a few minutes preparation before this evenings meal and a few minutes later in the evening, to peel it off and mount on a slide, I had the interesting pics of stomata shown below.

The first is with a 20x achromat projection to a Canon aps-c sensor and shows the pattern of stomata in regions bounded by (veins perhaps?) structures similar to those in Manfred's leaf. Botanists among us could point out interesting aspects ? please.

The second is with a 60x achro.
It could benefit from either pressing down on the cover slip to flatten the cast or a focus stack perhaps.

The method : I had no nail varnish,
so I used PVA white wood glue, Poly Vinyl Acetate, (not to be confused with PVAlcohol) which dries clear, dabbed on in a small patch onto the underside of a leaf, when dry teased off with tweezers.

An interesting learned paper has suggestions for more exotic casting compounds ,,here
https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/26830/PDF

All very entertaining and more experimentation tomorrow :)
leaf20x_7252s.jpg
leaf20x_7252s.jpg (121.81 KiB) Viewed 3841 times
leaf60x_7257s.jpg
leaf60x_7257s.jpg (101.02 KiB) Viewed 3841 times
Last edited by SWmicro on Fri Nov 27, 2020 5:38 am, edited 1 time in total.

Manfred
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Re: Leaf casts (aka Leaf impressions)

#2 Post by Manfred » Fri Nov 27, 2020 5:24 am

Well done !

MicroBob
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Re: Leaf casts (aka Leaf impressions)

#3 Post by MicroBob » Fri Nov 27, 2020 8:12 am

Hi,
nice images with lots of contrast! Your PVAC glue might actually be better than solvent based nail polish and my UV glue as it probably is less harsh to the leaf.

Bob

MichaelG.
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Re: Leaf casts (aka Leaf impressions)

#4 Post by MichaelG. » Fri Nov 27, 2020 11:23 am

Cellulose Nitrate adhesive [see reference to Duco in the linked paper] is still available from HMG
https://www.hmgpaint.com/news/242/hmg-p ... reputation
[ gotta love their strapline :D ]

It is popular with Museums and Conservators.

I bought some recently, intending to try some peel casts ... but ended-up using it for mending things :oops:

MichaelG.
Too many 'projects'

MicroBob
Posts: 3154
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Location: Northern Germany

Re: Leaf casts (aka Leaf impressions)

#5 Post by MicroBob » Fri Nov 27, 2020 12:40 pm

Hi Michael,
this might be similar to "UHU Hart": https://www.uhu-profishop.de/sicherheit ... rkblaetter
Which is available in DIY and model making shops here in Germany.
Bob

MichaelG.
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Re: Leaf casts (aka Leaf impressions)

#6 Post by MichaelG. » Fri Nov 27, 2020 1:59 pm

Thanks, Bob ... that’s useful to know

MichaelG.
Too many 'projects'

SWmicro
Posts: 134
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2020 10:52 pm
Location: England.

Re: Leaf casts (aka Leaf impressions)

#7 Post by SWmicro » Fri Nov 27, 2020 7:15 pm

MicroBob wrote:
Fri Nov 27, 2020 8:12 am
nice images with lots of contrast! Your PVAC glue might actually be better than solvent based nail polish and my UV glue as it probably is less harsh to the leaf.
Thanks,
I always believe in adjusting pics to exploit the max range of our monitors/VDUs !
It was certainly a real quickie compared to UV etc.

I didnt know how 'thick' the glue would be and if surface tension might interfere with detail so I applied some neat (1),, then dabbled the end of the dibber (I did not have a small paint-brush to hand at the time) in a patch of water on the leaf to wash the remaining glue off and at the same time apply well diluted glue (2).

For a 3rd test I made a soln. of about 1 part glue to 2 parts water and applied that at (3) Why such a big patch ? unsteady hand ! :)

(2) made a thin film but too delicate for me to tease off, needs more practice or extra layering.
(3) is still drying !

MichaelG. wrote:
Fri Nov 27, 2020 11:23 am
Cellulose Nitrate adhesive
https://www.hmgpaint.com/news/242/hmg-p ... reputation
[ gotta love their strapline :D ]
What a strange and confused website, very pretty but I would never have known they were selling cellulose nitrate if you had not said so. Apart from "contact us" I didnt see any way of buying it :(


I wonder if methyl cellulose (wallpaper glue) would be worth investing in, after I finish playing with wood glue.

Pictured just after applying the glue,it dries clear.
leaf-50012s.jpg
leaf-50012s.jpg (19.3 KiB) Viewed 3764 times

MichaelG.
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Re: Leaf casts (aka Leaf impressions)

#8 Post by MichaelG. » Fri Nov 27, 2020 7:27 pm

SWmicro wrote:
Fri Nov 27, 2020 7:15 pm

What a strange and confused website, very pretty but I would never have known they were selling cellulose nitrate if you had not said so. Apart from "contact us" I didnt see any way of buying it.
.

I bought mine from ebay UK ... but many of the conservation specialists also stock it.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/General-purp ... 3858053459

MichaelG.
Too many 'projects'

MicroBob
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Location: Northern Germany

Re: Leaf casts (aka Leaf impressions)

#9 Post by MicroBob » Sat Nov 28, 2020 8:17 am

It probably is worth an experiment to slightly stain the glue. This way you might have it easier to get a good image.

Bob

SWmicro
Posts: 134
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2020 10:52 pm
Location: England.

Re: Leaf casts (aka Leaf impressions)

#10 Post by SWmicro » Sat Nov 28, 2020 7:49 pm

Yes, a good idea, I was thinking along similar lines and top illumination.
So, sat here with my morning coffee wondering what to use to stain, there is soot in the chimney, food colouring in the kitchen, fountain pen ink long unseen in the attic somewhere.
But not a lot else, - ohh, whiz, rewind - - did I mention coffee !? I now have a patch of brown wood glue drying on a leaf, watch this space :)

SWmicro
Posts: 134
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2020 10:52 pm
Location: England.

Re: Leaf casts (aka Leaf impressions)

#11 Post by SWmicro » Tue Dec 01, 2020 1:11 pm

MicroBob wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 8:17 am
experiment to slightly stain
SWmicro wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 7:49 pm
coffee !? .... watch this space :)
I wonder what else I can stain with coffee :) !

Japonica Quince. 60x achromat, aps-c, stacked in Picolay, tweaked in Gimp.
coffee2stk60x.jpg
coffee2stk60x.jpg (84.58 KiB) Viewed 3663 times
Japonica Quince. 20x achromat, aps-c, stack Picolay.
20xStack10s.jpg
20xStack10s.jpg (93.08 KiB) Viewed 3663 times

MicroBob
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Location: Northern Germany

Re: Leaf casts (aka Leaf impressions)

#12 Post by MicroBob » Tue Dec 01, 2020 4:45 pm

Good idea and nice result! The staining probably reduces the contrast to a more managable level for the sensor.
I don't know much about this but stains have different mechanisms to connect to certain materials and structures. To some degree this can be explained by the chemical properties of the stain.
Another idea would be to use the fluid from green walnut skins, it contains juglon, the very simplest of all stains and stains brown. Don't touch the fluid too much, is mutagenic to some extendt.
I think juglon even has fluorescence.

SWmicro
Posts: 134
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2020 10:52 pm
Location: England.

Re: Leaf casts (aka Leaf impressions)

#13 Post by SWmicro » Wed Dec 02, 2020 2:17 pm

Thanks.
Another good idea to try, - next season !
We 'borrow', from time-to-time, a field to alternate our hobby small scale backyard farming livestock, which has 3 small walnut trees in it. They produce copious quantities of green walnuts. Green Walnut Pickle is an over-rated novelty imo !
Watch this space next year :)

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