Air scribes

[Malcolmt]

From time to time people ask what kind of tools do I use. I was cleaning and maintaining my air scribes today and decided to take a family picture of them. I don't think I have ever posted a pic of all my scribes. Yes you need more than one air scribe. Pretty much each one of these scribes is very good at certain things and not so good at other things. Over a course of a month I will probably use every one of these. Unfortunately I broke the stylus on the Ingersol Rand (at the extreme right of the pic) a couple of months ago and am trying to track down a reasonably priced replacement stylus. This tool was my favorite for bulk matrix removal. If you have one you don't need or no a source please let me know. I have found some but they are coming in at about $150US for a single stylus by the time I ship, pay duty and HST to Canada so I have not bought.

 

From left to right they are as follows:

 

           Seally (from England)........................ great for bulk removal of matrix and nothing else (110 PSI) Very inexpensive

             CP 9361..............................................great for bulk removal and landscaping, cant get too close to fossil not for fine detail (90 to 110 PSI) 

             Pferd MST-31 with fine stylus............my go to general purpose scribe can do anything except bulk removal (110 PSI)

             HW-10.................................................general work with the stylus shown...detail work with the fine removable steel needle stylus not shown(50 to 90 PSI)

             HW-70..................................................excellent for bulk removal, landscaping , can work very close to fossil without damaging skin (operates at 20 to 30 PSI) $$$$ very expensive

             HW-322...............................................Super fine detail, uses very low PSI, very little vibration imparted on fossil, of no use for any major matrix removal (operates at 20 to 30 PSI) $$$ pretty expensive

             Paleotools MicroJack -2....................Super fine detail, of no use for any major matrix removal (100 to 120 PSI).You will notice that I created an air diverter on the front to blow the air towards the needle. Without this the dust                                                                                    builds up and you cannot see what you are cleaning. The microjack-2 literally takes off dust.

             ARO 8315............................................general work, landscaping (90 to 110 PSI), there are clones of this available but an original made in USA is best, they last forever

             Ingersol Rand EP50...........................Awesome bulk removal scribe, landscaping , not good for any detail work (110 PSI)

 

If I was starting out on a limited budget I would get a used CP9361 (replacement stylus and parts are cheap) and an ARO clone from xxxxxxxxx (PM me for source as I don't think I am allowed to say on here). On a true budget a used  CP with original blunt stylus and a longer sharp pointed stylus is an acceptable place to start.. As is just the recommended clone ARO

 

Feel free to PM me and ask any questions about these scribes or scribes in general

 

 

 

[Uncle Siphuncle]

Very informative.  My current lineup consists of just an ME-9100 and an ARO.  Some of my open ground close work is accomplished by rubbing away matrix with the side of the stylus tip with close guidance via mag visor (plus dust mask and ear plugs) in bright natural lighting.

 

If I were willing to allocate more $$$, I’d also get a chisel pointed heavy hitter for bulk matl removal, like cleaning out ammonite centers, and a micro jack.  In the meantime, my low budget workarounds are an old school hammer and suite of cold chisels for bulk removal, and a utility blade for fine details such as crab faces and trilobite ribs.  A light dolomite blast often cleans up remaining haze. 

 

However, I think I’d more enjoy the satisfaction of an efficient tool for each task, as you have.

[Malcolmt]

They are like rabbits .... they breed ........everytime you look around there's another one

[Ludwigia]

Thanks for showing us your scribes. Quite a good variety. I can get along fine for my purposes with my HW-60, HW-70 with various points and the air abrader, but I don't do as much fine work as you do, so if I ever really get into that I'd have to make some additions. I find this post to be good advice and would suggest to the Moderator that it be pinned.

[Ptychodus04]

I don't have a pic because I have to keep my family members separated or they start to fight.

 

I use a Super Jack with a chisel point stylus for major bulk removal (It will wreck matrix like a jackhammer), next step finer is the ME9100. It's my go to for general work on larger specimens. Then, I move to the ARO and the finest scribe I have is the Micro Jack 4. I also employ micro abrasive regularly.

 

I do a lot of work on small to medium sized Green River Formation fish. The Aro is good for bulk removal on them and the MJ4 is only for getting stubborn bits off. I rely heavily on abrasives since the fish are so delicate. Also, all fix are prepped under a microscope with searchlight levels of illumination.

 

 

[Phevo]

Is this what they call an aspiration picture?