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Post by Paul K on Sept 1, 2015 12:11:35 GMT
For many butterfly families the glass bottom drawers are the perfect solution to have ease access to view verso and recto of the specimen.
However i haven't seen too many of those in use. Entomologist use to pin some of the specimens recto up and some verso up to have better view. In case having only one specimen removing from the drawer to see other side is necessary but always there is a little risk of accident. I wonder why double glass drawers are not popular among collectors? Is this a cost or impractical in use?
Paul
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Post by sensedigger on Sept 3, 2015 13:20:12 GMT
Yes, glass-bottom drawers "steal" space, which is critically important, I believe.
Secondly, they are twice as fragile against the classic ones...
Victor
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Post by Paul K on Sept 3, 2015 13:34:15 GMT
Yes, glass-bottom drawers "steal" space, which is critically important, I believe. Secondly, they are twice as fragile against the classic ones... Victor I agree they are more fragile then classic once, but more thick durable glass could be installed on the bottom. As for the storage the size could be the same just replace the hard bottom with the glass. I don't have hands on experience though , only have seen those few times on some websites, also I have not seen them for sale. Paul |
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Post by sensedigger on Sept 3, 2015 13:56:31 GMT
I do know a collector who has all of his stuff placed in glass-bottom drawers. They are very small indeed: for instance, one can house not more than four morphos... And another important point: he never ever replaces or changes the drawer content, i.e. in his case each drawer has been once and forever made for a particular individual set of specimens (size, shape, etc.).
Surely, the drawer size can be any you can think of, but I'm talking about SPACE, i.e. the room you can actually use to position your items properly and spectacularly.
A "more thick durable glass" would raise the drawer weight dramatically, which is the aspect I usually take into consideration.
Victor
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Post by Paul K on Sept 3, 2015 15:01:58 GMT
Ok , I see your point Victor. Lucking regular pining bottom the specimen can not be maneuvered freely in desired direction. I guess it would work for Delias sp. as they all are about same size and shape and their verso are more spectacular then recto.
Paul
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Post by sensedigger on Sept 3, 2015 15:21:17 GMT
Yes, Paul, Delias are very special, and in this particular case the use of a glass bottom could prove reasonable.
Victor
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Post by Adam Cotton on Sept 3, 2015 16:42:57 GMT
The Rothschild Collection at the NHM, London is housed in glass bottomed draws. Here's a very small photo of a draw (lid removed) just so you can see what the draw looks like, and how the butterflies are placed in the draw on wooden strips with a papered cork top for the pins.  Adam. |
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Post by sensedigger on Sept 3, 2015 17:25:43 GMT
Yes, Adam, this is the same technique which is used by the collector I know, the only difference being that he does not position the specimens so that their wings overlap and that the strips are not wooden, but made of plastic foam.
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Post by bobw on Sept 3, 2015 17:46:10 GMT
All of the main collection and the Rothschild collection in BMNH were housed in glass-bottomed drawers. However they are now slowly merging all the collections and putting them into hard-bottomed drawers, either with plastazote or using unit trays. I've spent the last few months doing this as part of a recuration project for them and it's a fiddly job. As they are so short of staff the whole job will take many years.
As far as I'm aware they've sold off a lot of the glass-bottomed drawers. I would imagine they probably have some still available, if not, I'm sure many more will become available; I'll be freeing up a few hundred over the next year or so.
Bob
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Post by Paul K on Sept 4, 2015 0:24:32 GMT
Bob
I wonder what is the reason BMNH is converting to hard bottom drawers. Perhaps that you involved in that process you are aware of the problems they might experience with this type.
Would I be able to purchase some of them or its only possible for insiders ?
Paul
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Post by nomad on Sept 4, 2015 5:09:19 GMT
Seems a good idea, the BMNH use them in their World collections, however, on turning them over by a number of different users has led to loose abdomens etc, I saw a loose abdomen or two in the Delias drawers, and this can damage other specimens. They are rarely seen in new British cabinets but I expect Chadwick would make them to order but expect a long wait. In the BMNH their thin strips are incredibly hard and once removing a specimen you have to insert it in the same pin hole.
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Post by bobw on Sept 4, 2015 6:32:21 GMT
Bob I wonder what is the reason BMNH is converting to hard bottom drawers. Perhaps that you involved in that process you are aware of the problems they might experience with this type. Would I be able to purchase some of them or its only possible for insiders ? Paul Paul
I don't know the reason for it. They have replaced all their old wooden cabinets with metal ones in compactors that will take a variety of drawer sizes, although I think they're trying to get it down to 3 standard sizes. Evidently during a recent check they found they were using 22 different types of drawer!
The long term plan is to take high-res photos of the dorsal and ventral surfaces and labels of every specimen in the collections, this means there will be no need to remove specimens from the drawers again except for possible genitalic or DNA studies. This database will then be available online; this is obviously a very long-term project although they have already done all of the British butterflies. I've photographed some for them (mainly potential types) and it's a very laborious process.
I am away next week but will be going there the week after. I'll see what I can find out for you.
Bob
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