My First Prep- Simple but Fun

[FossilNerd]

57 minutes ago, Randyw said:

Great job! Are you hooked now? LOL!

Thanks Randy! I think that I may be!  

 

28 minutes ago, caldigger said:

That looks real good!  Far better than my first.  Did you coat the shell with something or just hit it with water?

Thanks Doren! I had actually just washed the little guy off so it was still a little wet in the photo. 

 

19 minutes ago, grandpa said:

Wow, Wayne, that's very impressive.  It looks like you have the gift.  You've just opened up another whole avenue to enjoy the hobby.  Congratulations on a great  job.

This combined with your new micro camera tool should keep you quite entertained.

Thanks Tom! I'm not sure how impressive it is compared to some of the other preps I have seen here, but I thoroughly enjoyed the process. Hopefully me giving it a go will inspire others who have been on the fence to try it out. Even a novice, with minimal tools, can prep out something half way decent.

 

I'm excited about the micro "scope" camera thing as well. It's very interesting to see some of the finer details. Now I'm begging to be sent to my room! 

 

[grandpa]

Wayne!!

 

You go to your room right now!  And don't come out till you've learned your lesson! 

[FossilNerd]

5 hours ago, grandpa said:

Wayne!!

 

You go to your room right now!  And don't come out till you've learned your lesson! 

Yes sir grandpa!

[pswiatek]

Thank you for posting this!! 

I had no idea where to start!

[FossilNerd]

10 minutes ago, pswiatek said:

Thank you for posting this!! 

I had no idea where to start!

You are very welcome! Glad I could help! You may also want to check out my pinned topic, Manual Preparation: A Novice Guide (See link below). I created it specifically to help people new to fossil prep get started.

 

 

 

[Harry_]

On 01/01/2020 at 3:26 AM, FossilNerd said:

I don’t think I really want to get into chemical prep, but I’ll look into the long tip engravers. 
My big issue with the air abrasion is dust. I just can’t handle much of it any more and air abrasion creates a lot. If I use a respirator and have plenty of ventilation I’m usually ok. A blast box should do the trick as well, but I don’t have one handy. I’ll definitely look into building one as you suggested. 

If you know what the fossil is made of(shells are normally calcium carbonate) then they can be cleaned with all sorts of methods. I also don't like chemical prep as much but I do sometimes use malt or white wine vinegar when dealing with shells to dissolve limestone around them

[Cat in the Hat]

One tip that people might like is this.  Use TWO lamps.  One on each side of your work.  It eliminates the shadows.