Harry Pristis Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Thanks a lot JK, yep the ones at school are Biological microscopes, i will keep an eye out for some on ebay.if you dont mind me asking, how much were the ones you purchased? the nice lab quality ones? Cheers I just looked at the array of dissecting microscopes on eBay -- impressive variety and low prices (in my estimation). SEE THE EBAY 'SCOPES HERE I like the flexibility of the 5x-10x-15x-30x scope for $169.00US. Those lower powers are important for scanning matrix. I see some 'scopes with a minimum of 20x, and I think that's too high. At 20x and above, the field of view becomes so narrow that searching matrix becomes difficult and hurts my eyes. I have two of the 10x-20x dissecting 'scopes, one with built-in overhead light and under-stage light. That is the one I have found to be most useful. A microscope will last indefinitely. My recommendation is to buy the best one you can afford. --------Harry Pristis http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkfoam Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Harry, Everything you say is exactly right. I mainly work at 10X power and only occasionally go higher but it is good to be able to go to a higer magnification when you need to. JKFoam The Eocene is my favorite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kauffy Posted February 13, 2008 Author Share Posted February 13, 2008 Thanks for the info everyone, i will save up for a microscope and I will definantly start a small micro collection, they are very fascinating, and hopefully when i collect some silcified devonian limestone i can acid bath some rocks and find some fossils! i bet most of them havent even been studied, mabey determining different species is something i can try! ha! JK, where do you get those slides to display your micros? im looking for ideas to display them, i dont really want to glue them down but have them inclosed in 2 slips of plastic wrap or something? is this possible or must they be glued? Thanks "Turn the fear of the unknown into the excitment of possibility!"We dont stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kauffy Posted February 13, 2008 Author Share Posted February 13, 2008 Kauffy,I paid about $30-$35 for each and that included shipping. My wife and I are experienced E-Bay shoppers. We set a value on something we are looking at and we try to snipe it in the last seconds of the auction. We never chase an item if it goes over our value limit. There will always be another one up for auction. JKFoam WOW! thats a good deal!! im looking forwards to some more of your pictures! "Turn the fear of the unknown into the excitment of possibility!"We dont stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worthy 55 Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 These are my microfossil these are about as small as any I have. :Thumbs-up: It's my bone!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kauffy Posted February 15, 2008 Author Share Posted February 15, 2008 Hey worthy, Nice teeth!, I have a small shark tooth from florida thats 4mm long! go look in your gravel! hahaha "Turn the fear of the unknown into the excitment of possibility!"We dont stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worthy 55 Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 Yeah, I guess I need a smaller screen huh. It's my bone!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kauffy Posted February 16, 2008 Author Share Posted February 16, 2008 here are a couple of pics of the shark teeth i found, pic quality is really bad but you get the gist. the smallest tooth is 1mm long and they largest is just over 5mm. If anyone can give me an Id on any of the teeth that would be great! They are cretaceous codell sandstone! "Turn the fear of the unknown into the excitment of possibility!"We dont stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kauffy Posted February 16, 2008 Author Share Posted February 16, 2008 uhh the other pics arnt working, i will try again later, but can anyone ID that tooth? its the best pic i can get, no others are really working "Turn the fear of the unknown into the excitment of possibility!"We dont stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shuko Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 here are a couple of pics of the shark teeth i found,pic quality is really bad but you get the gist. the smallest tooth is 1mm long and they largest is just over 5mm. If anyone can give me an Id on any of the teeth that would be great! They are cretaceous codell sandstone! These microfossils are so beautiful! o.o They sound so fun to collect! I wouldn't mind starting a collection of my own, actually. What would I need to get started? I don't have a microscope, so I'd probably need one of those. Also, I'm not sure of the best places to go for siftable gravel. I wonder if my yard would offer me anything. My problem would be differentiating between recently deceased snails and fossil ones. xD Anyone have any good recommendations for Microscopes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kauffy Posted February 18, 2008 Author Share Posted February 18, 2008 Hey Shuko, i dont have a microscope, i would say if you want to start off, get yourself a 10 or 20x handlens, they are great for seeing some things but if your dealing with any fossils under 2mm they tend to strain your eyes. Depends on what sort of fossils your collecting! (hint hint, post some pictures!) if its gravel i guess you could try sifting some of the smaller stuff and see if you find anything....i think the material you collect from has to be pretty fossiliforous to make it any fun...otherwise you will sit there for hours staring at sand and only have one beat up shell to say for it Chris "Turn the fear of the unknown into the excitment of possibility!"We dont stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shuko Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 Hey Shuko,i dont have a microscope, i would say if you want to start off, get yourself a 10 or 20x handlens, they are great for seeing some things but if your dealing with any fossils under 2mm they tend to strain your eyes. Depends on what sort of fossils your collecting! (hint hint, post some pictures!) if its gravel i guess you could try sifting some of the smaller stuff and see if you find anything....i think the material you collect from has to be pretty fossiliforous to make it any fun...otherwise you will sit there for hours staring at sand and only have one beat up shell to say for it Chris Chris, thanks for your advice! I'll take you up on that. I've just had a member offer to sell me some fossiliferous dirt: The dirt comes from the famous Lee Creek Phosphate Mine in Aurora, Nc. The type of material that it is, is mostly from the Pungo foramation and some from the Yorktown formation. The dirt is a spoil dirt that has been prosessed through the mine for the phosphate. But there is still alot of nice fossils to be found in it. Sound good? I advertised in the sale/trade forum that I was wanting to buy some microfossil dirt, and this person replied to me. I think it sounds like a promising start. Is anyone familiar with this formation, and what kinds of microfossils can come from it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now