My first test prep

[hadrosauridae]

I finished the dust collection system in my prep station this morning so I had to put the tools to use and start practicing!   In a nutshell, I LOVE AIR TOOLS!!  I picked out one of my random BOBs collected over the years from the South Dakota Hell Creek fm.  Typical of my digs, this one had a lot of surface CA and matrix adhering to it, but it was about as clean as I could get it by hand..  I started out by cleaning half of it with just the soda blaster.  You can see in the picture that it was doing a phenomenal job.  I wanted to get a pic that showed the condition before I worked over the entire piece (in case I ruined it LOL).  OF course there were some spots that just wouldnt budge.  So I started using the air scribe.  So amazing!  Watching those little stubborn spots  and every other bit of matrix just blow away from the tiniest touch of the stylus.  I left the associated bone bit attached with its matrix just because.  It looks to be from a different animal, possibly some type of theropod as those often have the hard, shiny surfaces.

 

Trying to clean out the exposed marrow was the most challenging.  Lots of tiny flakes of it came off during cleaning, but to just look at the fossil you wouldnt know.  One thing I did notice was that the media blaster can eat though a lot of soda in a short time!  I finished out the piece by conserving it with a coat of PVA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[FossilNerd]

Looks like a good first go at it to me! I haven’t prepped any bone yet, but I hear it can be a challenge depending on preservation, so I can see why a few bits and pieces may have flaked off on the marrow side. Still, not a bad job to my eye.

[hadrosauridae]

Thank you for the kind words.  I plan on prepping out all my assorted BOBs for practice before I move up to the pieces that I actually want to display.  I know that every different type of fossil and type of matrix presents its own challenges for prep.  I hope to practice on a wide variety.  I'd loved to get some "junk" fossils (broken bits not good for display) to practice on.  I'm sure if my plans hold, I'll have a much wider variety this year.

[Ptychodus04]

13 hours ago, hadrosauridae said:

One thing I did notice was that the media blaster can eat though a lot of soda in a short time! 

Are you using the 50-100 micron tank with the standard black tip? I found that switching to the slightly smaller green tip allows me to use a much lower pressure to push the media, uses less soda, gives more control, and damages the fossils less. This is where the microscope comes in. In order to abrade at low pressures with a minimal amount of media use, you need some serious magnification. Without it, you can't see the effect of the media so you will "burn" (over abrade) your specimen. Micro-abrasion is a balance of revealing the finest details while causing the least mechanical damage.

[hadrosauridae]

4 minutes ago, Ptychodus04 said:

Are you using the 50-100 micron tank with the standard black tip? I found that switching to the slightly smaller green tip allows me to use a much lower pressure to push the media, uses less soda, gives more control, and damages the fossils less. This is where the microscope comes in. In order to abrade at low pressures with a minimal amount of media use, you need some serious magnification. Without it, you can't see the effect of the media so you will "burn" (over abrade) your specimen. Micro-abrasion is a balance of revealing the finest details while causing the least mechanical damage.

Yes, I'm using it just as it was shipped.  Thanks for the tip on switching the orifices, I'll order one.  I hope one day I can prep as well I have seen you prep out your fish!

[Ptychodus04]

6 minutes ago, hadrosauridae said:

Yes, I'm using it just as it was shipped.  Thanks for the tip on switching the orifices, I'll order one.  I hope one day I can prep as well I have seen you prep out your fish!

Time, patience, and lots of prepping is all you need. You're well on your way.