Here is a tip: When you are getting started, you may be wise to reserve some pieces for when you have accumulated greater skill and experience. Sad to say, experience is proportional to the number of pieces ruined. The goal is to minimize this.
When I trim material, I try to put as big a piece in the box as possible. My thinking here is that matrix and associated minerals adds to the value of a mount. I am not trying to get bonus points for mounting single crystals and tiny pieces. I am interested in preserving a record of mineralogical information, but in as attractive a way as possible.
Some people may cringe, but I have to say that nearly half of my mounts, maybe more, have seen a trip through my diamond saw. Only one word from me on this: indispensable! More about this at some later date.
If you really want to break rocks, you should investigate the "Micro-Blaster" (see) www.ezebreak.com (This is more of a collecting tool ... of a serious sort.)
Wydar trimmers are carried by Attard Minerals
http://attminerals.com
I have the little $70.00 unit which is a modified
C-clamp. It's failure is that the upper shaft flexes
out of alignment, since it lacks the lower cross
support of the Yost trimmer. And, no I do not try to
use it to break anything bigger than a walnut.
Probably the worst spent $70.00 in my life -
a worthless piece of junk.
(aka "cheeseball piece of crap").
I can't imagine anyone crazy enough to spent the $500
they ask for their mid-sized unit based on my experiences
with the little one.
The Yost trimmer was the original from the 1960's and is a screw type trimmer, well made and legendary. I wish I had one. The company "absolute clarity" makes a Yost-like screw trimmer that looks interesting.
The Meister trimmer came along a little later, and is a bit bigger, and seems equally well thought of. I finally got hold of Anne Meister and ordered one. The price is $250.00, which made me swallow hard, but then I said: "Would I trade 3 of those crummy Wydar trimmers, for one of these fine trimmers?". The answer was "in a heartbeat!!", so I wrote the check and got one. Get yours by writing or calling:
Ann Meister 840 E. Mendocino St., Apt B5 Altadena, California 91001 phone (cell) 626-222-7914
An extra set of bits costs $32.00 - I tried to order some when I bought the trimmer, but was discouraged and told they will last for many years. So far this trimmer is wonderful and I have no regrets whatsoever.
There are aluminum copies of the Yost trimmer that came along in the 1990's. The original Yost and Meister were/are steel. The aluminum is just not up to the job and should be avoided.
The Zuber trimmer is a big affair using a hydraulic car jack. Chinese knockoffs have been available more recently. The actual Zuber costs about $600, and Shannon minerals was selling them in 2004. (David Shannon Minerals, 6649 E. Rustic Drive, Mesa, Arizona 85215 408-985-0557). Dennis Beal is a source for the Chinese knockoffs, with some of his modifications. (www.xtal-dbeal.com). These are big trimmers for busting rocks, not precision specimen trimming.
Currently available (along with a lot of information about microscopes) are some screw trimmers from: http://www.absoluteclarity.com/splitters.htm
Simkev Minerals is in Ontario Canada (not Russia as I surmised) and cater to micromounters, and sell some trimming tools. http://www.simkevmicromounts.com They also sell the worthless little C-clamp unit for $70.00 US (the Wydar trimmer). Simkev looks like a nice outfit, and I hear good things about them, from the name though, everyone thinks they are from Russia.
Uncle Tom's Mineralogy Info / tom@mmto.org