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Post by Paul K on Mar 3, 2015 9:18:33 GMT
Entity
Your success will depend on how much would be your selling price and how airtied they will be. Cedar wood is rather not cheap but if you can do better then bioquip or leptrap in regards of cost you should sell your product. There is a company named Paradox in Poland -Europe and they sell very good quality drawers ( at least they look like ) at very low cost . I am going to order from them but the cost of shipping to Thailand or Canada is almost same as the product . By the way I'd like to know if anyone in Europe use those drawers and what is your opinion ?
Paul
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entity
New Aurelian
Posts: 16
Country: USA
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Post by entity on Mar 3, 2015 15:13:05 GMT
I wasn't talking about oils or anything when i was wondering about what to build my insect cases out of. I just figured cedar wood and still put some moth ball packs inside for insurance. I just figured the cedar would be the best thing to build them out of. Just a little extra added possible protection. There is no reason the cedar frame should hurt the specimens inside....correct?
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entity
New Aurelian
Posts: 16
Country: USA
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Post by entity on Mar 3, 2015 15:15:37 GMT
I hear ya paul. I am going to be making my own so ill be my own lab rat. But i was just outting feelers out there to see if anyone else is would be interested. Also riker mounts are not air tight and they are very popular....
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Post by Paul K on Mar 3, 2015 17:51:06 GMT
Riker mounts are popular for public but I don't think any entomologist use them for collection . Personally I never buy one or made one my self. Try to make your drawers as tight as possible . They will save you lots of headache in the future.
Paul
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entity
New Aurelian
Posts: 16
Country: USA
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Post by entity on Mar 3, 2015 21:14:48 GMT
Yes sir. Thanks for the advice. Im going to cut a groove the whole way around the lid when i make so i can put a seal in there when i close the lid it should seal. Im still going to put moth crystals in there as a precaution though.
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jhyatt
Aurelian
Posts: 224
Country: U.S.A.
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Post by jhyatt on Apr 13, 2016 1:39:13 GMT
Riker mounts are popular for public but I don't think any entomologist use them for collection . Personally I never buy one or made one my self. Try to make your drawers as tight as possible . They will save you lots of headache in the future. Paul I seem to recall having been told that the famous collection of Barcant (was his first name Malcolm?) in Trinidad was in Rikers; he thought they were safer from pests (can be taped completely sealed) and humidity-droop in a damp tropical climate. I believe that the collection was housed and available for viewing at the Angostoura Bitters company headquarters (Barcant was associated with the company). Anyone know what ever became of that collection? And a US collector-friend of mine, the late Irving Finkelstein of Atlanta, had a wonderful collection in Riker mounts. Everything from the smallest Lycaenids to his own self-collected P. homerus. The Rikers were stored in a row of file cabinets - very efficient use of space in his smallish house. After his death Irving's collection went to McGuire; not sure whether they'll leave it in the Rikers. I bet they leave it alone. Re-pinning everything would be hazardous to the specimens.
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Post by deliasfanatic on Apr 13, 2016 2:38:06 GMT
Jim Ebner (Wisconsin, USA) had a large Papilionidae collection housed in Rikers. It's now spread far and wide; a number of his specimens are now with me, and needless to say, they now reside on pins.
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Post by trehopr1 on Apr 13, 2016 8:57:33 GMT
Wow, small world deliasfanatic. My dealer/friend whom I've known the last 20 years originally purchased Jim Ebner's collection when he was willing to finally part with it. Jim Ebner' was his mentor into the hobby and my friend long admired his collection. Papilio's still remain his favorite group above all others. He has (over the years) related several details upon his receiving the collection. He has told me that he purchased the collection in it's entirety in late 1984. He held on to it for a little over a year before deciding that he had to much monetary investment in it to have it just sitting around to admire. His children were teenagers at the time and shelling out $35,000 dollars for the collection at that time was just overstepping the bounds of reason. He just did'nt want anyone else at the time to get it. So in April of 1986 he began selling it off to recoup some of his money. He has said on several occasions that the collection was housed in 2500 12x16 Riker mounts. At that time he has also mentioned that the Ebner collection was a nearly complete collection in terms of the known Papilio's of the time. He said Ebner was only missing 17 species of the known Papilio's . When asked why Riker's for storage? He replied that in the 40's,50's,and even the sixties many collectors stored their collections in that manner as money was little, homes were often small, and space was a premium. Riker's afforded an economical space saving alternative and could even be put into a medium size home safe which could be fumigated with moth balls. I was also told that one Wisconsin doctor who purchased a fair number of the specimens later on (went thru a divorce) and sold off some of the best specimes thru a French dealer and corresponding auction. The auction did quite well I was told.
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Post by jshuey on Apr 13, 2016 15:00:38 GMT
i have never seen cedar cases. I am not sure if that's because strong smell of cedar wood or maybe that oil is not suitable for keeping dry insects. I guess one can be made for trial .
Define "cedar".
Cedar chests (the kind that are supposed to repel moths) are made from Eastern Red Cedar. This a very hard wood to work with. It's full of resinous knots that ruin jointer and plainer knives - it is almost impossible to find clear boards that are knot free. I cant imagine that a drawer lid made from this would retain it's shape for very long. Many people think that Easter red cedar is pretty ugly as wood goes, so in better furniture, you find it out of sight - as a lining inside drawers or chests.
On the other hand, Pacific red cedar is a very straight-grained, light wood often used for high-end house siding and roof shingles. It also splinters very easily and you don't see it used for furniture construction regularly (with the exception of patio furniture - because it is very weather resistant). Having just purchased siding for my house, I have to think that Pacific red cedar is pretty expensive for this use, and would run the cost up relative to typical "soft hardwoods" used for insect drawers.
I have no idea if either if these cedars is the source of "cedar oil" - although I expect that it is eastern red cedar or a similar species of juniper.
john
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leon
Junior Aurelian
Birthday : Feb 5
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Country: United States
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Post by leon on Jul 15, 2016 16:17:03 GMT
All the discussion so far has been how to use existing drawers. However, being a new collector (coleoptera) I'm using temporary boxes and need a storage cabinet with drawers. I'd appreciate any and all information on where and what to buy. I'm in the US, so buying them here would probably be most economical.
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Post by trehopr1 on Jul 16, 2016 7:18:00 GMT
Leon, because you are new to the hobby I suggest that you start small and progress with time. Good drawers don't come cheaply and cabinets are simply expensive. I suggest you start with one insect drawer and only buy as you need. That's the way I've always done it. There are basically two ways to go with this thought (regarding the drawers). You can either buy a Cornell drawer which has a full layer of plastozoate foam throughout the entire bottom or, you can elect to purchase a "flat bottom" Cornell drawer without any foam in the bottom. This type utilizes what we call unit trays. Unit trays are literally thin cardboard trays with thin foam glued into them. They come in a variety of sizes and are popular with coleopterists and collectors of other assorted insect orders other than leps. The trays come small enough to accept a single specimen or large enough to fit a Goliath beetle. The trays can be easily shuffled about such a drawer without ever having to physically handle the specimens. The only downside to a unit tray system is that there is an added cost in buying the trays --- in addition to the cost already spent on the drawer. The other way you just buy a drawer and your done. I would also add that the quality of unit trays is not quite what it used to be. Yes, the foam bottoms are good but, in my humble opinion the very cardboard used is far to thin (opposed to older ones I've seen); so they tend to "bulge" at all sides. You will still fit them in a drawer however, they are never nicely squared and firm. The best known outfit here in the states for such supplies including cabinets is Bioquip Products out of California. They have a website with their catalog on it to browse. I have always found their drawers to be top shelf quality. Drawers with foam throughout normally price out at 55.00 ea. for pine. Flat bottoms are a little cheaper but, by the time you fill one with unit trays the whole drawer cost could be something in the neighborhood 65-70 bucks each. Drawers in my opinion are the only way to go as everything you have within is easily visible through the glass lid. Schmitt boxes and the likes of most everything else force you to open the lid to view the contents (as a cigar box does); and they are never really all that large in size if your collection continues to grow. Cabinets should only be considered when you have acquired enough material in time. A metal 12 drawer cabinet with locking door goes for about 600 bucks. An open faced pressed board style cabinet which comes laminated in white is far cheaper. It's all about choices..... Anyway, best to start small and let the hobby progress with time. Best Regards, Trehopr1
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Post by deliasfanatic on Jul 16, 2016 13:41:51 GMT
I also use Bioquip drawers, and always order them in December. Why? Because they have free shipping that month. I believe one has to order at least 2 drawers to get the free shipping deal, but it's a substantial savings since Bioquip's shipping charges are high.
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leon
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Birthday : Feb 5
Posts: 95
Country: United States
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Post by leon on Jul 25, 2016 14:18:28 GMT
I also use Bioquip drawers, and always order them in December. Why? Because they have free shipping that month. I believe one has to order at least 2 drawers to get the free shipping deal, but it's a substantial savings since Bioquip's shipping charges are high. Right now I'm using small plastic boxes that used to contain sliced meat. They seal reasonably well (for a temporary purpose) and they're working well. I think I'll continue using them 'till December, and get that free shipping. I'll order a Cornell drawer at that time. Thank you both for the information. Very helpful indeed !
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Post by NathanGrosse on Jul 27, 2016 1:42:03 GMT
I also use Bioquip drawers, and always order them in December. Why? Because they have free shipping that month. Free shipping in December? Excellent! I just may hold off on ordering until then as well! On the topic of BioQuip's drawers, have any of you purchased their "build your own" drawer kits? They come with precut wood to build six Cornell drawers and you supply your own glass. They end up costing about half the price of the pre-made kits (and I'm guessing you save a bit on shipping, too, since they take up significantly less space when disassembled.) Are these kits any good? Can the final product be as good as the pre-assembled drawers if I have decent handiwork skills?
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Post by deliasfanatic on Jul 27, 2016 2:59:11 GMT
Free shipping in December? Excellent! I just may hold off on ordering until then as well! On the topic of BioQuip's drawers, have any of you purchased their "build your own" drawer kits? They come with precut wood to build six Cornell drawers and you supply your own glass. They end up costing about half the price of the pre-made kits (and I'm guessing you save a bit on shipping, too, since they take up significantly less space when disassembled.) Are these kits any good? Can the final product be as good as the pre-assembled drawers if I have decent handiwork skills? Many years ago (early 1980s), I bought a few of the "do it yourself" kits. I stopped afterward...it was much too time-consuming and annoying, but that's me. I hate making things. If you don't mind that, and don't mind spending the time, it's a good deal.
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