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Finally gonna start acquiring some air prep tools (scribe and abrasive) to better my prepping. My question at this point is this, on the CP brand air scribes, can you use other tips? Have seen here where sometimes a longer or different shaped tip is useful but didn't see in the Amazon description that the tips are changeable. Looking at the CP9160 scribe. So glad I found this group. Already learned much

does anyone know how to prep this aust cliff jaw bone and tooth out the rock? It is not the goldeny brown bone and the bone looks pretty strong and stable so i'm not sure if acid prepping is fine. any ideas? thanks in advance.

I'm thinking of investing in a quality work light to serve dual purpose identifying/prepping fossils and also in my woodworking adventures. Do ya'll use combo light/magnifying lamps? What works, what doesn't work? What spectrum works best for you? Any suggestions for best bang for the buck? Thanks

Hi everyone! I have recently acquired a crinoid from an old collection... I have never seen a crinoid of this type before but I think it comes from a famous fossil site maybe it comes from the usa.... I will soon prepare it but before that I need what exact species is that in order to have a mental image of the specimen and so avoid any damages while preparing it .... thanks for your help!

Hello everyone! I found this fish in the Monterey Formation in California and have been unable to get the middle to pop off. I have zero experience preparing fossils of this type so I'm looking for some beginner advice on how to proceed without totally botching it. Thanks!

Hi preparators friends, I know that the method can be different according the preparator but can you explain us your method to map a jacket when you prep one. How do you proceed when multiple fossils are on each other in a jacket. What to do and don't. Please share with us your knowledge and experience.

Let's go on what may turn out to be an extended journey. It is my intention to try to take pictures ever few hours along the way while prepping this little guy. In a few minutes I will post a picture of an unprepared trilobite exactly as found with no preparation whatsoever. What is a bit exciting about this one is that it is actually my bug and eventually when finished I will actually get to keep it for my own collection. Unfortunately for me, most of the really nice bugs and crinoids I prep end up not being mine, but at least I get the chance to experience them and see them come alive in person. I actually have 4 bugs and a nice plate sitting beside me right now that are not mine and waiting for a couple more to be done before packaging off to the owner. To set the scene a piece of matrix a little larger than my fist was split very cleanly into two pieces. The trilobite was cleanly dissected into two pieces across the split as are many trilobites when they are found. I am very hopeful from what I can see that the trilobite will be essentially complete; but that is really only known by the fossil faerie's at this time. You know those little gnomes that during the night hide the fossils for us to find, But they often try to trick us with those pesky partials. To help you out a little bit I have placed the picture with the trilobite roughly in the correct orientation. Eventually the two halves will be reunited by using a super thin cyanoacrylate that is made for Radio Controlled airplanes. So to answer a prep question that is often asked , Do you glue first then prep or prep then glue. The answer is it depends on the type of split you have, the amount of matrix to be removed and the quality of preservation of the fossil. In about 80% of the fossils I will do some prep first , then glue. I specifically want to see that I do in fact have the correct orientation for the fossil. I am also at this point trying to determine how complete the bug is. You do not want to spend 100 hours on a bug only to discover it is a partial. I once prepped 3 Oklahoma dicranurus for someone and sadly they all turned out to be partials. For example once you determine where the cephalon or pygidium is, go to where you think the opposite end of the big should be and see if it is there. If you are dealing with a spiny bug like a dicranurus look to see if the free cheeks are there and check that the long pygidial spines are there. If they are not you may be better off investing the 100 plus hours it might take in a better specimen. You will often find partially prepped dicranurus for sale that have been abandoned at the point the preparator discovered that something that should be there is missing. It takes almost as long to prep a dike missing say 1 free cheek as a perfect one, but the price difference between the two bugs when finished could easily be double. It is very important that you know the anatomy of the bug you are prepping. If I am working on a less common bug I will always have a picture of that bug at my prep station . However, reality is that I end up prepping the same 5 types most of the time (eldredgeops, greenops, ceraurus, isotelus, flexicalymene) as this is generally what I and my clients actually find. If it is a spiny bug you must know where the spines are likely to be on your matrix or you will without any doubt destroy them. If the bug is say a phacopid then you are off to clear sailing and can use very different methods to get down to the bug. I for instance on a non spiny trilobite will often use a Dremel with a diamond wheel to quickly remove a lot of the overlying matrix. I would never do this on a spiny trilobite. So without further rambling delay here is the mystery bug prior to any preparation. I am not at this point going to even tell you what the bug is, but if you would like to hazard a guess then send me a PM and I will let you know if you are correct Now here is the same side of the bug after about 15 minutes of preparation. At this point I have not discovered anything that would lead me to believe that the bug will not be complete. Note that you can see black sharpie lines on the left. I always put sharpie lines across the split to make it easy to line them back up when time to reassembly. You cannot see it here but all sides have them If you have anything interesting that you would like to consider having prepped you can always send me a PM and we can discuss. My next plan of attack is to spend about 15 minutes on the opposite side of the split. Following that I will come back to this side and use a Pferd MST31 air scribe with the fine stylus to remove some of the matrix well away from the actual fossil. Note that at this point I already know where the head and tail should be on the fossil and the correct orientation that I am going to prep from.

Hey guys! So about four years ago, someone sold me a really cheap batch of unprepped fossils they dug up in the US; which included a large piece of rib bone (or so the seller thought). I started prepping the 'rib', and thought it looked a little strange. It had a tendon running along the bottom; which seemed weird as it was supposed to be a rib. However, I was still pretty new to fossil prep/ID, and I trusted the seller's ID better than my own. I wound up setting it on the shelf for...a couple years. Fast forward to about a week ago. I was cleaning out my fossil storage 'area' and I came upon this bone again. I again thought it didn't look much like a rib, and decided to google different kinds of dinosaur spikes. After scrolling through all kinds of ankylosaurs, stegosaurs, triceratops, etc. I came upon Styracosaurus. It bore a passing resemblance to the parietal spike on its frill, and I figured I better start prepping it. After prepping it, I was blown away. Not only does the bone have a tendon attached, but there are all kinds of subtle curvatures you couldn't see with the layer of dirt that had covered it. The texture is very unusual too, and the bone is actually really thin! The tip comes to a point and gradually twists. It's hard to describe, so I've included a bunch of pictures. Anyway, after researching more about the sub-family Centrosaurinae, I came across Rubeosaurus and Einiosaurus; which both have spikes that are EXTREMELY similar to the bone I have. If this thing is a rib I'll eat my foot. Please let me know what you think! Any thoughts are much appreciated. -Lauren

I have a chance to acquire a nice T rex tooth that is 3.5 inches in length. It was found in multiple pieces under plant roots and the pieces have all been reattached with cyanoacrylate and very stable. Who can I use as an expert prepper to fill in cracks, possbily, to bring it back to its glory? Thanks in advance

I'm reading a 1960ish report on a formation near me (Bloomsburg). Among other interesting things it says "The most effective method of extracting the fossils from the claystone is by crushing in a crusher in which fine particles drop out so that they do not constantly undergo breakage." Can anyone elaborate on this process?

Can coke be used to melt away Lyme Regis limestone?

I'm looking at purchasing another Keichousaurus for preparation, and wondering what the experts' opinions are on which of these two would be easier to prep for a relative beginner like me. The first one looks entirely covered in shale, and the second seems to be a little more exposed. I have my Paasche air eraser that I was planning on using, although if someone recommends an acetic acid prep over the air abrasive for these specimens for one reason or another, I would love to hear suggestions. If the second one is more likely to be incomplete/damaged than the one under rock, I would prefer to stay away from that. But that being said, if it would truly be easier to work with the one that is already partially exposed, I am all for that!

I found this beautiful whale vertebra this weekend. It fell out of the cliff face just a few days ago and tumbled into the Potomac River (brackish?) just far enough for the waves at the tide line to gently lapped it clean. Gotta love it! It is currently soaking in clean water to get the salt and anything else out as much as I can, but I've never done anything this big before. I'm used to stabilizing little stuff and blocks of matrix that really just need a thick, hard outer shell. The little bones air dry quickly enough that I don't have to worry about moisture at the center, but this thing is 4 1/2 inches in diameter! I have both Paleobond and Paraloid on hand. Anyone have any practice at this?

Hi all, I have an ammonite specimen from Folkestone, UK that is locked in a phosphate nodule. Is there any way for it to be removed? Thanks, Jay

Hello everyone, I was wondering what tools people would recommend for fossil preparation, I am an absolute newbie in this area and am not familiar with what options there are out there but would really love to learn, so far I only have a pin vise which I have used on rough matrix removal but too scared to get close to the actual fossils. Thank you, Misha

Finally got around to prepping out and making a stand for the Hyracodon skull. It was in pretty rough shape and not complete, but I think it displays well. What are your guys thoughts?

Hi everyone. I'm new to preparing and don't have the money to get the proper equipment. However, I do have the Harbor freight Air eraser I was recommended by several b people on here. Anyway, I have one of those tiny to segment Trilobite who name I forget for the minute. The matrix he was in broke up, so I've mounted it to another piece of same udig shale before I start work on the Trilobite so I don't have it break n in half. There's a small Gap in the matrix because it's not a perfect fit, but Very close. The glue is holding well and clear , but what can I use as filler for the tiny Gap? Can I mix clear glue with some sanded matrix mixed in to make a filler? Thanks everyone

Hey, I'm just starting out and I wanted to know, what preparation tools and tactics will work best for removing limestone without damaging the specimen? (Preferably low budget) I also don't have a lot of workspace since I'm just taking a crack at this legitamate, fine-detail stuff for the first time; and after some research on air scribes, abrasives, and erasers, I realize they are much too costly and the whole air system and workbox takes up a lot of room I don't have. So is there anything you all could recommend for me?

Recently found a decent ammonite at Lake Texoma. I wanted to reveal the specimen in its entirety, but this would require more preparation than I was used to - meaning it would require more than warm water and a soft brushing down. The preparation began with a tack hammer and a variety of nails. After the bulk of the situ was removed, I exchanged the soft taps of the hammer for the electric buzzing of a Dremel with a small carving tip, which seemed to work well for the remaining excavation. A little high quality wax was applied before display.

I'm a fairly novice preparator and I was wondering if some of you more experienced folks could help me out a bit. I am working on a dipleura that unfortunately broke apart upon extraction. Some fragments of the pygidium were lost. I have the imprint and was considering casting the missing parts in plaster or something ideally reversible. My goal is to turn this fossil into a nice display piece. There are also some large voids in the matrix I would like to fill in. I've never done anything of this sort to a fossil before and I was hoping for some guidance on materials, techniques, etc. I have attached a couple of photos of the areas I would like to repair.

A little Hildoceras I picked up recently from Saltwick Bay in Whitby. Unfortunately I didn’t take any before pictures to show. All that was showing was the top of the keel and a small portion of the outer whorl. It’s be no means finished yet, but thought people might enjoy the process so far. Iv prepped out some of the matrix underneath to give the ammonite a floating effect.

Took some time to be done, but it was more about alot of small operations, than endless hours of pneumatic pen. All in all, the more time spent was with the dremel polishing the matrix. Before : Only operation before the picture was an emergency glueing on the field. Some time it s better to do this on the field, sometimes you better packed the different part of the puzzle home, clean them and glue them home. This time it was on the field. Then a bit of small chisel and a bit of pneumatic pen. Then a lot of dremel that will give the grey aspect to the matrix Then a bit of scalpel to remove a bit of matrix from the caudal spine. Then a bit of cutter to save one of the eodal' eyes from the counterpart. Then a bit of glue to set the said eye. And here we are :

Back at the end of June at our spot in the Thedford area a small group of us were busy making benches and unlocking slabs from the Widder Formation. Once we got to splitting, one lucky split resulted in finding three Greenops widderensis on a single plate. With flying genal spines and lappets on an already delicate and thin-skinned species, it was nothing short of miraculous that I was able to get it to the car with no damage. Right away I applied cyanoacrylate, and then it started to rain. This is how it looked in the field:

UPDATE: Consolidated all my loose preparation threads into one topic. Four hours so far into this big bug, and maybe another two to go. Found at Penn Dixie this past weekend, the visible area measures 6 cm. With the pygidium, it likely measured about 8+ cm. Judging by its size and pustular sculpture, this was likely a long-lived specimen prior to burial. This is how it looked fresh in the field: