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After my first glimpse of The Lost World of Fossil Lake by Lance Grande (if you don’t have it, get it at any price!), I was hooked on Green River fossils. Here is the first one I prepared myself. I bought it directly from one of several “storied” Wyoming quarries. It is from the 18-inch layer and is not found by splitting the fish but by detecting the raised surface of the skull and vertebrae. Then one must somehow scrape away the relatively soft matrix to expose the fossil below (perhaps 1 to 5mm deep). The tools I used are pine vises that held sewing needles. If I could safely scrape away layers, I used an eyeglass screwdriver in the pin vise, but pins work for precise work. I visualized the fossil as I worked with a stereoscopic microscope on a boom so it can hover over the fossil without touching it. Here is the progression of pictures I took back in 2017. This is a 4.75 inch Cockerellites liops. I am told in the quarry they are called “footballs”, are beautiful fish armed with strong spines to prevent predator attack from behind. It took me about two months on and off- it is seriously laborious but somewhat calming or maybe even meditative. After months with a fossil like this, you become attached to it. Before starting If anyone knows how to do this more quickly with the same or better quality, please comment.