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Showing results for tags 'first prep'.
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This was a prep I've last year, but for some reason I've never posted it on the forum. So I thought I might change that. Last year I was fortunate enough to take a visit to the Ernst Quarries and dig for some shark teeth. Although most of the fossil I've taken home are either bones, four partial regular-sized teeth, and mostly tiny partials (some of which I accidentally damaged while digging ), the biggest find of the day was this large Cosmopolitodus hastalis tooth with its crown partially sticking out of the matrix. When Rob noticed the tooth, he initially estimated it to be ~2 inches long and insisted that I keep the tooth in the matrix, saying something like "The tooth itself is worth about $15. If you keep the tooth in the matrix, it'll be worth $60". Although my reason for visiting the Ernst Quarries was to find shark teeth to keep rather than to sell, I for some reason decided to keep the tooth in the matrix. However, I still had to prep this baby when I got home! Below is the tooth how I found it. This was going to be my first (and so far only considerate) prep I've ever done. Rob told me that the matrix can easily be scratched away using a fingernail and so taking his words and some advice I've gotten from the forum regarding something else, I grabbed one of my mom's needles and started quite literally digging off the siltstone. After around 10 minutes, a perfect root base showed up. This tooth is obviously going to be a perfect whole, so you just gotta keep scraping off the matrix. One really helpful thing I've realized at this point is that the needle I was using was perfect for such beginner's prep- it was strong enough to remove matrix effectively but not enough to do any damage to the tooth itself.
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- carcharodon
- cosmopolitodus
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So as the tags indicate this is my first attempt at prepping a fossil. It is something I always wanted to do, but never thought possible. My wife, adult son, and I attended a gem and mineral show here in Michigan a couple weeks ago. As we were strolling around looking at all the displays and vendors we stumbled upon this. I think I was hooked before I finished reading the sign.
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- first prep
- leptauchenia nitida
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