Micro Fossil Sieves

[Herb]

Here's a tip for the more inexperienced microfossiliers. If you use brass or steel mesh sieves. Use hot water to wash out the sieves between matrixes. The hot water will cause the mesh openings to expand and washing out the embedded particles will be easier.

[fossilized6s]

Thanks for the free tip Herb! Winter is coming.....my micros are stirring.

[Mediospirifer]

Thanks! I'll have to try that. Poking trapped bits out of the larger meshes with a needle is OK, but for the smaller meshes it gets extremely tedious!

[Herb]

Using a pin will also stretch brass mesh sieves.

[Mediospirifer]

Also good to know. I've been careful so far, now I'll be more careful.

[creto]

I use a plastic brush on my finer sieves, it works well and has little effect on the sieve itself.

[squali]

Smart post Herb. Soils labs employ the same techniques to save the sieves.

Force hot air works well too. Think hair dryer.

[Auspex]

OK, a show of hands: how many inspect the lees you dislodge from your sieve?

[squali]

Gotta look before ya leeve haha. Great question Auspex.

[Auspex]

I asked, in jest, because I can't imagine a micro collector just washing them down the drain (I know I couldn't).

[MarcoSr]

I moved away from metal sieves to nylon/plastic. The metal sieves are much more difficult to clean and ten times the cost. I'm much more worried about contamination from the metal sieves than the sieve mesh openings slightly changing. Aqua culture companies sell a wide variety of nylon sieves, both in mesh opening sizes and sieve diameters. My favorites are nylon/plastic sieves that fit over five gallon buckets which are very easy to use for washing/rinsing matrix. I typically use .4mm which clean up very easily after drying and are very easy to inspect because of the white color. e-bay has a good number of different sizes for very reasonable prices.

Marco Sr.

[Herb]

I use mainly a small (4") 6 piece pvc and brass set ( cover, 1/4", #10, 40, #100 and pan sizes) costs about $40. The #100 sieve will filter out 99% of all microfossils.

[MarcoSr]

Some raw matrix that I get in trade processes down to a small amount of residue which I wash in PVC/nylon Aquaculture sieves around 3.5 inches in diameter. However most times I have a large amount of matrix to wash after processing, so I use the Aquaculture plastic/nylon sieves that fit over five gallon buckets. I still use 12 inch diameter metal sieves (.5mm and 1mm stainless steel flour sieves) when I take and process matrix in the field either by dry or wet sifting.

Marco Sr.

[Rumi]

Another source for metal mesh sieves is a store for ceramics supplies. They typically have sieves that look like a 12" plastic pan with a 6" round metal mesh circle set into the bottom. They are used for sieving glazes. Available in several mesh sizes. I use 60 and 100 mesh, and they fit very nicely over a large plastic bucket. They are very sturdy, and clean easily with a plastic-bristle brush. They can be nested also, as there is about 1/2 inch clearance between them when they are stacked.

Rumi

[HFVC Fossils]

Great tips! Thanks!!