Riker Box displays, which sizes should I use?

[Velociraptor99]

Hello TFF! As my fossil collection continues to further expand, I'm finding it harder to store my finds, especially since my room is tiny and my garage is full (of non-fossil related stuff). For my smaller finds I've considered buying some riker boxes. My problem is I have no idea how wide, long, or deep they should be in regards to my finds. I have a nice large enrolled silica shale trilobite from my state of Ohio, a 3D starfish on a "mound" from Pennsylvania that's taller than most of my finds (despite being small, kind of like a tall enchinoid), some marine reptile teeth, 3D brachiopods, etc. I don't really have the room to display stuff on my walls.

 

What sizes should I be looking for, and how deep/wide/long should they be? Where can I purchase these display cases.

 

If there are better alternatives that will hold the fossils in place but not put too much pressure on them. The starfish in particular is fragile. 

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Vraptor

[Fossildude19]

Have you considered using something like stackable plastic storage containers - like hardware or bead storage boxes? 

 

[Kane]

Tim makes an excellent suggestion for storage. It also ticks the box (no pun intended!) of not knowing exactly the width you may need, as these types of boxes sometimes have adjustable dividers. A fish tackle box is also an option (and far more portable than a map drawer!). 

[Troodon]

I use Rikers to store most of my delicate smaller fossils bones, teeth, plates.  Nice for display, dustproof, safe but they are not cheap.  They come in various thicknesses and sizes. All depends what you are putting in them.

 

Here are a couple of suppliers

http://www.chdisplay.com/rikermountswithwhitepolyfill.aspx

 

http://indianriverdisplay.com/black.htm

[Sagebrush Steve]

On 7/1/2018 at 5:41 AM, Troodon said:

I use Rikers to store most of my delicate smaller fossils bones, teeth, plates.  Nice for display, dustproof, safe but they are not cheap.  They come in various thicknesses and sizes. All depends what you are putting in them.

 

Here are a couple of suppliers

http://www.chdisplay.com/rikermountswithwhitepolyfill.aspx

 

http://indianriverdisplay.com/black.htm

I have a number of original Riker Mounts that use pins to hold the top and bottom together.  I like these a lot. When I was at a gem and mineral show recently there was a vendor selling similar products from a different vendor.  These products don’t use the pins, they use a complicated clip to hold the two halves together.  They work okay but the clips distort the sides and make it look tacky.  Not the kind of thing I would want to put on display.  None of the shows I have been to recently have had the Riker Mounts that use pins.  Hope they still sell them.  Only thing I can think of is that their primary customers are jewelers who want to keep their displays with them when they travel by plane.  The sharp pins holding things together probably wouldn’t pass TSA inspection.  I’ve taken to making my own using lengths of corner moldings I pick up at the local hardware store and cut to size (no, I don’t sell them!):

 

[caldigger]

Actually the majority of the Rikers you see for sell are of the pin closure type.

I personally do not favor the ones with pins in that the holes loosen up if opened a couple of times and the pins want to fall out. 

I love the "complicated" ( it's just slip on!) clip type. Then again I get into my displays frequently.

[Bobby Rico]

I  spotted in a vintage good store a very nice filling cabinet for £40 .  I felted the draws and cut the base of and add some casters looks nicer and more practical . I made some dividers too. It is really only good for narrow fossil but I have a lot of them. This worked out fantastic and holds a lot of fossils in a small space. Hope it gives you some ideas.

[Sagebrush Steve]

4 hours ago, Bobby Rico said:

I  spotted in a vintage good store a very nice filling cabinet for £40 .  I felted the draws and cut the base of and add some casters looks nicer and more practical . I made some dividers too. It is really only good for narrow fossil but I have a lot of them. This worked out fantastic and holds a lot of fossils in a small space. Hope it gives you some ideas.

The drawers were all painted those rainbow of colors when you got it?  Looks like something out of the 1960s.

[Bobby Rico]

2 minutes ago, Sagebrush Steve said:

The drawers were all painted those rainbow of colors when you got it?  Looks like something out of the 1960s.

They was I also think it makes the drawers  look very nice. Could be 60s. 

[Sagebrush Steve]

8 hours ago, caldigger said:

Actually the majority of the Rikers you see for sell are of the pin closure type.

I personally do not favor the ones with pins in that the holes loosen up if opened a couple of times and the pins want to fall out. 

I love the "complicated" ( it's just slip on!) clip type. Then again I get into my displays frequently.

Good point, the pins are a pain to remove, which is fine for something you will put on display and rarely open but not for something you get into all the time.  When my mother owned a custom jewelry store many years ago we displayed gems in Riker mounts inside glass display cabinets and just left the pins out.  Not the smartest thing to do and I believe there were a few incidents of pilfering.

[siteseer]

9 hours ago, Bobby Rico said:

I  spotted in a vintage good store a very nice filling cabinet for £40 .  I felted the draws and cut the base of and add some casters looks nicer and more practical . I made some dividers too. It is really only good for narrow fossil but I have a lot of them. This worked out fantastic and holds a lot of fossils in a small space. Hope it gives you some ideas.

 

I have a very similar cabinet but it's on wheels and has only eight drawers.  I keep my prehistoric animal postcards and some of my dinosaur toys in it but have been thinking about putting that stuff in boxes and moving fossils into it.  I think these kinds of cabinets are used for slide storage or some other photography use.