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Hi all, I'm looking for what members would consider an accessible resource on adhesives and consolidants, their preparation and their use in the field and the lab. We primarily collect Paleozoic invertebrate fossils, but also some vertebrate fragments here and there. I'd be curious what people's go-to resources are... particular book titles, webpages, journal articles, etc. I'm looking ultimately to be able to reliably figure out what is needed to ensure our finds are stabilized in the field. We are finding more and more vertebrate fragments and I want to be certain they're kept in good order.

Its been a minute since I've posted About 20 years ago while doing research online for fossil preservation I read somewhere that curators used "B-72" as adhesive and consolidate. so I did some digging and found a supplier that offered up free samples. I ordered some and after it arrived we were moving and it was packed away. the next couple of places I lived didn't afford me the space to do my hobbies and prep my fossils. Much time has passed and I am now able to haul out some of those fossils and work on them. I dug out the "B-72" I had ordered years before and started to look up info on how to properly mix my "B-72". Low and behold I didn't realize that there are other products that use the same handle "B-72". I now see its "Paraloid B-72" or "Butvar B-76" that are most commonly used for this purpose. So what's the difference?, and can this "Butvar B-72" be used? Is there or could there be any negative or undesirable effects from this stuff? will it ruin my fossils? If it can be used, does one dilute it the same as the other products? what W/V % should be mixed for consolidating vs using as an adhesive? Thanks for any input

Hello everyone! I managed to bring home this crazy guy, the problem is that it was so big it broke in pieces when extracting it. I've been using "Loctite Super Glue 3" (ethyl cyanoacrylate) for repairing my fossils until now and it worked pretty well. However, this one might be too heavy I'm afraid it wont be enough to keep the pieces together and it can be dangerous (since the whole fossil probably weights over 70 lbs). There are also some cracks I would like to fill, I heard a technique where you ground some matrix rock to dust and then use that powder to make a glue that has the exact same colour of the fossil, anyone knows about it?. To summarise: what is the best adhesive for heavy rocks? and, is there a way to fill the cracks so it won't look like it's broken? Thank you very much for your help. Here goes the picture of the fossil: Best regards,

Found a paper today using Paraloid B-72. It’s a very useful read for any that prep

I am wanting to remove this shark tooth for photography purposes, but it is attached to the display case via some putty-like adhesive. I haven't tried poking at it in fear of damaging the tooth (which is quite brittle), but it does appear to be somewhat hardened, although I may be wrong. Does anyone know how to best remove putties using household materials with minimal damage to the fossil? Any help is appreciated.

My guide for the best fossil consolidant and adhesive resources. Please let me know if you find any better ones to add to the list. "Understanding and Use of Adhesives" by Amy Davidson, (AMNH), series of videos by Association for Materials & Methods in Paleontology LINK Davidson, A. and S. Alderson. 2009. An introduction to solution and reaction adhesives for fossil preparation. In: Methods In Fossil Preparation: Proceedings of the First Annual Fossil Preparation and Collections Symposium, pp 53-62. Brown, M.A., Kane, J.F., and Parker, W.G. Eds. LINK Davidson, A. and G. Brown, 2012. ParaloidTM B-72: Practical Tips for the Vertebrate Fossil Preparator. 2012 Collection Forum 26 (1-2): 99-119. LINK Where to buy consolidants/adhesives: LINK

Heres how I prepare Paraloid b-72 for use as an adhesive and consolidant. Generally I use the approximate mixing ratios shown below which have been taken from a paper written by Amy Davidson and Gregory W. Brown called Paraloid b-72: Practical tips for the vertebrate fossil preparator, which can be found here: https://www.academia.edu/1237393/Paraloid_B-72_Practical_Tips_for_the_Vertebrate_Fossil_Preparator Approximate mixing ratios: Paraloid ratios.tiff However, if you want to create a solution of a known weight by volume percentage such as 20% (w/v) theres a trick. Since weight by volume solutions are worked out as the mass of the solid in the final volume of the solution, you need to know the volume of your final solution. For example if you had a 100ml bottle that you want to fill with a 20(w/v) solution of Paraloid what you would do is: 1) fill the bottle with 100ml of liquid. 2) mark on the bottle where the top of the liquid is. 3) weigh out the amount of Paraloid, which in this case would be 20g = (20/100)x(100 mL) as Mass of Paraloid = (Percentage of solution/100)x( final volume of the solution). 4) add the Paraloid to the bottle and fill with the solvent (acetone in this case) up to the 100ml mark. Say you wanted to make 2 litres of a 5% solution of Paraloid. You would follow the above steps replacing the 100ml with 2000ml = 2 litres. The mass of Paraloid would be (5/100)x(2000) = 100g. Note: it is important to keep you units consistent so if your volume is in mL your mass will be in grams. If your volume is in litres your mass will be in kilograms. Another form of concentration is a weight/ weight percentage, which is the percent by mass of the final solution where: Concentration of solution %(w/w) = (mass of solute)/(mass of final solution) This is a bit more complicated as you don't know how much volume of solvent to add or what the final volume would be. This technique is usually used to make big batches of the solution and is probably not all that useful for the weekend warrior. Hope this helps someone.