a spoonful of sugar

[shoe]

... makes the medicine go down... (x3)

Anyway, I was emailed these this morning!
These were grown over a period of 2 weeks, evaporating the naptha from a STB at room temperature.
They haven't been re-xtalised.

SWIM thinks that growing crystals in itself is a worthwhile activity! Something he used to do as a kid
... copper sulphate, alum, etc.

In the first picture, The crystal on the upper left is the same one pictured close-up in the cactus.
You can really see the clear form of it. Its disc shaped and radial. About 1mm thick.

 

[smokeydaze]

vely nicee yess

 

[shoe]

I love your avatar

 

[acolon_5]

For massive xtals, try a room temp recrystalization using naphtha.

The trick for really large xtals:

1) seed the naphtha with an already grown large xtal
2) control the rate of evaporation (I put a top on it with holes in it, but a lid that doesn't completely cover it works well too)
3) leave it alone for 3-10 days! No peaking, no picking it up, and most important - NO vibrations!!!

I have been able to grow clusters with sword shaped xtals up to 1/2" long. One can also grow large chunky xtals by deforming them as they grow 1-2 days in. A butter knife and a quick squish (breaks rule #3, but it works), basically pressing the clusters together. This only works near the begining of the growth.

 

[smokeydaze]

I love your avatar

8)