Preparation tips - newbie

[ayelengarcia17]

Hello everyone.

 

 I'm sorry to bother you. I have a few ammonites and ammonite impressions from a trip. I was wondering if you have any suggestions in how to clean them. I'm afraid of destroying them in the process. Thank you.

[Kane]

I suppose it depends on what equipment you have.

Let me tag @Ludwigia who is an ammo master to give his advice.

[Ludwigia]

Yes, that's the first question. Will you be doing this with hand tools? The second is how hard is the matrix?

[LabRatKing]

It boils down to what equipment you have access to, your confidence in your skills, and how much of a hurry you are in. 
Myself and others have specimens old enough to legally drink we haven’t prepped yet!

[ayelengarcia17]

Thank you all for replying! I do not have any tools. I understand I will need to buy some. Preferably nothing to crazy as these are the only items in my collection that would need some cleaning (aside from a few more that look just like these). The matrix is very hard. And I am in no hurry. I found them a year and a half ago but I have always wanted to clean them up. 

[jeannie55]

There’s excellent information on the homepage about the three processes that one might use to prep. Here’s my secret: I have been collecting rocks and fossils for over 60 years and I am just now learning how to prep. The information here and the people have been a life saver for me. I have a power tool but I prefer a small chissel, a butter knife, and a very large needle that I use when I do needle craft projects. I am still at the only practicing stage. Welcome and goodluck. 

[LabRatKing]

Truth be told, I got my start in prep work with cheap gasket picks from the autoparts store discount bin and an electric dremel engraving scribe for everyone’s favorite online site...I practiced on rocks from my fossil sites that I didn’t care about. As I got more confident, I worked my way up to those techniques with common fossils from the retaining wall in my backyard. Then, thanks to resources like this site, I graduated to increasingly advanced techniques and specimens.

 

My best advice to a beginner is patience and practice! And, if have the foresight to realize you will make mistakes...but that is a perfect excuse to go find more fossils! I have proudly destroyed some mediocre finds in the interest of not wrecking the good stuff!

 

As I mentioned before, I have fossil rocks I found before I was old enough to drive that I still haven’t prepped and I’m well on my way to 50!

[Ludwigia]

See the helpful advice above and explore our section on fossil preparation. Using hand tools on hard matrix takes a long time, so be patient. A knowledge of the outer structure of the fossil is also advantageous so you don't knock holes in it. By the way, the smaller ammonite in the second photo looks like it can't be improved much anyway, since the inner whorls appear to be somewhat squished. Just try to remove the excess matrix covering them by following the spiral with a small chisel or pin-vise and then give it a good scrub under running water with a steel brush.