Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'prepping'.
-
I recently found a lot of great teeth in soft Eagle Ford formation slabs, and I'm working to prep a few to expose them better. This is my first prep project ever. The slabs are quite soft, and break apart easily if I'm not careful. What can I do as a preventative measure to avoid breakage of the matrix, and if matrix pieces have broken apart, is there a glue that I should use to get them back together in one piece again? Also, one of the slabs has a mosasaur tooth in it, and near the tip is a tiny crack that I'm worried may completely fail, breaking off the tip. I would like to find a clear glue or coating that would stabilize it before I continue further. I'm not sure about how specific I have to be about the nature of the matrix to get the right glue, so just in case I'll tag a few locals who have probably worked with these soft eagle ford slabs before, @LSCHNELLE @JohnJ @Uncle Siphuncle Thanks for any help
-
Its fossil Friday! Share your latest fossil picts.
hadrosauridae posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
Its fossil Friday, so share a pic of your latest fossil acquisition, or prep. This is my latest prep project, a large Mioplosus from the Green River fm of Wyoming. Its not 100% finished but getting very close. Sadly it had already lost 1/2 to 2/3 of the tail before I found it, it has some damage to the rear dorsal fin, and the original break/exposure was through the head so it will take extra work to remove the glue used for an improvised field repair. I did learn a good lesson and will be bring proper consolidates and glues when I go fishing this year.
- 7 replies
-
- 3
-
-
- fossil friday
- pics
- (and 3 more)
-
In all seriousness, a few days ago, I washed three more of the fossils from my fossil hunting extravaganza of which I will eventually post about. I think I see two maybe three crabs in this chunk of what I thought was coral. I am not sure what the matrix is other than a lot of coral and I am still new to prepping; actually, I haven’t really prepped other than washing the fossils. I am posting horrible pictures of which I am sorry about. So in the first picture, is that a smashed crab face? There are long pincher arms and side legs but they are not connected to this part. Do any of you see the crab? If it is a crab, is it worth prepping. I think there’s a second crab on the bottom but it is smaller
-
So i spray little bit of water on my fossils and scrub with a toothbrush. But sometimes these appear orange marks. Not sure if i just did not see them before. I prep under a normal ikea lamp. I have heard the sun can discolor fossils. My curtains cover the Windows in the room. The water really helps me see better detail. I just wanna be 100% safe
-
I recently recieved a large Ammonite from the Wutach Valley for preparation from a customer. It was a bit of a task since the thing is so huge with a diameter of 50cm. (1ft.7in.). First of all I had to remove the excess matrix with hammer & chisel. I didn't photograph it beforehand, but here is how it looked afterwards. As you can see, the living chamber was extracted in 2 extra pieces which still needed to be attached. The phragmocone alone has a diameter of over a foot and there is still a piece of living chamber missing at the end where the brown color can be seen at the top. I didn't glue them back on at first, but concentrated rather on stylus and abrader work on the phragmocome. The next photo shows it at that stage with the 2 living chamber pieces just placed next to it. I then abraded the living chamber pieces, removed the unseemly brown layer on the phragmocone and glued it all back together with a strong adhesive which then cured for 24 hours. The next step was to fill the gaps with modelling clay (I use a product called Apoxie Sculpt) and finish off with water color paints and a beeswax finish. I couldn't get the color quite right, so I left that last step to my customer's wife who did an excellent job. Here's the end product:
- 26 replies
-
- 14
-
-
I haven't seen hardly any Ordivician-related posts for a while so here's my input. I was out collecting yesterday off Interstate 75. Nothing all that good had occurred until I found this flexy... Nearly 5 years ago I found the chunk of rock (in the middle of my hand) that appeared to contain some amount of trilobite I never expected much so it was ignored until this past Feb when I finally prepped it. I was happily surprised at what finally appeared. It has a few blemishes and is nearly 100% complete.
.jpg.847cf750b787825ec32d57a31ab46fec.jpg)
- 10 replies
-
- 15
-
-
- flexicalymene
- ordivician
- (and 1 more)
-
Hello My question is not so much about the process of prepping & polishing Ammonites as it is about the Ammonite Fossil itself and the outer shell. I can see there are dozens of different techniques and philosophies about this process, but the question is: --> Can "almost" any Ammonite be polished if you remove the matrix or does the shell sometimes absorb too many minerals and become like the surrounding rock and it just remains dull ? A lot of the Ammonites on our property seem to be encased in a white limestone matrix and are very dull looking. They "appear" incapable of being polished, but I haven't tried yet. Just curious... I hope this question makes sense. Thanks in advance, Mike The photo below is not one of my Ammonites, but is a good representation of what mine look like. I'll try posting a few of mine later. Thanks Again
-
I've found a used Chicago cp9160 on Amazon listed at 61.55USD. It's one of the models I've been looking at and seems useful for bulk removal of matrix. But! I can't figure out if I can set in new needle or if there are different ones like chisle shaped! Where would I get accessories (couldn't find one on what I think is Chicago's website) and what price do new needles usually run at? Also wondering if this is a good buy? (it's the red one if you filter for used air scribe on Amazon). Would you recommend it to a newbie with no experience? (I have plenty of air compressors so that won't be a problem).
-
Rather than just post separate posts every time, I decided to condense everything into this thread. I don’t see many people posting Yorkshire finds on here, which is a shame as there are some brilliant specimens out here. Hope you all enjoy. Dan.
-
Hello forum, Recently I went to Walton on the Naze and I found a nodule on the beach that contained many fossil, some quite remarkable containing a shark tooth, scales, bones, fossilized wood and many more things to excavated. At first I was not going to pick it up ,as it was heavy (20lb to be exact). But I was upset to find out that I walked past a large megalodon tooth that someone else picked up. So here I am and now have this lump of rock, I have soak it for some time, to hopefully stop or slowdown pyritization. Now in the next few days I will be starting my prepping journey. Will anyone be able to give me advice, as I'm only using Dremel's, I wont be able to afford any thing else as it will not be in my budget. Opinion WANT TO REMOVE THE FOSSIL WOOD! THE SHELL ARE CHALKY DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO TO STOP THIS FROM FALLING APART? AND PREVENTING PYRITIZATION WITH NAIL POLISH OR CLEAR VARNISH ? Here are some pictures out of many.
-
I was recently given an Oreodont skull that someone had started but he gave up on it after breaking it into 5 pieces. One of my relatives who knows him was talking about how I’m into fossils and the guy just gives it to him so he gave it to me! So it’s my next project. Even though it’s not in the best shape I’m still excited to get it! I love prepping fossils even though I can only do it on my days off.
-
As many of you may be aware, I quite like quietly sitting prepping little fossils with my board pins. And last year I was sent a pin vice by the wonderful @JohnBrewer And ever since, I've been happy as a very happy thing with my loupe and pins, prepping away. But all my pins have become blunt. So, I've got some more! Only the best for my fossils! Trouble is they only last about 10 seconds each. Hey ho!
-
I bagged a couple of Nautilus while down at Lyme Regis recently. The one on the left will be a reverse prepper and still has its shell on which is a joy to see. The other is a polish job, I have a vague idea at how to do it, although I’d appreciate if anybody could give me a rundown or step by step guide on how to get it gleeming, as it’s not something I want to go in blind like I usually do. I’d appreciate any advice. Thanks.
-
Here’s one of my rarer finds. Maybe not for the genus itself, but the size. I found this right when I very first started collecting, I took it home, and glued it up. A few months back I was having a clear up, and found it in a draw, not remembering what it what. I then popped it open again to see what was inside, as you can see, it was quite the mess, and was definitely a reverse prepper. Aroun 8 hours later and here she is in all her glory. A 4 inch Pseudolioceras Boulbiense. A rather rare size, usually they come around 2 inches at the most. Hope you all enjoy
-
I’m curious if anyone has any recommendations on cheaper microscopes that would be good for finer prep work. I have seen some very cheap ($30 or so) digital microscopes on amazon that seem to get good reviews. But I’m not sure digital is the way to go. I can’t afford more than around $100 right now.
-
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.
- 19 replies
-
- 5
-
-
- ammonite
- hildoceras
- (and 5 more)
-
Ive decided to start a crab prep thread instead of doing a post for every single crab I prep. If it works, great. If not, then I will go back to seperate posts for each. I will start with this one that I just started today. This is Pulalius vulgaris from the state of Washington and Eocene in age. This was 'Whacked' open by my youngest son. Turned out to be a purty good whack. This first picture is with the top piece of rock tossed away and the 2 pieces you see on the side are pieces from the bottom of the rock. You can easily see how the crab is not situated correctly in the rock. Not usually a good thing? There is almost always a reason for this. These next two pics are gluing the pieces back onto the bottom of the concretion. This way the concretion will look complete. I ALWAYS save all the pieces just in case! Now I have a complete bottom half of this concretion. There was a small crack and I very softly and carefully pried it off exposing quite a bit more of the crab but it also took a part of the arm off the crab. Had to glue it back on. Not a big deal, just a tad bit more time. And now after a few hours of scribe prep, its easy to start to see all the problems. Very tuff to get an A-Grade crab!!! There seems to be no left claw to speak of. Also looks to be only a 4 legger. There might be another one in there somewhere but its not looking good. But really, so far, it may be a purty good one clawed 4 legger crab? The preservation is really nice!
- 439 replies
-
- 11
-
-
-
- concretions
- fossil crabs
- (and 1 more)
-
…..One of many match boxes passed onto me by one of the longest serving members of the Stamford and District Geological Society. With the promise of giving the fossils (which are encased inside) some much needed TLC. The majority of these housed match box fossils were collected in the mid-1980s. A brief scribble on the box or a very small moth eaten note is supplied with the contents, with very little other information attached. But for me that’s where the fun begins. As you push the somewhat tatty draws of the match boxes open, a story to research unfolds. With the British Palaeozoic, Mesozoic and Caenozoic books to hand I begin. These are clearly Brachiopods with a penned clue “Filey Brigg “but why, when and how have they come to be!
-
Wouldnt it be great if all the nodules ive found over the last year were to prep themselves! Its gonna take me years plus a few new tools I think to get through this lot!! But on the plus side, who knows what treasures I mightifind inside them! :-D
.jpg.847cf750b787825ec32d57a31ab46fec.jpg)
