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fish are freakin hard to prep!


hadrosauridae

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With the right tools, techniques, and time these fish are actually freakin easy to prep... 

And you have 3 options to combine: needle, abrasive, acid

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1 hour ago, aeon.rocks said:

With the right tools, techniques, and time these fish are actually freakin easy to prep... 

And you have 3 options to combine: needle, abrasive, acid

Lots of time! You make a valid point. These are definitely not the hardest preps but they take a lot of patience.

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2 hours ago, aeon.rocks said:

With the right tools, techniques, and time these fish are actually freakin easy to prep... 

And you have 3 options to combine: needle, abrasive, acid

Please note, the OP is new to prepping. 
Someone with your vast experience would,  of course, find these easy to prepare. 

This is the OP's first foray into prepping: everything is relative. ;) 

 

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  Ive prepped out about 30,000 fish but its still interesting to watch someone else do it.  I know your having a ton of fun but like everyone has said,  "go slow".  

 

RB

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For clarity, I'm saying that fish are physically difficult to prep.  I'm saying they are extremely fragile and require a huge amount of time and concentration to remove tiny bits of matrix without blowing apart the paper thin fossil.  

 

I'm sure that those who have been doing this for decades have learned to intuitively understand exactly how much pressure and speed and techniques to use.

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"There is no shortage of fossils. There is only a shortage of paleontologists to study them." - Larry Martin

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Don’t forget a toothbrush! If the matrix is right I’ll do some of the prepping on my fish with a little water and a variety from soft to hard bristle tooth brushes!

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Hey Hadro, you are workiing on a small fish from what looks like the split fish layers.  About the hardest fish to prep.  The small fish in harder rock can be easier to prep.  Also, the bigger fish with bigger bones are a bit easier to work on too, especially in the harder rock and if you have a media blaster.    All kinds of fish out there in all kinds of rock.  Just have fun and the best of luck to ya.

 

RB

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OK, I think I'm finally done with the gross prepping of this Mioplusus.  Now I just have to detail clean it and conserve.  I do have a question.  What the heck is going on with the hump on my fishes back?  Is this normal? Abnormal?  Are there spines that should be coming off that I havent exposed yet?

 

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"There is no shortage of fossils. There is only a shortage of paleontologists to study them." - Larry Martin

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On 3/28/2020 at 9:16 AM, RJB said:

Hey Hadro, you are workiing on a small fish from what looks like the split fish layers.  About the hardest fish to prep.  The small fish in harder rock can be easier to prep.  Also, the bigger fish with bigger bones are a bit easier to work on too, especially in the harder rock and if you have a media blaster.    All kinds of fish out there in all kinds of rock.  Just have fun and the best of luck to ya.

These are 18" layer pieces that we collected last summer. Some of the smaller stuff I've run into from that trip are a bit softer than I would expect to see from the 18".

20 hours ago, hadrosauridae said:

OK, I think I'm finally done with the gross prepping of this Mioplusus.  Now I just have to detail clean it and conserve.  I do have a question.  What the heck is going on with the hump on my fishes back?  Is this normal? Abnormal?  Are there spines that should be coming off that I havent exposed yet?

You've uncovered some scales that floated off your fish. It's not often to find a Mio with both dorsal fins extended... dagnabit!!!!! :DOH::DOH::DOH: I'm glad it's working out for you. I didn't want to prep that busted up fish before I knew what it was so it's all good. When you start abrasive, set your pressure really low and slowly work up to where you can see matrix coming off. This will help keep from starting out blowing fish off the matrix. Do you have a microscope for your abrasive area set up yet? You don't want to do this one without magnification.

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44 minutes ago, Ptychodus04 said:

These are 18" layer pieces that we collected last summer. Some of the smaller stuff I've run into from that trip are a bit softer than I would expect to see from the 18".

You've uncovered some scales that floated off your fish. It's not often to find a Mio with both dorsal fins extended... dagnabit!!!!! :DOH::DOH::DOH: I'm glad it's working out for you. I didn't want to prep that busted up fish before I knew what it was so it's all good. When you start abrasive, set your pressure really low and slowly work up to where you can see matrix coming off. This will help keep from starting out blowing fish off the matrix. Do you have a microscope for your abrasive area set up yet? You don't want to do this one without magnification.

No microscope, only a magnifying visor.  Maybe I'll put this on the back shelf until I do get ahold of a decent scope.

"There is no shortage of fossils. There is only a shortage of paleontologists to study them." - Larry Martin

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2 hours ago, hadrosauridae said:

Maybe I'll put this on the back shelf until I do get ahold of a decent scope.

I would, unless your eyes are really good (mine, not so much). I know @RJB uses a visor when prepping with abrasive outside on large slabs.

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On 3/29/2020 at 10:58 AM, hadrosauridae said:

OK, I think I'm finally done with the gross prepping of this Mioplusus.

  You are a natural my freind.  You did a really good job.   do  you have any plans for the split in the rock?

 

RB

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2 hours ago, RJB said:

  You are a natural my freind.  You did a really good job.   do  you have any plans for the split in the rock?

 

RB

Thank you for the kind words.  I plan to leave it as is.  I dont think anything I tried to do would improve the appearance.  The split was well glued so I am not worried about structural issues.  I have friends with wet-saws, so the only thing I plan on doing after final prep is trimming the slab size a little bit and then displaying.

 

Edit - I also plan on cleaning the outline.  I want to give it about 1/4"clearance from the body and then give the walls a slight uniform angle.

"There is no shortage of fossils. There is only a shortage of paleontologists to study them." - Larry Martin

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On 3/30/2020 at 5:44 PM, hadrosauridae said:

I have friends with wet-saws, so the only thing I plan on doing after final prep is trimming the slab size a little bit

If you have an angle grinder, you can cut this stuff with a diamond masonry wheel. Tape over the fish to keep the dust off it and wear a mask because there will be buckets of dust in the air.

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On 3/30/2020 at 4:44 PM, hadrosauridae said:

and then give the walls a slight uniform angle.

 Great idea.  This will most deffinetly make it look as good as possible. 

 

RB

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