Home | Community | Message Board

Magic Mushrooms Zamnesia
This site includes paid links. Please support our sponsors.


Welcome to the Shroomery Message Board! You are experiencing a small sample of what the site has to offer. Please login or register to post messages and view our exclusive members-only content. You'll gain access to additional forums, file attachments, board customizations, encrypted private messages, and much more!

Shop: MagicBag.co Certified Organic All-In-One Grow Bags   North Spore Bulk Substrate   Unfolding Nature Unfolding Nature: Being in the Implicate Order   Mushroom-Hut Substrate Bags   PhytoExtractum Buy Bali Kratom Powder   Left Coast Kratom Buy Kratom Extract   Kraken Kratom Red Vein Kratom

Jump to first unread post Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | Next >  [ show all ]
Some of these posts are very old and might contain outdated information. You may wish to search for newer posts instead.
Offlinesmaerd
 User Gallery

Registered: 03/11/08
Posts: 2,058
Last seen: 12 years, 8 months
Mushrooms preserved in PMMA?
    #13060885 - 08/16/10 07:07 PM (13 years, 7 months ago)

Hi I was thinking of doing something kind of cool for maybe my school. I'm an amature mushroom hunter, but I've been at it for I think 2 years now and I love it. It keeps me busy and outside.

I was thinking about how they preserve flowers and stuff in resin's/epoxies? For specimens and stuff. I was thinking it would be pretty cool to do that with fungii. Then maybe donate them to my college even if it was just for display I'm sure a biology professor would enjoy it.

edit - Something like this but with a mushroom and not a flower.


I'm not sure exactly what to do though. I need a way to stop them from breaking down in a translucent resin, any ideas? I also don't know exactly what kind of resin to even use for this(I said PMMA but I don't think that is feasible haha). Any ideas? So I made a post in hopes that someone else has done this already and there's some kind of guide/information I just can't find.

Thanks!

Edited by smaerd (08/16/10 07:08 PM)

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Offlinethe spiral
Neuroscientist
Male User Gallery


Folding@home Statistics
Registered: 05/13/02
Posts: 1,769
Last seen: 8 years, 8 months
Re: Mushrooms preserved in PMMA? [Re: smaerd]
    #13074579 - 08/19/10 04:10 PM (13 years, 7 months ago)

wow sounds like a cool idea.  I'd love to preserve a psilocybe shroom as a paperweight  - or a keychain dongle.


--------------------


"A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism." - Carl Sagan

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Offlinesmaerd
 User Gallery

Registered: 03/11/08
Posts: 2,058
Last seen: 12 years, 8 months
Re: Mushrooms preserved in PMMA? [Re: the spiral]
    #13074683 - 08/19/10 04:28 PM (13 years, 7 months ago)

Haha I'd be afraid of immortalizing an illegal mushroom, but ya know if you figure out a way, please share brother! I think this would be a really cool thing to have for things like mushroom hunting clubs and stuff, to teach noobies what to look for, etc.

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Offlinesilas simon
get it
 User Gallery


Registered: 03/21/10
Posts: 570
Last seen: 2 years, 6 days
Re: Mushrooms preserved in PMMA? [Re: smaerd]
    #13074817 - 08/19/10 04:51 PM (13 years, 7 months ago)

im sure you could exploit the fact that theres is no way you could have the intention of comsuming the fruit given it's contained within a solid, toxic barrier

and without bioassay they cant necessarily prove its an active anyway

coat it with hairspray to cure it first, perhaps?


--------------------


ever so curious about psilocybe baeocystis. do please pm me if you can facilitate some hands on learning!

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Offlineidunno
PinkWebBuffalo
 User Gallery

Registered: 03/02/10
Posts: 1,087
Last seen: 12 years, 8 months
Re: Mushrooms preserved in PMMA? [Re: silas simon]
    #13075534 - 08/19/10 07:24 PM (13 years, 7 months ago)

I would say give it a dip in hot wax like they do at the fair with the roses.  Then put it in a resin.  Or a dip in a superglue bath. It reacts to water, dries instantly.


--------------------
The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic..  Josef Stalin

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Offlinesmaerd
 User Gallery

Registered: 03/11/08
Posts: 2,058
Last seen: 12 years, 8 months
Re: Mushrooms preserved in PMMA? [Re: idunno]
    #13075797 - 08/19/10 08:23 PM (13 years, 7 months ago)

I'm worried the fruits will still rot if they aren't embalmed in a sense. I don't think drying is a good idea, unless we could like 'refresh' or replace the water with a compound that won't allow rotting. hmmm

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
InvisibleTimmiTM
 User Gallery

Registered: 03/23/10
Posts: 5,303
Loc: Victoria Flag
Re: Mushrooms preserved in PMMA? [Re: smaerd]
    #13076736 - 08/20/10 12:33 AM (13 years, 7 months ago)

The samples would probably have to be fixed first to stop them rotting. The only problem is that fixatives have a tendency to turn things a drab grey-brown colour and shrink them. I have tried looking into preserving mushrooms before but there is almost no information out there. Maybe it's time to start experimenting.


--------------------
"Reality leaves a lot to the imagination" ~ John Lennon

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineMycelio
Stranger
Male

Registered: 06/24/08
Posts: 1,636
Loc: Berlin Flag
Last seen: 5 months, 20 days
Trusted Cultivator
Re: Mushrooms preserved in PMMA? [Re: TimmiT]
    #13076927 - 08/20/10 01:54 AM (13 years, 7 months ago)

Search for 'Plastination', it may save you a lot of time.

Carsten

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Offlinesmaerd
 User Gallery

Registered: 03/11/08
Posts: 2,058
Last seen: 12 years, 8 months
Re: Mushrooms preserved in PMMA? [Re: Mycelio]
    #13077951 - 08/20/10 10:34 AM (13 years, 7 months ago)

Well I am willing to get down to brass-tacks and start experimenting, I'll do some research today first on viable options.

Thank you for the plastination search tip, let's do this :laugh:!

edit -
quote from wiki on Plastination - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastination

Quote:

There are four steps in the standard process of plastination: fixation, dehydration, forced impregnation in a vacuum, and hardening.[2] Water and lipid tissues are replaced by curable polymers. Curable polymers used by plastination include silicone, epoxy and polyester-copolymer.[2]

The first step of plastination is fixation.[3] This simply means that the body is embalmed, usually in a formaldehyde solution, in order to halt decomposition.

After any necessary dissections take place, the specimen is then placed in a bath of acetone. Under freezing conditions, the acetone draws out all the water and replaces it inside the cells.[4]

In the third step, the specimen is then placed in a bath of liquid polymer, such as silicone rubber, polyester or epoxy resin. By creating a vacuum, the acetone is made to boil at a low temperature. As the acetone vaporizes and leaves the cells, it draws the liquid polymer in behind it, leaving a cell filled with liquid plastic.[4]

The plastic must then be cured with gas, heat, or ultraviolet light, in order to harden it.[3]

A specimen can be anything from a full human body to a small piece of an animal organ, and they are known as 'plastinates'.[citation needed] Once plastinated, specimens and bodies can be manipulated and positioned




Pretty creepy wiki page, but the idea should be similar I think your right :smile:.

Edited by smaerd (08/20/10 10:45 AM)

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Offlinesmaerd
 User Gallery

Registered: 03/11/08
Posts: 2,058
Last seen: 12 years, 8 months
Re: Mushrooms preserved in PMMA? [Re: smaerd]
    #13078065 - 08/20/10 10:56 AM (13 years, 7 months ago)

I checked some patents and there is some mention of Fungi/Fungus being plastinated(is that a word? hehe)

http://www.cpedia.com/search?q=Plastination&d=Body%20Worlds%20Exhibition
Quote:

Plastination allows for preservation of specimen with completely visible surface and high durability. [25.1] Plastinated specimen are odorless, not toxic and mechanically resistant to a high degree. [25.2]

Plastination is a procedure, during which water and fat of gross specimen are replaced by a polymerisable resin. [25.3] The three most important resins and hence plastination techniques are Silicone (S-10), Epoxy (E-12) and Polyesther (P-40). [25.4]

In the late '80s and early ' 90s Russell brought the Department to the forefront of plastination, a technique which revolutionised the use of human material. [25.5] In 1990 he was invited to attend the 5th International Conference on Plastination held in Heidelberg, West Germany, where he was a guest speaker, and showed a selection of his specimens. [25.6]

Russell has transformed the relatively basic nature of the position he was appointed to in 1979 to that of a highly complex, technical and skilled one. [25.7] Plastinated fungi are used to complement the teaching of the classification of fungi to amateur people. [25.8]

However, improved techniques must be found for our plastination lab in order to obtain the better results. [25.9]

The aim of this study was to determinate if plastination is a valid preservation technique to obtain permanently preserved fungi as an aid to its botanic identification. [25.10]

Conclusion: Plastination of fungi with the standard S-10 silicone technique is a very valuable method for fungi preservation, although shrinkage, shape changes and partial damage of colour is observed. [25.11]





http://www.patentgenius.com/patent/6881435.html
Quote:

This invention deals with new and novel methods of conserving and preserving organic and inorganic materials through the use of novel processes not heretofore found in the prior art.

With more specificity, this invention deals in one embodiment with a method of conserving organic and inorganic materials, wherein the method comprises (I) impregnating a material selected from (a.) organic materials and (b.) inorganic materialswith a curable polymeric system comprising (i) a siloxane polymer or a mixture of siloxane polymers having an average of at least two silanol groups per molecule and (ii) sufficient crosslinker or a mixture of crosslinkers to crosslink a significantportion of the siloxane polymer or mixture of siloxane polymers (i), and thereafter, (II) exposing the product of (I) to a catalyst or a mixture of catalysts for a time sufficient to initiate the cure of the product of (I), wherein the crosslinkers areselected from the group consisting of hydrolyzable silanes having the formula RSi(OR').sub.3 wherein R is selected from the phenyl group, hydrogen, vinyl, or an alkyl group having from 1 to 12 carbon atoms and R' is selected from hydrogen, vinyl, or analkyl group having from 1 to 8 carbon atoms.

Yet another embodiment is a method in which the product of (II) is subjected to a treatment to cure the curable system formed by the siloxane polymer and the crosslinker of this method.

Still further, another embodiment of this invention is a method of preserving organic and inorganic materials, the method comprising a step (I) in which a material selected from (a.) organic materials and (b.) inorganic materials, is impregnatedwith a crosslinker or a mixture of crosslinkers sufficient to crosslink a significant portion of a siloxane polymer or a mixture of siloxane polymers having an average of at least two silanol groups per molecule; (II) thereafter, impregnating the productof (I) with siloxane polymer or a mixture of siloxane polymers having an average of at least two silanol groups per molecule, and (III) thereafter, exposing the product of (II) to a catalyst or a mixture of catalysts for a time sufficient to initiatecuring of the product of (II).

As in the first embodiment, this process can be extended to include a step to cure the product of (II).

Another embodiment of this invention is a method of preserving organic and inorganic materials, wherein the method comprises (I) impregnating a material selected from (a.) organic materials and (b.) inorganic materials with a siloxane polymer ora mixture of siloxane polymers having an average of at least two silanol groups per molecule and (II) thereafter, impregnating the product of (I) with a crosslinker or a mixture of crosslinkers sufficient to crosslink a significant portion of thesiloxane polymer or a mixture of siloxane polymers having an average of at least two silanol groups per molecule. Thereafter, (III), exposing the product of (II) to a catalyst or a mixture of catalysts for a time sufficient to initiate curing of theproduct of (II).

As before, an additional step can be used which subjects the specimen, that is treated by this method, to a curing step.

Turning to another embodiment of this invention, it has been discovered that the method embodied in the first embodiment can be modified to a method of preserving organic and inorganic materials, wherein the method comprises (I) impregnating amaterial selected from organic materials and inorganic materials with a cyclosiloxane or a mixture of cyclosiloxanes having an average of at least two silane hydrogens per molecule and thereafter, exposing the product created thereby to a catalyst or amixture of catalysts for a time sufficient to initiate curing of the product. As before, an additional step can be used which subjects the specimen, that is treated by this method, to a curing step.

Still further, an embodiment of this invention is the substitution of essentially linear methylhydrogen siloxanes for the cyclic siloxanes of the method just supra and such a method preserves organic and inorganic materials using a non-cyclicsiloxane or a mixture of non-cyclic siloxanes having an average of at least two silane hydrogens per molecule and having a molecular weight of 5000 g/mole or less, and thereafter, exposing the product obtained thereby to a catalyst or a mixture ofcatalysts for a time sufficient to initiate curing of the product. Once again, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art upon a close reading of this specification that a further step of curing the product can be utilized in this method.

A further embodiment of this invention is a method of preserving organic and inorganic materials wherein the method comprises impregnating a material selected from organic materials and inorganic materials with a siloxane polymer or a mixture ofsiloxane polymers having an average of at least two silanol groups per molecule and thereafter, exposing the product obtained thereby to a catalyst or a mixture of catalysts for a time sufficient to initiate curing of the product of (I) and if desired,completing the method with a curing step.

There is also a unique method embodied within this invention which is a method of preserving organic and inorganic materials, in which the method comprises impregnating a material selected from organic materials and inorganic materials with ahydrolyzable silane or a mixture of hydrolyzable silanes and thereafter, exposing the product obtained thereby to a catalyst or a mixture of catalysts for a time sufficient to initiate curing of the product and then, if desired, completing the method bycuring the product. Preferred for this unique method is the crosslinker tetraethylorthosilicate. Further, this method can be additionally modified by the use of alkoxysilanes in conjunction with the orthosilicate, which alkoxy silanes, or mixtures ofalkoxysilanes have the general formula R.sub.a Si(OR').sub.4-a wherein R is selected from the phenyl group, hydrogen, vinyl, or an alkyl group having from 1 to 12 carbon atoms, R' is selected from hydrogen, vinyl, or an alkyl group having from 1 to 8carbon atoms and, a has a value of 1 or 2.

A further embodiment of the use of hydrolyzable silanes is a curable polymeric system comprising (i) a siloxane polymer or a mixture of siloxane polymers having an average of at least two silanol groups per molecule and (ii) sufficientcrosslinker to crosslink a significant portion of the siloxane polymer or mixture of siloxane polymers (i), and thereafter, curing the product of (I), wherein the crosslinker is selected from a group consisting of R"Si(Oxime).sub.3 and R"Si(Oxime).sub.4wherein R" is selected from the phenyl group, hydrogen, vinyl, or an alkyl group having from 1 to 12 carbon atoms.

Yet another embodiment of this invention is a method of preserving organic and inorganic materials, in which the method comprises impregnating a material selected from organic materials and inorganic materials with (i) a siloxane polymer or amixture of siloxane polymers having an average of at least two unsaturated groups per molecule; (ii) sufficient crosslinker or a mixture of crosslinkers to crosslink a significant portion of the siloxane polymer or mixture of siloxane polymers (i)wherein the crosslinker or crosslinkers are comprised of organosilicon compounds having at least two hydrogen atoms per silicon and are selected from the group consisting of (a) silanes, (b) siloxanes and (c) mixtures of (a) and (b) and, (iii) a platinumcatalyst, and thereafter, (II) allowing the product of (I) to cure.

Finally, there is disclosed a method of configuring wood products, which method comprises (I) impregnating the wood product with a curable system and thereafter (II) configuring the wood product to a desired shape and (III), while maintaining thewood product in the configuration of (II), curing the curable system.

With respect to the inventive method herein, the term "negative pressure" means without pressure and essentially in a vacuum, while the term "positive pressure" denotes the absence of a vacuum. The examples herein describe negative pressure ininches of mercury and generally, 3 to 5 inches is a poor vacuum and thirty inches is considered to be a good vacuum.

The substrates utilized in the method of this invention are first subjected to a dehydration step in which any water in the substrate is displaced, or is essentially displaced by a solvent or the like.

The general method used herein was a modified method of the method used by those skilled in the art. In general, samples were first dehydrated in acetone which was contained in a freezer mounted vacuum chamber (hereinafter "FMVC"). Afterdehydration, the samples were placed into the materials for impregnation, such materials being set forth in detail in the following examples. Each of the samples was treated by the impregnating material for a period of several hours as noted in theexamples. The process can be found in detail with regard to Example 1 below.

The siloxanes used in these examples are the following unless otherwise noted in the example:

Siloxane 1=a siloxane having an average of two vinyl groups per molecule, essentially on the terminal ends of the molecule and having dimethylsiloxy units, said dimethylsiloxy units having a degree of polymerization of about 100.

Siloxane 2=a siloxane having an average of two hydroxy groups (silanol groups) per molecule, essentially on the terminal ends of the molecule and having dimethylsiloxy units, said dimethylsiloxy units having a degree of polymerization of about100.





Now to read up on all of this stuff and come up with some hopefully OTC-ish ideas

Edited by smaerd (08/20/10 10:59 AM)

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
InvisibleMonkeyKnifeFight
Stranger
 User Gallery

Registered: 06/08/10
Posts: 772
Re: Mushrooms preserved in PMMA? [Re: smaerd]
    #13078092 - 08/20/10 11:03 AM (13 years, 7 months ago)

This is a big long thread on preserving flowers using a resin coating.  Not sure how much of the process would be interchangeable.  It doesn't sound like they dry the flowers completely.  Wouldn't any moisture in the flower cause the same problems as moisture in a fungus (rotting)?

http://www.finishing.com/329/86.shtml

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Offlinesmaerd
 User Gallery

Registered: 03/11/08
Posts: 2,058
Last seen: 12 years, 8 months
Re: Mushrooms preserved in PMMA? [Re: smaerd]
    #13078108 - 08/20/10 11:08 AM (13 years, 7 months ago)

I would imagine so MonkeyKnifeFight, but I'm not a biologist :smile:. Thanks for the link its definitely worth a look!

edit - the thing with that link is though, the mushrooms will surely end up being the difference betweem fresh fungi and dried fungi.

Maybe a combination of techniques would work. I'm going to think about this a bit more hmmm.

Instead of drying fully maybe dry to 70% or something, then try dunking the fungi in dry acetone(maybe even put MgSO4 in the bottom of the solution). So the Acetone would replace the water in the fungi and the water would dissociate inside of the acetone solution and possibly migrate into the MgSO4 layer looming at the bottom. I figure the best way to do this might be to hang the fruits on translucent fishing line?

But after the water has been replaced with acetone then the fungi can be removed from the drying tank which also would hopefully kill any bacteria and remove a large amount of compounds from the mushrooms themselves(possibly interfering with the enzymes breaking down?).

Then while its still wet with acetone, dip it into a mold something disposable and solvent resistant(Acetone eats plastics), that is filled with resin. The either dry the resin or whatever it takes to harden it, and pray it worked?

Awe man it would be RIDICULOUSLY cool if you put the according spore print between two microscope slide's and put it underneath the mushroom in the resin!

Edited by smaerd (08/20/10 11:35 AM)

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Offlinesmaerd
 User Gallery

Registered: 03/11/08
Posts: 2,058
Last seen: 12 years, 8 months
Re: Mushrooms preserved in PMMA? [Re: smaerd]
    #13080139 - 08/20/10 07:02 PM (13 years, 7 months ago)

Okay so I picked a Mycena Laeaina today.

Distilled some Acetone made sure it was nice and dry with some CaCl2.

I dessicated 0.1g of water weight off of the 0.6g(original weight) leaving a mushroom weighing about 0.5g. The desiccant I used was anhydrous MgSO4, which worked out okay, but putting it in a rubber stoppered test tube wasn't an ideal dessication chamber.Oh well, live and learn right?

The mushroom is now soaking in 40mL's of dried acetone. Hopefully the acetone will pull the water out of the fruit body as water and acetone are miscable.

But while removing the epoxy resin I bought the bottles were leaking... Do not buy "Everlasting Elegance"...

Tomorrow I'll try applying the resin however I'm a bit upset that I have a corrosive and toxic compound that hasn't been fully studied that can be fatal from skin contact probably in my pores and I haven't even opened it yet...

Edited by smaerd (08/20/10 07:05 PM)

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Invisibleconformist
Male User Gallery


Registered: 07/29/10
Posts: 210
Loc: SE Flag
Re: Mushrooms preserved in PMMA? [Re: smaerd]
    #13080802 - 08/20/10 10:05 PM (13 years, 7 months ago)

Quote:

smaerd said:I need a way to stop them from breaking down in a translucent resin, any ideas?




What do freeze dried mushrooms look like? Do they lose color?

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Offlinesmaerd
 User Gallery

Registered: 03/11/08
Posts: 2,058
Last seen: 12 years, 8 months
Re: Mushrooms preserved in PMMA? [Re: conformist]
    #13081170 - 08/20/10 11:38 PM (13 years, 7 months ago)

I'm not sure, I've never done it :smile:. But freezing mushrooms and then thawing them will leave ya with a stinky brown puddle. That might be a better way to go about it though! I'll keep that in mind if this fails :smile:.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Offlinethe spiral
Neuroscientist
Male User Gallery


Folding@home Statistics
Registered: 05/13/02
Posts: 1,769
Last seen: 8 years, 8 months
Re: Mushrooms preserved in PMMA? [Re: smaerd]
    #13081793 - 08/21/10 06:12 AM (13 years, 7 months ago)

Smaerd: it's great to see that you're actually experimenting with this and letting us know!  5 for you :smile: 

I imagine most people would be most interested in this mode of preservation on a fresh fruitbody; dry fruitbodies simply aren't as attractive and in any case are already (partially) preserved.  Plus, since acetone is supposed to replace the water in the mushroom's cells, it seems that using a fresh-picked fully hydrated mushroom would work at least as well as a partially dried one. 

All that said, I really have very little idea of what I'm talking about when it comes to something like this; it's an interesting mashup of several distinct areas of study (from cell biology to taxodermy, sort of) that, while I'm familiar with most, in this context I'm baffled!  So again, thanks to smaerd for actually doing some reading and experimenting on this!  I hope that you'll be able to post the smaerd fruitbody plastination/preservation tek if you're able to make it work!


--------------------


"A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism." - Carl Sagan

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Offlineidunno
PinkWebBuffalo
 User Gallery

Registered: 03/02/10
Posts: 1,087
Last seen: 12 years, 8 months
Re: Mushrooms preserved in PMMA? [Re: the spiral]
    #13082619 - 08/21/10 11:54 AM (13 years, 7 months ago)

could you just normally dry a fruitbody, then rehydrate it with acetone in a vacume to fluff it uo b4 it evoraporates for the perserative that you use?


--------------------
The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic..  Josef Stalin

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Offlinesmaerd
 User Gallery

Registered: 03/11/08
Posts: 2,058
Last seen: 12 years, 8 months
Re: Mushrooms preserved in PMMA? [Re: idunno]
    #13082961 - 08/21/10 01:39 PM (13 years, 7 months ago)

Hehe ran into some problems!

Problem Number 1: The mushroom floated in the epoxy resin! I tried attaching a glass stirring rod to a clamp to hold it down, but no matter what it just found it's way to the surface(I tried for about 10 minutes) even after popping the bubbles under the gills etc with a paper clip. Not too big of a deal I mean I could always pour another layer ontop so that's another idea, but it might not be "seemless".

Problem Number 2(with a plus-side to it): Partially dessicating it first might be counter productive. Which is good if this works out because it cuts out a step for whoever may try after :smile:. Possibly bad for me, possibly good for anyone else.

I removed the mushroom from the acetone and let it sit for 10 minutes outside, and it was fully intact/normal looking and quite dry. The acetone method shows promise imo.

If one did want to preserve an active mushroom however, the acetone might pull the activity or at least some of it, making it "non-active". Personally I wouldn't place my freedom on that bet, but it might help to be noted(since someone mentioned preserving an active).

Problem Number 3(specific to some species): Mycena Laeaina is a very "juicey" mushroom and leaves lots of orange reside on your hands when picked fresh. As a direct result of this, the epoxy is tinted orange:(, so this might not be an "all species" method. I plan on collecting a different species today. There hasn't been much rain lately but I'm sure there will be something interesting out there.

Possible Problem Number 4: Acetone reacting with the epoxy. I looked into the MSDS and it didn't say ketones were anything to worry about, it probably would be miniscule as a contaminant but it's always good to look into that sort of thing. Wish my chemistry was more up to par, but that's what school is for :P.
{editted out because this is probably not a problem see following post}


Someone mentioned freeze drying which sounds like an awesome idea. Sadly I do not have a vacuum source available, yet :frown:. Soon enough though, it's like 25 dollars for a water aspirator, and probably 10 dollars for the vac tubing maybe more. 35+ dollars I don't have at the moment :frown:. The other problem with this is I doubt most shroomerites have access to such as well(or the accompanying glass/hard-ware).

I guess most people don't have a set up to distill acetone either, but hmm... We'll figure it out as we go!

I appreciate the interest, suggestions and the reading/ratings! Let's hope me or someone can figure this thing out before I use up all of my epoxy resin experimenting(15 dollars a pkg).

I've been taking pictures and careful notes though! So if this does work out, than it will be uploaded and fully detailed for your enjoyment.

Edit I just picked a pre-mature Rieshi mushroom(probably a mushroom hunting sin but I want to work small so that the epoxy doesn't run out before this is all figured out).

Edited by smaerd (08/22/10 10:27 AM)

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Offlinecurenado
73rd Man
Male User Gallery


Registered: 04/01/03
Posts: 2,603
Loc: North Central Arkansas
Last seen: 10 months, 21 days
Re: Mushrooms preserved in PMMA? [Re: smaerd]
    #13084046 - 08/21/10 06:39 PM (13 years, 7 months ago)

Hey - have +5 for "What a neat idea!" because that is pretty cool.


--------------------
Yours in the Natural State!
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep; but I have patches to keep, and jars to sterilize before I sleep...."

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Offlinesmaerd
 User Gallery

Registered: 03/11/08
Posts: 2,058
Last seen: 12 years, 8 months
Re: Mushrooms preserved in PMMA? [Re: curenado]
    #13085975 - 08/22/10 10:50 AM (13 years, 7 months ago)

I'm really sorry to be bumping this so frequently.. I probably should have just made a journal, but had I of not made this thread, I wouldn't have gotten the information I needed(from you guys!) to get as far as I have. When the tek is written/if(assuming things work), you're all getting credit for either support, or helping. There is nothing illegal or bad about this so I assume no one would mind me crediting their user-name. Thanks for the support and ideas people, means a lot, can always count on shroomery!

Anyhow here's the update.

The Ganoderma Lucidum is still soaking in acetone until I find a cheap expendable glass container to put it in(Glass shot-glasses or candle holders seem to be ideal).

The Mycena L. is still sitting in epoxy. Which appears to be mostly solidified. I did poke the top of the epoxy with a nail and it did move a bit, so it is not fully solidified yet. However, the results look okay, not bad for the first trial run! I don't believe the residual acetone reacted with the resin at all.

The Ganoderma L. is going to be the "show-piece" for the 'tek', if all goes as planned.

I won't be updating this for a few more days because there's a bit of waiting to be done, not so much work/experimenting :smile:.

Edited by smaerd (08/22/10 10:55 AM)

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Jump to top Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | Next >  [ show all ]

Shop: MagicBag.co Certified Organic All-In-One Grow Bags   North Spore Bulk Substrate   Unfolding Nature Unfolding Nature: Being in the Implicate Order   Mushroom-Hut Substrate Bags   PhytoExtractum Buy Bali Kratom Powder   Left Coast Kratom Buy Kratom Extract   Kraken Kratom Red Vein Kratom


Similar ThreadsPosterViewsRepliesLast post
* Questions About Using Honey For Mushroom Preservation Cull 1,803 4 04/27/03 10:01 PM
by ferret
* high temp loving mushrooms fuzzysquirelnuts 4,020 9 05/23/02 12:20 PM
by strang
* Experimental Preservation Method for Mushrooms Chaman 970 3 05/31/03 11:40 AM
by Anno
* Re: Mushroom Strain Improvement and Breeding? Ripper 4,890 10 02/10/00 07:01 AM
by Anonymous
* Re: Preserving my strains LillSkit 1,825 6 02/16/00 11:27 PM
by Anonymous
* preservation tek. amyloid 886 4 03/17/03 07:06 AM
by Raadt
* Has anyone ever stored mushrooms in this way. . .? Blizzard 2,514 18 06/21/01 10:15 PM
by BrownPastures
* Oxygen Absorber for Mushroom Storage Humidity 1,324 5 08/06/01 12:38 PM
by hubertd8

Extra information
You cannot start new topics / You cannot reply to topics
HTML is disabled / BBCode is enabled
Moderator: RogerRabbit, Pastywhyte, bodhisatta
11,303 topic views. 1 members, 6 guests and 4 web crawlers are browsing this forum.
[ Show Images Only | Sort by Score | Print Topic ]
Search this thread:

Copyright 1997-2024 Mind Media. Some rights reserved.

Generated in 0.029 seconds spending 0.007 seconds on 16 queries.