Moroccan Otodus prep

[bthemoose]

I purchased a large (3.35"), partially exposed Moroccan Otodus obliquus tooth in matrix a few months ago with the intent of prepping it out and, hopefully, revealing a complete tooth. Having never prepped a fossil before, I consulted some TFF threads for suggestions on tools, before ultimately settling on a pocket scriber.

 

I neglected to take a photo of the original fossil before I did any prep, but here's one from the seller:

 

 

When the tooth arrived, I scraped a small amount of the matrix away, but I didn't get all that far before setting the tooth aside on my desk. And there it sat for the next 3.5 months.

 

 

I finally picked up the project again yesterday, with the goal of finishing it off. Estimating the extent of the buried tooth, I first worked to carve out a buffer area around the fossil. I then progressively lowered the base of the matrix with the scriber. (The background is a pizza box that I was using as my work area on the porch.)

 

 

I experimented a couple of times with wetting the matrix where I was scraping. This made the matrix a tad softer and easier to scrape away, but also resulted in mud that made it more difficult to see what I was doing. Ultimately, it was easier to work with the piece dry so that I could blow away the dust as I went. As I slowly removed more matrix, I finally got a glimpse of the other cusplet.

 

 

With further prep, the cusplet fully came into view--present and intact.

 

 

After exposing the cusplet, I continued to expose the rest of the root. To complete the prep, I ran the side of the scriber back and forth along the newly exposed matrix to smooth it out. This worked pretty well in terms of the finish, although applying pressure in this way resulted in the scriber itself bending a bit out of shape. Luckily, it's an inexpensive tool.

 

Below is the final prepped tooth. It is ever so slightly longer now (3.39") than what I was able to measure when the root was only partially exposed.

 

 

Here's the full piece zoomed out:

 

 

In clearing matrix from the root, I was a bit too hasty at times, resulting in a few small nicks or scratches, but overall, I'm quite pleased with how this turned out.

 

Thanks for looking!

[Gareth_]

Nice prep work, you've exposed that tooth in a unique way for display!

It's a fantastic example of an Otodus obliquus tooth too, the large ones aren't all that common to come across 

[Opuntia]

Wow! Amazing work

[Praefectus]

Looks great! Nice job.

[Ludwigia]

[Fossildude19]

Nice job! 

[Tidgy's Dad]

It looks great, nice job. 

[bthemoose]

10 hours ago, Gareth_ said:

Nice prep work, you've exposed that tooth in a unique way for display!

It's a fantastic example of an Otodus obliquus tooth too, the large ones aren't all that common to come across 

 

Thank you! I'd been wanting a larger one and saw a few unprepped specimens pop up online. This one had the best combo of condition and size from what I could see exposed and looked like it had good potential to be complete once prepped. Thankfully it was!

 

Thank you @Opuntia, @Praefectus, @Ludwigia, @Fossildude19, and @Tidgy's Dad for your kind messages as well!