Right scribe?

[Pterygotus]

Hi everyone, 

 

I saw this tool up recently and it was described as a paleo tool type ARO. Would this be a good tool to start off with? Is it a proper ARO or a clone? I’d just like to make sure because it’s not cheap (£250) . If I get a cheaper ARO clone, will I be able to fit a nib like this on? Also, is there another tool or website someone could recommend? Thanks.

[Pterygotus]

[Pterygotus]

I figured I might as well start expensive rather than spending a lot of money going from scribe to scribe .

[Kane]

You should probably mention what kind of material you'll be working with.

I'm not overly familiar with this brand. PaleoTools is usually the go-to brand, but I would suspect shipping costs + customs/duty would make that option a bit prohibitively expensive. Have you had a look at Pferd (Germany) or Ken Mannion (UK)? 

[Pterygotus]

5 minutes ago, Kane said:

You should probably mention what kind of material you'll be working with.

I'm not overly familiar with this brand. PaleoTools is usually the go-to brand, but I would suspect shipping costs + customs/duty would make that option a bit prohibitively expensive. Have you had a look at Pferd (Germany) or Ken Mannion (UK)? 

I’ll be working with a hard limestone from Charmouth and Lyme Regis and possibly Triassic limestone from Aust Cliff. Thanks for the suggestions. I heard that Ken Mannions TT pen was good but also quite expensive .

 

Edit: I can’t seem to find the Pferd scribe. Could you point me towards a website please? Thanks.

Edited March 11, 2020 by Pterygotus

[Troodon]

Old thread but still revelant.  I use the scribe offered by the Stone Company its German  HW10 very happy with it.

 

[Pterygotus]

11 minutes ago, Troodon said:

Old thread but still revelant.  I use the scribe offered by the Stone Company its German  HW10 very happy with it.

 

Thanks. Do you think the scribe listed above is genuine? 

[Kane]

@Troodon 

(I actually meant to mention Stone Co. HW10, not Pferd )

[Troodon]

1 minute ago, Pterygotus said:

Thanks. Do you think the scribe listed above is genuine? 

I'm not familiar with that scribe so best not to comment on it.   

[Malcolmt]

Thats a legit offer for a brand new Dynson. They seem to have gotten popular about a year ago.They also make replacement styluses for some of the other brands.

 

The Dynson you showed is a reasonable first scribe and . Not in the same class as the Pferd, and some of the higher end Paleotools but a lot less money. The ones from Stone tools are also very good but again quite pricey. 

[Pterygotus]

2 minutes ago, Malcolmt said:

Thats a legit offer for a brand new Dynson. They seem to have gotten popular about a year ago.They also make replacement styluses for some of the other brands.

 

The Dynson you showed is a reasonable first scribe and . Not in the same class as the Pferd, and some of the higher end Paleotools but a lot less money. The ones from Stone tools are also very good but again quite pricey. 

Thanks  . Is it worth £250?

[Kane]

4 minutes ago, Pterygotus said:

Thanks  . Is it worth £250?

Likely. The equivalent for a PaleoTools ARO would work out to be around £366, and that does not include shipping and import duties. 

 

Alternatively, you could buy a cheap Chinese off-brand for a third of the price on the famous auction site, but eventually you'll want a quality tool if you find prepping is something you enjoy. I started cheaply rather than "buying right the first time." The more challenging or frequent the prep work I did, the more frustrated I became with the inherent limitations of the cheaper tool, which saw me eventually shell out for the PT ARO. 

[hadrosauridae]

always tough when recommending equipment to a new-comer.  Same with my other hobby, but I usually recommend the cheap, no-frills entry model.  You can decide later if you are going to do this enough to justify a cost of better equipment.  The cost of scribes and their styli (along with other mechanical prep tools) get high very fast.

[Malcolmt]

At 250 it is really at the starting price for anything that is not an absolute beginner model. The chinese knock offs are not very precise and they generally wear out fairly quickly,

 

For example a Paleotools microjact 2 or 3 run about $1100 canadian (I live in Canada) by the time you ship it in from the US and pay duty. All the good units run $1000 to $1300 Canadian by the time you get it in your hands.

[Ptychodus04]

15 hours ago, Malcolmt said:

The chinese knock offs are not very precise and they generally wear out fairly quickly

 

Agreed. I started out with a Chinese clone and it worked well for a while. Eventually, I spent almost as much as a new Paleo Tools Aro to convert it to an almost as good of a tool using their parts.

 

As Malcolm indicated, prepping is not an inexpensive endeavor. There are costs incurred just to safely use the tool you just spent a ton of money on. Then, you find that you need several other tools of various levels of insane pricing in order to properly prep a variety of fossils. Then, there's the maintenance and repair of said expensive tools. Then, your wife kicks you out of the house and you have to build an outbuilding to prep in because you're too messy and noisy... maybe that one is just me. Either way, it's a money pit for sure. But, I wouldn't stop doing it for anything.

[Pterygotus]

Thanks everyone . I might go with this model then. Time to start saving up . How long roughly will it take to prep one ammonite?

[jpc]

18 minutes ago, Pterygotus said:

How long roughly will it take to prep one ammonite?

It will take from when you start to when it is done.  

 

There are so many variables here that this question can only be answered by doing it. 

 

First, how big is the ammonite?

Do you want to do a good job, or fly through it?

How deep in the rock is the ammonite?

Will you practice on a crappy/broken specimen first to perfect your skills?

You did mention that it is in hard Charmouth limestone... add an hour

 

see what I mean.

 

[Ptychodus04]

1 hour ago, Pterygotus said:

Thanks everyone . I might go with this model then. Time to start saving up . How long roughly will it take to prep one ammonite?

Around 10x what you go into it thinking it will take. Slow prep makes for better results. Allow the tool to do the work and don't push it. Also, use magnification. You will be amazed at how much better you will prep with it. It's almost impossible to keep from bumping the stylus into the specimen relying only on your eyes.

 

Get some good safety glasses, some quality ear plugs and at the very least an N95 rated (95% filtration of particles >.3micron) mask. I use a P100 (99.7% filtration of particles >.3micron) respirator... Silicosis and pulmonary fibrosis are terrible ways to die (and maybe worse to watch someone die from).

[hadrosauridae]

Might be hard to pick up a good respirator mask right now.

[Ptychodus04]

1 hour ago, hadrosauridae said:

Might be hard to pick up a good respirator mask right now.

The N95s are blown out but the better P100s are still around. I think they don't want to look like Bane from the Batman comics.

[Kane]

15 minutes ago, Ptychodus04 said:

. I think they don't want to look like Bane from the Batman comics.

I’m not seeing a downside to this. 

[Ptychodus04]

2 hours ago, Kane said:

I’m not seeing a downside to this. 

Me either. He was a cool villain.

[jpc]

18 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

Around 10x what you go into it thinking it will take. Slow prep makes for better results. Allow the tool to do the work and don't push it. Also, use magnification. You will be amazed at how much better you will prep with it. It's almost impossible to keep from bumping the stylus into the specimen relying only on your eyes.

 

Get some good safety glasses, some quality ear plugs and at the very least an N95 rated (95% filtration of particles >.3micron) mask. I use a P100 (99.7% filtration of particles >.3micron) respirator... Silicosis and pulmonary fibrosis are terrible ways to die (and maybe worse to watch someone die from).

I agree with all of this.  I always tell my volunteers that it is better to do a good job slowly than a bad job fastly.  Take the time.  Be patient.  

[Pterygotus]

19 hours ago, hadrosauridae said:

Might be hard to pick up a good respirator mask right now.

I think I already have a N95 mask somewhere .

[Welsh Wizard]

Hi.

 

Theres a TT on an auction site. Do a search for Ken Mannion. Id buy that. 

 

By the way, I’m not affiliated to or know the person selling. It’s just I have 2 TTs (3 if you include my car) and an ST pen. All very good.