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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

Hello everyone! I found this elephant tusk in the desert a few months ago, everything I find here is very brittle, and this is no exeption. I have already set the small unstable fragments with a very small layer of super glue. Should I use paraloid? I haven't been able to find any in this country, is there any other more common substance I can use (I've heard bad things from wood glue). I still want to remove some of the matrix, but I am unable to do so because of the fragility of the fossil. Thanks in advance.

Hello, I believe that this is a fossilized sea urchin, it might not look so, but I do see a resemblance. It appears to be made out of gypsum, or another soft crystal. I was wondering If iy would be wise to dip it in vinigar. Would you be able to see some more details? Or will the wjole thing just dissolve?

Hi All, I am very new to prepping, so thank you in advance. On the base of some of the small teeth that I have, I like to place superglue to prevent "crumbling" of loose particles. The superglue works great but leaves a shiny/glossy appearance. Is there something better to use? I have Vinac beads that were given to me but not sure how to use it in that capacity. I placed superglue on the left tooth and nothing yet on the right. Thanks again

Starting to prepare specimens from Green River Fm Split Fish Layer. Several are quite thick - up to 2-inches. I would like to split them further but the pieces seem a lot harder than when collected. Presuming this is because they are much dryer (collected in early June, rock still very moist). Questions: 1) Is the dryer rock likely to split less cleanly than it did when moist? 2) Will re-hydrating* the rock make them easier to split cleanly? 3) Even if it does, is re-hydration likely to loosen the fossil on the upper surface of the rock? I could just experiment but would hate to loose a good specimen in the process. Thanks for any help. *I could re-hydrate by submerging in water but that seems most likely to damage the fossil. The first approach I would try is to support the slab over water in a closed plastic containers. Placed in the sun, the high humidity should re-hydrate the rock fairly quickly. Any other re-hydration ideas are most welcome.

Hi Guys My son found this neat little fossil on the beach at Charmouth, Dorset, U.K. We had no clue what it was until we had it looked at by an expert at a fossil roadshow. We are considering removing some of the limestone matrix that hides some of the teeth. Do you think we should attempt to remove some of the matrix or is it too risky. There are several Hybodus shark teeth in what appears to be part of the jaw bone. With what I think is a limestone, type matrix covering some of the fossil. None of the teeth can be seen in full. I have some experience using fine hand held electric carving tools. And it would be very interesting to see more of the teeth. What do you think ? Thank you for looking at this for us. Matt

Hi there I recently purchased a Albertasaurus tooth. A portion is in a matrix and there are some broken off pieces. This would be my first attempt a putting a fossil back together. If you could provide any input on 1. if it would devalue it by doing it, 2. how I should do it, 3. and what tools or glue or putty I should use. If you could dumb down the language for me that would be appreciated, like I said this is my first time!

Hello everyone, I recently found an ammonite in a nodule I collected at Monmouth Beach a few years back and am thinking of prepping it. It seems to be some kind of deathbed as there are (or were ) 3 ammonites in the rock and it seems to go through the entire nodule. However, I’m stuck with a rotary multitool and have close to 0 prepping experience with it . The only things I know are to turn the speed down when prepping near the fossil and turn it up when removing rock. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

hi, I'm a student from Belgium. I've been searching the internet and I can't find any unprepared fossils for sale, can you help me out?

I am wondering if anyone has any tips or guidance for preparing belemnite fossils. I found a bunch of them this weekend and would like to polish them so I can enjoy their orange color!

I just wanted to give a product recommendation here. I was looking for a finer tip for my Dremel engraver so I could work on smaller areas without fear of damage. I was recommended this guy (from our favorite auction site) by a fellow member. I was a little skeptical at first since it's hand crafted, but I figured hey why not, costs about what I spend on coffee every day. But I must say, this is one of the best purchases I've made. It outperforms the standard tips by several factors. Not only does it allow you to work on tighter areas, but it is very long, which increased the working distance by almost an inch. Also, since the tip is so small, it more easily took advantage of weak points in the matrix. The standard tips mostly pummel the matrix to bits, whereas shale has been sliding off like butter with this new tip. I highly recommend this to the folks on here who can't get a higher end setup. Makes a world of difference.

I started the preparation that @snolly50 won on my auction. Here's a pic of the fish as I received it.

Hi Guys, I'm preparing this beautiful Miocene fish lying on a bed of teredins. Arriving at this point in the preparation I am undecided about what to do, there are two options: 1) eliminate the teredinas to free the fishing also from the other side (assuming it is intact) and make a 3d fish. 2) Do not go further and refine the work. What do you recommend? In the picture the 2 sides. video-1573331835.mp4

I've been doing preparation for four years now and have tried various masks but none seem to work for me. I've used the disposable ones and the hard ones, but since I use a microscope for preparation all they seem to do is restrict me or send all the air I'm breathing out upwards and steam up the eye pieces! I have a pretty narrow nose so I sit pretty close to my microscope. I've found when I do wear the disposable masks I end up pulling it under my nose - pretty much defeats the purpose. I was just wondering what others around the world use? I know it's dangerous to not wear a mask, and that's what I'm currently doing. For ear protection I use some noise cancelling headphones - best investment I ever made! They are a million times better than earplugs or earphones in my experience, and you can still hear when people are talking to you. Any general notes or suggestions on PPE used around the world would be great!

Hello friends. i am from Vietnam. People in my country dont know much about fossils, and we have no forums to ask about fossils. So, can you help me to finish my preparation? ------ I bought from internet I used sandblaster to expose specimen. Looks more and more beautiful: More bones were exposed. These are hands and foots. But when i use sandblaster, the bones were destroyed, too. So i stop using sandblaster, and dont know WHAT CAN I DO NEXT? ----- I see other Keichousaurus on internet. It's perfect: -------- I want to prepare my fossil like that. I am thinking about using Acid, but i havent used acid before. CAN YOU GUIDE ME WHAT TO DO NEXT? --------- I plan to use acid to soften the stone and expose the bones. Then continue using sandblasting gun (because now the stone is softer, sandblasting at low intensity will not destroy bones). Do you think so? Thank you my friends!

Hello all, I was wondering if anyone could give me suggestions for cleaning this tooth. It is a C. poseidoni (sokolovi) from Harleyville, South Carolina. The tooth has some dirt covering parts of the crown, bourlette, and root. I tried using warm water and a toothbrush, but I was unable to remove anything. Are there any other methods for cleaning fossil shark teeth? Should I just leave the tooth as is? I would prefer not to use vinegar. Thanks for any suggestions.

Hi All. I am looking for suggestions on trimming matrix (hard shale, limestone) from specimens. I have used a tile saw in the past. I am wondering if small hand saws with diamond blades would also be effective. I appreciate the help.

Hi, that's my second preparation using only handtools and table grinder for rough shaping. Limestone can be a pain but I'm slowly learning moves, can't wait for engraver I'm still loooking for my "style", let me know what's wrong and what is right

Hello, i have a few fossils like the one in the picture, they are all shells in limestone. I want to clean them and i have had some success with acetic acid. I just wondered if someone had any tips or a better way to clean them, also if anyone knows whats the best concentration to clean them, mine is 25% acid but this seems a little high. I can post a picture of a relatively clean one if it helps to identify the best way to clean them.

I recently found a nice Calymene tuberculata trilobite on my vacation to Gotland. I’m currently in the process of preparing it and wonder what coating I should use? Is it possible to give it a slightly wet look while not making it look glossy and artificial? I’m considering some kind of vax-based product. Any tips?

Hi we are newbies, went to Kemerer and found a lot of fish, and a slab with a tree branch (about a foot long 6 " wide). YOu can see patterns of the bark, but it is very faint. I am not sure if we should remove the covering and see if there is a darker layer under the stone? As it was a fairly larger specimen it may be more 3 dimensional. Any Suggestions? Any one have ideas? (On the fish I have heard 1:6 and 1:20 diluted wood glue is that correct?

Hoping some of the pros here are willing to share microfossil prep techniques or suggestions to journal articles on the subject. I have been hunting conodonts and the like for quite some time, but the glacial acetic acid digestion and pan and scan techniques have failed me. I experimented with HCl and H2SO4 in various concentrations, and even tried some ion exchange extractions ( which work on paper, but are lousy in practice)! This sort of fossil hunting has become vendetta for me and I suspect I am using the wrong search terms in the academic data bases. I'll be on an excursion until the 26th of July, but I'm going to try and check in here from Spanish Fork or Delta. (And hopefully have some non-nebraska samples to work with and turn my students loose on!)

FYI @DevonianDigger @JamesAndTheFossilPeach @Kane @Malcolmt @caldigger @RJB @Ptychodus04 @Fossildude19 @FossilSloth @FossilDudeCO I need your guy's input as I go along! I'm a green horn! Thank you in advance. Well since some of you who I know have started your own fossil preparation threads I thought I'd do the same. A lot has transpired since, well Saturday morning. I went all chips in and bought a really nice two stage, 60 gallon Kobalt air compressor. You don't want to know the cost. My jaw dropped when the cashier rang up the total but I had no other choice. I was all in at this point. Went home and my neighbors helped me lift this monster out of my cousins pickup and I spent the rest of the day setting everything up then realized that I didn't have the connector for the 3/4 output on the tank so went back today and figured it out. The Lowes guy and I had fun figuring this puzzle out together. So I have a moisture trap, emergency shutoff (isolator) valve, regulator, 25 foot air hose, CP-9361, some fossils to prepare, and 240 volt connection (yes I wired up the plug and cabling). Wiring up this 240 volt electrical housing was probably the scariest thing I've ever done in my life. Definitely not a lot of room for error. Really was nervous about doing this. Also nervous about this. Had to punch a hole through 11 inch dry wall and plywood to get to the washer/dryer room to access the 240 volt dryer outlet. Thankfully we weren't using that outlet as our drier runs on natural gas. Here's the big 250 lb air compressor. This thing pumps out a ton of air. I was able to run the scribe continuously for three hours. No stopping! Moisture trap, shut off valve, and the regulator all hooked up to a large 3/4 elbow. One of the reasons why I had to get the elbow was because I knew with all the extra valves and connections it would put strain on the line so I wanted gravity to compliment the setup (as punishing as gravity can be at times). So now for the good part. The fossils. Recently acquired a massive Tumidocarcinus giganteus crab concretion from New Zealand. Within a few hours the carapace is well exposed. I'm not exactly sure what to look for here. There's either an exoskeleton that's flaking off or that's some sort of chemical process on the outside. I'm really not sure as I've seen these crabs in both that light pinkish hue and then in the black color. Where the black is was where the concretion was exposed to the elements. You can see the non-dominant left claw being teased out. That's also delicate so I've really been taking my time. Worked on it for about 3 hours total. So far so good. Here's a couple pictures to illustrate the process. Unlike @RJB I may not have a beer by my side but I'm ready to go crabbing. Definitely needed the safety goggles. Will need to pickup an air mask tomorrow along with some noise cancelling headphones (have some Beats at work). Roughly 10 minutes in and am really taking my time (don't want to do anything that I might regret later). About 40 minutes in. Slowly inching my way towards the left claw. About two hours into the process. The carapace is starting to show. Decided to leave at this point with nearly three hours invested. I hear crabs can have leg parts in virtually any arrangement depending on their displacement and preservation but I'm anticipating legs going from the carapace region out towards the edges (you can see points where legs should be). Really decided to slow down and take my time. I think this is going to be a very special fossil especially since it's the first crab I'm preparing and the first fossil prepared by my first owned air scribe the tried and true CP-9361. I'm sure I'll make mistakes along the way and I'm not doing this the way other more experienced prepares would but it's a start. The CP-9361. I'm in love. Then for kicks I decided to do some work on this little Knightia from the split fish layers. The Museum of Ancient Life curator that I've been volunteering with has been teaching me the ways of prep. Some secrets I won't be able to divulge here as I've sworn an oath of secrecy but he's really good at preparing Green River fish. He actually uses a CP-9361 so I figured why couldn't I right? Well I went in really slowly on this fish and exposed it in about five minutes flat. There's a few punch holes on the far end of the tail from where I was a tad bit to aggressive with the scribe but with time and practice I'll get a better feel for how to work with this soft matrix. I'm sure the 18 inch layer is a bit harder. Still I think it came out for a common fish and it looks pretty good. I forgot to take a before picture but here's an after picture. Little Knightia required only 5 minutes of preparation work with the CP9361 when it would have taken at least an hour with dental picks, which I'm never going back to again.

Hello fossil people of the world! I'm desperately looking for an old Paleotools microjack. It doesn't have to be in working condition, but if it is that's a bonus! Anyone out there have an old secondhand one or one they are no longer using? I'm ideally trying to find a 3, but any size will do. I have borrowed a 3 but need to return really soon. So hoping someone out there has a secondhand one to sell! Or any ideas of where a used one can be purchased? I do very fine work on ribs and finger bones like on the picture I've attached, so the larger scribes are a bit too hardcore!

Hi all! I'm Tiffany and I'm in Cape Town, South Africa. I have an Honours degree in Archaeology, but I have been working as a fossil preparator for nearly 4 years. I used to work at our Natural History museum but I have very recently taken my preparation skills private. I primarily work on therapsid fossils from the mid to late Permian (sometimes spilling into the Triassic) that occur here in South Africa. There is an area called the Karoo which fortunately is very rich in beautiful fossils! When I started working on fossils I didn't know much about them, but over the last few years I have learnt so much! It has taken time and dedication to get to the level of preparation that I am at, with many hours of sitting dead still. I work on microvertebrate fossils and I love working on teeth especially! I've attached a picture of a juvenile youngina (same as profile picture just better quality) that I worked on last year, and the scale bar you can see is 1mm gaps (sorry - we're all metric here!) so you can see the scale of things I work on. I'd like to learn more about what equipment people around the world use for different specimens, as I am in the market to buy my own equipment. I also hope to contribute about fossil preparation and what I have learnt myself! There is still so much out there!!