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GeneralMineral Display Cabinet Tips Needed!

8th Apr 2020 22:00 UTCMatthew Droppleman

I need some tips to improve my mineral cabinet. What color of light should I use? How far should I space the specimens apart? Any other tips are welcome!

9th Apr 2020 01:43 UTCDonald B Peck Expert

Hi Matt,

I think the answers to your questions is very much personal preference.

When I built my display cabinets, I recognized that most of my display specimens were no larger than fist sized. I didn't want to hide one specimen behind another. And I wanted to use a lot of glass to simplify viewing and lighting. My cabinets are eight feet long or 4 feet long, about 3 feet high and 5 inches deep. The back is white peg-board which supports the shelves and also the labels. Shelves are glass supported on peg-board hardware and the entire front surfaces are glass in aluminum tracks. The lighting in the room was sufficient, so I did not have to contend with that. Those were my preferences. Your's may be quite different

Don

9th Apr 2020 02:14 UTCGabriel Plattes

Hear, hear. Overcrowding is bad, as is too few. When the final result is pleasing to your eye, that is what I would go with. You'll always have some folks comment positively or negatively on your display, this cannot be avoided, as taste is subjective.

Then, there is also the question as to whether to go with a systematic arrangement, or by locale. This, will depend on where the strengths of your collection lie. Also, if you have enough specimens from a single mine, one can dedicate a case to that mine, and within, arrange the specimens systematically (the prominent places in the case, reserved for the strengths of the particular mine - for example, for Tsumeb, we've the carbonates in pride of place). Of course, again, this is all subjective, but food for thought. And, so many factors to consider - you know your circumstances best (your collection, your display cases).

9th Apr 2020 03:17 UTCKevin Conroy Manager

All of the advice has been very good, but I would like to add some food for thought. If you have multiple levels of shelves, each with their own lighting, you can consider a hybrid approach. Certain minerals look best under different lights, so if you can taylor your display accordingly your specimens will benefit. A good example of minerals needing specific lighting are fluorite and cuprite. Take a few specimens to a store with a wide variety of lighting displays and experiment to see which minerals look the best in which light.

You should also be aware of heat-sensitive minerals if you're thinking of using lights that are notorious for cranking up the temperature!

9th Apr 2020 05:10 UTCGregg Little 🌟

For lighting, I know one size does not fit all, but you might try the new tunable LED lights. They can range from about 3000 to 6500 K.

9th Apr 2020 12:40 UTCEd Clopton 🌟 Expert

Here is a good article on mineral display lighting: http://johnbetts-fineminerals.com/jhbnyc/articles/lighting.htm

9th Apr 2020 13:39 UTCHarold Moritz 🌟 Expert

This may still be available from EFMLS:

"Exhibiting, The Show Biz Aspect of the Hobby" by Patricia A. Mummert and William Shelton, 1990.

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