Astimex

[Kristian Drivenes]

Does anyone know if Astimex is still in business? We ordered a standard block almost two years ago, but they haven't answered any emails or phone calls for the last 18 months or so.

[BenjaminWade]

Hi Kristian
I could be completely wrong, but I thought they were being sold by SPI?
https://www.2spi.com/category/standards-off-the-shelf/metals-minerals-standards/

Hopefully someone can chime in and confirm or deny.

Also I remember you gave a talk on zoned cassiterite at the AMAS meeting in Melbourne a couple of years back. Very pretty! Did you ever sort out what was causing the zoning...?

cheers

[DavidAdams]

Hello,

I tried to get a quote from SPI about an ASTIMEX block in July of this year and was told that they are no longer available.

-Dave

[glennpoirier]

I tried to buy some unmounted material from SPI in January and was told a quote would take six months!
I asked if there was any possibility of speeding that up at the risk of losing a sale and was told no.
Chhers
Glenn

[Philipp Poeml]

Very interesting. We talked to someone from SPI at the QMA 2019 and they said they would get us a quote and that they would somehow continue the Astimex business. Never heard from them.
Isn't Irene active in this forum? She might now...

[crystalgrower]

Isn't Irene active in this forum? She might now...

I ceased to have any connection to Astimex Scientific  Limited in 2012. 

The standards manufacturing operation was handed over to Astimex Standards Ltd in 2013.  Separate company.  If anybody had a specific contact name at Astimex Standards,  try google to get their current location. 

[Kristian Drivenes]

This doesn't sound very promising. I wasn't aware that SPI was the main dealer of the Astimex blocks. We have dealt with Astimex directly. We sent them tourmaline RMs to make a custom block. May have to write them off as lost. Annoying.

Ben: The cassiterite project is in the embarrassingly large pile of unfinished manuscripts. At the moment we are leaning towards twins. The structure is probably slighty orthorombic or monoclinic. Some grains are obviously biaxial, but the EBSD patterns indexed (almost) perfectly using a tetragonal structure. May have to do some TEM work at one point.

[crystalgrower]

We sent them tourmaline RMs to make a custom block. May have to write them off as lost. Annoying.

Kristian, On behalf of all of us who run honest sales of calibration materials, I am sorry this happened to you.   I hope you kept backup crystals.  Dealing with SPI just marked the price up, all special orders were going to the same Astimex people anyway. 

Philipp, John, and others:
It would be good for the senior scientists on this forum to ask SPI what happened to the collected materials.  Some  NIST glasses cannot be replaced at any cost.  The cost of finding and assaying  a new collection of minerals would be stupendous. 



 

[Philipp Poeml]

Thanks, Irene, for the clarifications.
Indeed, maybe we can make a community effort to find out what is going on. Maybe even something for FIGMAS?

[crystalgrower]

Maybe even something for FIGMAS?

Philipp, you would have spoken to Gene Rodek according to the abstracts.  Gene is the best person at SPI to follow up with.  But they cannot come across the border to have any face-to-face with Astimex Standards. 

I have my own copy of the "best" database posted before 2013 on the SPI website.  Talk to Gene about converting to pdf and sharing it here.  The current info is far less accurate.

I also have a scan of the Taylor company data printout sold at auction in 2000 with the materials.  John Donovan needs to give me permission to post that scan here.  I do not have a FIGMAS login.

Please also allow me to say that the news was not a surprise. 

[John Donovan]

Maybe even something for FIGMAS?

I have my own copy of the "best" database posted before 2013 on the SPI website.  Talk to Gene about converting to pdf and sharing it here.  The current info is far less accurate.

I also have a scan of the Taylor company data printout sold at auction in 2000 with the materials.  John Donovan needs to give me permission to post that scan here.  I do not have a FIGMAS login.

Any member can attach any file to a post. See the "Attachments and other options" link below the text entry and click on the + button.

[JohnF]

I have had less than optimal experience with ASTIMEX standard mounts (B+, A-). Another supplier which I have used and been happy with (sulfide std mount) is MAC, Micro-Analysis Consultants LTD in the UK, www address <micro-analysis.com>.  You can define what you want. Price is very reasonable and they fulfill the order quickly. Tell them JohnF sent you.

[Malcolm Roberts]

I've had less than optimal encounters with Astimex too. I believe the block here at UWA was acquired by Dave Adams (correct me if wrong). I sent it back to be refurbished and it came back in a shocking state. It took weeks and many emails mostly trying to prompt them into action to get any kind of response. Tim Hopkins  in UK has good products (https://www.pandhdevelopments.com/). I furnished the new JEOL with Tim's stuff with my input on what I wanted. He produces mostly for Cameca I think.

[crystalgrower]

 
There might be a different reason that calls are not being answered. Telephone numbers 416-946-XXXX and 416-978-XXXX are public-facility numbers.   No private use allowed. 

Businesses are required by law to  return materials in their original condition if they cannot fulfill a written contract.  That means purchasing a new set for the owners if necessary. 

The Province of Ontario provides plenty of legal information online for people who want to start a small  business.  You can get a tax number by registration (a single five-year form) or incorporation.  Astimex Standards Ltd. was incorporated.  The operator chose that route of annual fees and complex reports as well as quarterly tax payments.  In the end, an Ontario business corporation does not simply stop selling products.  Changing or closing a business corporation is a process that requires certification by a lawyer and accountant.  There is a process for reporting final employment records.  Last time I looked, there was no such legal  change. 

Right now there is no way to go and do an official search.  I don;t think paying for an online search is worth it. 

The only channel of contact now for outstanding orders would be a registered letter to the business address on the Astimex website. 

PS For all those who have tried to contact me offline, thank you for your patience.  I had to go totally offline for many months this year.  I will contact people directly about their queries now that I am back online.

[Mindshadow]

Hi all,
I would like to introduce myself. 
I am Rob Croucher, the business manager here at Micro-Analysis Consultants Limited (MAC) and I would be more than happy to help with alternative standards to those that were previously supplied by 2SPI and Astimex.

www.micro-analysis.com