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 Post subject: quartz wedge substitute
PostPosted: Sat Oct 29, 2016 5:55 pm 
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I had read that there is a substitute for a quartz wedge. Does anyone know where I could get one or how to make one? Thanks for any info!

Kyle


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 Post subject: Re: quartz wedge substitute
PostPosted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 4:32 am 
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Location: Wylie Texas but in Alaska for a while
It is discussed in Hanneman's book. It is worth the price and has many good tools you can build.


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 Post subject: Re: quartz wedge substitute
PostPosted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 2:14 pm 
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Hi Ted, I have been looking at your aurora pictures with jealousy, but I notice you were having problems with a new camera. I would recommend turning off the autofocus and focusing manually so the camera doesn't hunt during dark phases. Also, for star trails, turn the exposure dial to manual, stop the lens down and open the shutter for an hour or so, one thing to watch is the battery drain, holding the shutter open uses a lot of battery power and if you can get a separate battery pack it will be a good insurance.
Keep getting those great snaps.


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 Post subject: Re: quartz wedge substitute
PostPosted: Mon Oct 31, 2016 2:21 pm 
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Quartz wedges, real ones, can be found on fleabay from time to time and sometimes you can buy them for pretty reasonable prices. They are an accessory of petrological microscopes. If you pay less than $75.00 you are getting a very good deal. Sometimes they need to be recemented but this is not a moonshot though it may be more than many people want to do. The cementations have to be pretty bad before you have to do it. You can cement them with canadian balsam or with Norlands optical cement or with windshield hole repair (the blue light curing type). You get the old cement out and apart with methylene chloride paint remover and make sure you put it back together the same way it came apart. (after you clean the three pieces carefully).

There are two pretty good alternatives.

One is to buy Dr. Hannemanns quartz wedge simulator which uses molded styene with residual stress to simulate the quartz wedge. I believe he collaborated with someone called Daly so the wedge is called a Hannemann Daly quartz wedge simulator. He sells them fairly cheaply.

You can also make a similar item by using stepped layers of transparent cellophane tape. This method was elaborated in Elizabeth Bell's classic Crystals and Light books and the little lab manual that goes with it. You can get the book from Dover publications.


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 Post subject: Re: quartz wedge substitute
PostPosted: Mon Oct 31, 2016 2:43 pm 
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What is the quartz wedge used for in a gemological context? I'm familiar with their use to bump up interference colors in petrology, though I have pretty much never used it.

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 Post subject: Re: quartz wedge substitute
PostPosted: Mon Oct 31, 2016 3:37 pm 
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You can search the posts of the late list member "Doos" to find expositions on that subject.
You can use them to aid in determination of optical character and sign just like in the petrological microscope. Under conoscopic observation.


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 Post subject: Re: quartz wedge substitute
PostPosted: Tue Nov 01, 2016 12:05 pm 
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Thanks for the replies everyone. G4Lab, how would I be able to buy that from Dr. Hannemann? Sounds like it'd be a great idea to go that route. Thanks.

Kyle


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 Post subject: Re: quartz wedge substitute
PostPosted: Tue Nov 01, 2016 6:57 pm 
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He is on this list and usually jumps in. Search Bill Hannemann and send him a PM


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 Post subject: Re: quartz wedge substitute
PostPosted: Thu Nov 03, 2016 12:18 pm 
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Thanks again but it seems that I am not able to send private messages yet. Any other ideas?

Thanks,

Kyle


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 Post subject: Re: quartz wedge substitute
PostPosted: Thu Nov 03, 2016 1:10 pm 
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Yes, try sending a PM now. I've given you full forum privileges.


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 Post subject: Re: quartz wedge substitute
PostPosted: Sat Nov 05, 2016 4:26 pm 
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Thank you very much Barbra.


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 Post subject: Re: quartz wedge substitute
PostPosted: Tue Nov 08, 2016 12:22 pm 
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Hi again Barbra, I just tried to send a private message and it says I haven't been authorized yet. Perhaps something didn't go through?

Thanks,

Kyle


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 Post subject: Re: quartz wedge substitute
PostPosted: Thu Nov 10, 2016 6:28 pm 
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:oops: Try again.


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