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Showing results for tags 'removal'.
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Removing yellow staining/iron(hydr)oxides from competent shale
paleoflor posted a topic in Fossil Preparation
L.S., Last fall I've collected a number of plates with sphenopterid foliage from the Piesberg (see photos below). While some of the specimens occur in high-quality rock (e.g., Specimens A-C), others show extensive yellow coloration due to water permeation and creation of "rust minerals" (mostly limonite-type minerals). In Specimens D and E, in particular, this mineralisation obscures the detailed morphology of the plant fossils. Does anyone have experience with removing yellow stains from shale-type rocks? I've been reading about rust removers for pavement and garden rocks but would like to inform myself as best as possible before starting a few experiments on leftover fragments. My goal would be to remove the stains to the point where I can more clearly see the plant imprints. These plants occur in quite competent shale. I think it can easily survive being wetted, but complete submersion for extended periods of time would probably be a bit much... Thanks for your help! Tim Specimen A - part and counterpart Specimens B and C Specimen D - part and counterpart Specimen E- 6 replies
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So yesterday, I found several associated verts to a large fish. It was partially exposed on the creek bottom and it had been awhile since the last rain, so tons of algae grew on it. I managed to pop it out in one piece and have begun trying to clean it up. Since fish and shale are sensitive when it comes to drying and wetting, I've kept it in water for the time being while I attempt to remove the algae. I will paraloid sections later once the algae is gone. I tried submerging the specimen overnight in about 2:5 bleach water solution to kill anything living on it. Afterwards I was able to scrub most of the larger bits of algae off, but there seems to be this millimeter thick layer of yellow algae/hardened matrix attached to the bone where it was exposed to water. I don't know if this is some calcium buildup or what, but it's tough to pry off and sometimes takes chunks of bones with it. I would try vinegar, but the fossil came out of what I believe to be Atco Fm, so even though the matrix has the appearance of shale, I would expect there to be some calcium carbonate in it that might dissolve. I'd prefer to have the vertebrae stay set in the matrix as the originally were if possible. The ultimate plan is to use the other side for presentation. One of the verts was offset and broke off the main chunk shortly after removal, so I could experiment a little with it first if needed. Thoughts? Thanks
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So, what is the safest way to remove matrix (sandstone and limestone) from calcium shelled fossils. Everything I've read involved acids (some pretty dangerous). What is most ecologically friendly and safest way? I have picks and dramel , but these shells are very thin and almost impossible to remove from the matrix. I am thinking that weaker acids might not work that well and the costs of using more powerful stuff would require a special room with exhaust systems and ways to neutralize the stronger acids to make them environmentally safe. Images are typical of fossils I want to extract. Anyone have a good solution for this issue?
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I have a few specimens that I recently collected from a river. The best are covered in dried algae that needs removal. Does anyone know how to remove the algae?
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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.
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Hey there, im hoping some of the clever folks here might be able to offer some advice on a prep im working on. Im currently prepping a large 150 - 200 pound block. In the initial prep, a part of the block cracked and opened up a small crevice. This crevice did not beak completely into two pieces, it was still held together by the un removed matrix surrounding the fossil. At the time, i didn't want this to slowly shake into a bigger crack or lose pieces due to the vibration of the air tools. There was/is a lot more prep to do and between prep and flipping over a large block i was worried about loosing pieces. So i filled this gap with super glue with the idea that i could reverse this later on and join the two pieces together much tighter so the crack would disappear or be less noticeable. As the prep continues, im getting closer to the time when im going to have to re glue the pieces. The problem is that a lot of small pieces of the fossil are glued back on around the area of the break. So i need to figure a way to dissolve the glue at the break but not in the area around the break. Normally i would place the entire fossil in a tub of acetone to dissolve the glue from the joint and then glue the two pieces back together. But since there are a lot of small, non descript pieces close to the break, im reluctant to do this. I already tried poring acetone over the break to try to separate the two pieces but this didnt work. This would all be easier if the fossil was not so large, heavy and hard to move. I may end up having to soak the whole thing in acetone to dissolve this joint but i want to avoid this if possible. Does anyone have any suggestions for alternate ways to remedy this problem? Hard to photograph this fossil so here is a basic drawing of the problem. Nick
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I have several good Eldredgeops rana specimens from Penn Dixie Fossil Park, and they were fairly clean when I hacked them out. Unfortunately, there is a lot of shale stubbornly stuck in the groves and crevasses of the trilobites. I have access to a dental sandblaster, but I'm not sure if it's safe to use. Any thoughts?
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- eldredgeops
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I am trying to prepare this nice plant fossil I found in Wyoming, but can’t figure out how to remove the glue marks left over from stabilizing the fossilized piece of branch in the center. The glue marks are the dark area near the fossilized branch. Anyone have any advice?
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