I have noticed that the shells should be fully immersed. If they float,
nothing really happens. Best thing to do is to put the shell(s) in a small
glass vial, fill this with water (if possible to the rim), close it with
your thumb and shake it until the shell drops to the bottom and does not
resurface (this indicates that there is also water inside the  aperture
behind the grains). Then put the vial in the ultrasonic cleaner. the grains
will be out in seconds rather than minutes. A "dry" method to remove sand
grains is by forcing a single strand of copper wire behind the grain. But
then of course there should be a tiny bit of space left in the aperture. It
works though, even in the smallest rissoids and pyramidellids and the like.
The ultrasonic method however, should be preferred because it will also
remove most if not all of the salts remaining inside the shell. This salt
will destroy any shell in an environment that is periodically dry and moist
(e.g. due to annual or daily changes in temperature and humidity in the
storage room) because the recrystalising crushes the weaker calacareous
structures.

Marien
www.mollus.nl

----- Original Message -----
From: "David Kirsh" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, October 03, 2005 8:16 PM
Subject: against the grains


> All right, gang,
>
> I want to remove grains of sand from the apertures of micros. I'm
> talking about micros too small to approach with dental tools.
>
> I've got an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner and tried it initially on a few
> spares. After a few minutes, there was no difference. One thing is that
> I put the micros in a shallow open plastic box (because they're so
> small).
>
> Will more time do the trick? Is the box cutting down significantly on
> the effect of the treatment? Any suggestions?
>
> David Kirsh
>
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