Cornelia, 

This is an excellent idea and I am glad you've found a source.  In the last
year I've tried to find a source and have been unsuccessful.  Distributors
tell me that global demand has shifted and the order was just too small.  So
I can assure all that we need to pool resources here, because it is almost
impossible to do this alone. The last time this was done, Trevor was kind
enough to purchase and then send out the Teflon. If you are new to this
problem, here is a short description of the problem that I recently
prepared:

"Teflon. In the past many FT labs have used FEP Teflon which is available in
tape from Saunders Inc. In 1997, many labs switched to PFA Teflon which is
composed of "tetraflouroethylene-perflouroalkoxyethene." It was commercially
available as Toyoflon PFA from Toray Industries, INC., Osaka, Japan, but a
query in 10/2001 revealed that they no longer carry this product. For
details, see Ontrack, v. 2, n.2, p. 17 (November 1992). The PFA Teflon has a
higher melting temperature, and is more resistant to chemical attack in the
etchant. However, it is more difficult to handle while mounting."

Some labs continue to use FEP, and they should ignore this purchase of PFA
Teflon, unless they want to switch now.

At this point, Cornelia, are you taking orders? Please put me down.  Once we
get an idea of the amount needed, I presume we can make estimates as to how
much this will cost per square meter (probably a good typical order for most
labs).
 
Cheers,

John Garver


> From: Bernhard Fuegenschuh <[log in to unmask]>
> Reply-To: Fission track <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2004 07:40:15 +0200
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: PFA Teflon
> 
> Liebe Cornelia,
> 
> du hast ja Grooses vor, bei solchen Mengen an Teflon. Ich wuerde mich gerne
> mit 2-3kg anschliessen (ich weiss ja nicht wie das Material kommt, haette
> aber gerne ca 2qm).
> 
> Besten Dank und liebe Gruesse nach Tuebingen, Bernhard
> 
> At 17:02 27.10.2004, you wrote:
>> Dear all,
>> 
>> I am currently trying to order some new PFA teflon sheets for zircon
>> embedding. DuPont Europe made the following offer:
>> 
>> PFA film 2000 LP, thickness 0.5080 mm: 133 Euro per kilo, if I order
>> between 50 and 100 kg (1 kg is approx. 0.9 square meter).
>> For ordering only 10 to 50 kg, they charge an additional 35 %, plus an
>> extra-charge of 200 Euro for orders below 10 kg (and I am not sure if taxes
>> are already included).
>> 
>> Is anyone interested in a joint order, or knows a cheaper teflon source, or
>> has maybe just recently ordered 100 kg and is happy to sell some of it?
>> 
>> Regards,
>> Cornelia
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________
>> Dr. Cornelia Spiegel
>> Institut fuer Geowissenschaften
>> Abteilung Mineralogie und Geodynamik
>> Universitaet Tuebingen
>> Sigwartstr. 10
>> 72076 Tuebingen
>> Germany
>> 
>> [log in to unmask]
>> phone: +49 7071 2972494
>> fax: +49 7071 5059
>> http://www.earthsci.unimelb.edu.au/~cspiegel/
> 
> Bernhard Fügenschuh
> Bernoullistr. 32
> CH-4056 Basel
> Tel.++41612673610