Prepping tips

[Pterygotus]

Hello everyone, 
I recently found an ammonite in a nodule I collected at Monmouth Beach a few years back and am thinking of prepping it. It seems to be some kind of deathbed as there are (or were ) 3 ammonites in the rock and it seems to go through the entire nodule. However, I’m stuck with a rotary multitool and have close to 0 prepping experience with it . The only things I know are to turn the speed down when prepping near the fossil and turn it up when removing rock. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Pterygotus]

Really sorry, just realised this should be in fossil preparation.

[Randyw]

What type rock is it? Can you post pictures? If you go to the fossil preparation area at the top of the list is an excellent post by fossilnerd on manual prepping. It’ll answer all you questions. If you have any additional questions we will be glad to answer them. I do all of my prepping with electric engraver and picks.

[WATERLINE]

Hi....Like Randyw said an electric 'engraving' tool is a nice and relatively cheap tool which works for matrix work. It is a noisy machine so ware ear buds...The main issue will be how hard the matrix is. Some nodules are very hard and you do have to be careful not to chip the ammonite as you get close.

There is a fabulous YouTube video on how to expose an ammonite produced by a guy in Yorkshire UK which is well worth watching.

Good luck!!

[Pterygotus]

1 hour ago, Randyw said:

What type rock is it? Can you post pictures? If you go to the fossil preparation area at the top of the list is an excellent post by fossilnerd on manual prepping. It’ll answer all you questions. If you have any additional questions we will be glad to answer them. I do all of my prepping with electric engraver and picks.

Thanks, here is a picture of part of the nodule! It’s a very hard limestone. I’ve think I’ve seen some of your preps and they’re amazing! 

[Pterygotus]

1 hour ago, WATERLINE said:

Hi....Like Randyw said an electric 'engraving' tool is a nice and relatively cheap tool which works for matrix work. It is a noisy machine so ware ear buds...The main issue will be how hard the matrix is. Some nodules are very hard and you do have to be careful not to chip the ammonite as you get close.

There is a fabulous YouTube video on how to expose an ammonite produced by a guy in Yorkshire UK which is well worth watching.

Good luck!!

Thanks!

[FossilNerd]

You can find the beginner guide that Randyw mentioned here. Hope it helps!  LINK 

 

I personally wouldn't advise using the rotary tool very close to the fossil. It's not too bad for shaping background matrix, but it can easily damage the fossil when you get close. A reciprocating engraver as the others mentioned would be a better option.

 

Something like the one here. LINK

 

I would use the engraver until I got fairly close to the fossil. Then I would switch over to scribes, picks, needles, and the like. If it is really hard matrix, slow and steady will win the race.  

[Pterygotus]

5 hours ago, FossilNerd said:

You can find the beginner guide that Randyw mentioned here. Hope it helps!  LINK 

 

I personally wouldn't advise using the rotary tool very close to the fossil. It's not too bad for shaping background matrix, but it can easily damage the fossil when you get close. A reciprocating engraver as the others mentioned would be a better option.

 

Something like the one here. LINK

 

I would use the engraver until I got fairly close to the fossil. Then I would switch over to scribes, picks, needles, and the like. If it is really hard matrix, slow and steady will win the race.  

Thanks, I just use the tool to get as close to the specimen as possible some matrix and part of the negative impression just flakes off.