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To seal or not to seal; Paraloid preparation


IsaacTheFossilMan

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4 minutes ago, IsaacTheFossilMan said:

Same here buddy, same here! All I'm saying, a mural of Knightia sp. would make badass bathroom tiles! :BigSmile:

 

Now there's a (mental) image! :BigSmile:

'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett

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9 minutes ago, pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon said:

 

Now there's a (mental) image! :BigSmile:

I'm not wrong, am I?

 

1622853710_knightiabathroom.png.8ad1779cfef3e5c88bd7ccbf727a151f.png

Ah, the wonders of microsoft paint... :Laughter:

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~ Isaac; www.isaactfm.com 

 

"Don't move! He can't see us if we don't move!" - Alan Grant

 

Come to the spring that is The Fossil Forum, where the stream of warmth and knowledge never runs dry.

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2 minutes ago, IsaacTheFossilMan said:

I'm not wrong, am I?

 

1622853710_knightiabathroom.png.8ad1779cfef3e5c88bd7ccbf727a151f.png

Ah, the wonders of microsoft paint... :Laughter:

 

Great instant art! :default_clap2:

 

No, you're not wrong at all! In fact, we once used to live in a rental place where the bathroom walls had been tiled with a hard yellow fossiliferous limestone (kind of like the Belgian Petit Granit, but yellow and with shell inclusions rather than the corals and orthocones of the latter). The effect was quite spectacular!

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'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett

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4 minutes ago, pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon said:

 

Great instant art! :default_clap2:

 

No, you're not wrong at all! In fact, we once used to live in a rental place where the bathroom walls had been tiled with a hard yellow fossiliferous limestone (kind of like the Belgian Petit Granit, but yellow and with shell inclusions rather than the corals and orthocones of the latter). The effect was quite spectacular!

 

Thank you, thank you, I should become the next Picasso, I know!
 

That sounds pretty neat to be honest!!! Was it oolitic? 

 

Interesting, a quick google search picked this up:

http://wp.greenriverstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Bath1.jpg

~ Isaac; www.isaactfm.com 

 

"Don't move! He can't see us if we don't move!" - Alan Grant

 

Come to the spring that is The Fossil Forum, where the stream of warmth and knowledge never runs dry.

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2 hours ago, IsaacTheFossilMan said:

would make badass bathroom tiles!

Indeed!

How about that these? A little bit more stable, at least physically :BigSmile::

Waaggraben_Trochactaeon_2014_klein.jpg

:zen:

Franz Bernhard

 

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2 hours ago, IsaacTheFossilMan said:

That sounds pretty neat to be honest!!! Was it oolitic?

 

I don't remember... At the time I had only just picked up my interest in paleontology and geology again, or maybe not even... In any case, I remember it looking something like this, though with quite well-defined fossil gastropods and bivalves in it (source):

 

1201513341_Hardfossiliferouslimestone.jpg.201e2958851e079ef8f3fb34b8fa9faa.jpg

 

2 hours ago, IsaacTheFossilMan said:

Interesting, a quick google search picked this up:

http://wp.greenriverstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Bath1.jpg

 

1257269178_Greenriverfishbathroom.jpg.fae3bc224639378baaff34fa3beff8c3.jpg

 

That's truly stunning! And utterly decadent, of course...! Still, similar things are done with the fossils of the Posidonia Shale (Holzmaden-area). I mean, in the end we should not forget that many of these stones are not primarily quarried for their fossil content - which is often just by-catch. And as these rocks are just considered regular building natural, there's no concern over it wearing down or destroying fossils, except for in calculations of lifetime and replacement cycles... :(

 

35 minutes ago, FranzBernhard said:

How about that these? A little bit more stable, at least physically :BigSmile::

Waaggraben_Trochactaeon_2014_klein.jpg

:zen:

 

Very trippy...! :oO:

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'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett

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18 minutes ago, pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon said:

That's truly stunning! And utterly decadent, of course...!

 

What do you mean!? It's the most humble thing I've seen all week! :BigSmile:

 

18 minutes ago, pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon said:

And as these rocks are just considered regular building natural, there's no concern over it wearing down or destroying fossils, except for in calculations of lifetime and replacement cycles... :(

 

Same here in the Cotswolds... Cotswold stone is quarried as building material, and all the homes round here are made of it, but it's world-famously fossiliferous, so you can see shells and other bits all inside the walls! :(

~ Isaac; www.isaactfm.com 

 

"Don't move! He can't see us if we don't move!" - Alan Grant

 

Come to the spring that is The Fossil Forum, where the stream of warmth and knowledge never runs dry.

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56 minutes ago, FranzBernhard said:

Indeed!

How about that these? A little bit more stable, at least physically :BigSmile::

Waaggraben_Trochactaeon_2014_klein.jpg

:zen:

Franz Bernhard

 

 

Ah yes, Trochactaeon! I can see some rooms with this as a piece in the walls :zzzzscratchchin:

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~ Isaac; www.isaactfm.com 

 

"Don't move! He can't see us if we don't move!" - Alan Grant

 

Come to the spring that is The Fossil Forum, where the stream of warmth and knowledge never runs dry.

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  • 2 months later...

I know there are a number of different solutions you can dissolve the B72 into, is there any one type that is the best for fossil consolidation?

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9 minutes ago, Fossil Fen said:

I know there are a number of different solutions you can dissolve the B72 into, is there any one type that is the best for fossil consolidation?

 

Tough question! I wouldn't really know the answer... Acetone, I believe, is the most commonly used, but I've also heard alcohol should also do the trick. I'm not sure if there's much of a practical difference, since the relevant chemical properties are more or less similar: they both dissolve Paraloid B72, both evaporate quickly and are anhydrous (which is relevant in particular with respect to pyrite), both are slightly toxic but not to the extent to cause any serious concerns, and neither should cause any reaction with the fossil in question. May be @Ptychodus04 has an answer to this one...

'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett

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I use acetone to disolve  mine into. I use a concentration of roughly 50 to 1 ratio for my consolidating most of the time. (50 parts acetone to 1 part paraloid by weight)

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There’s no one size fits all solution. I use acetone for my solvent but ethanol is also acceptable if you’re ok with a longer set time.

 

I use 50:1 for a general stabilization solution, 25:1 for specimens that are more porous, 10:1 for others with bigger cracks. I regularly use a combination of multiple viscosities. It all depends on the condition of the fossil/matrix.

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4 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

There’s no one size fits all solution. I use acetone for my solvent but ethanol is also acceptable if you’re ok with a longer set time.

 

I use 50:1 for a general stabilization solution, 25:1 for specimens that are more porous, 10:1 for others with bigger cracks. I regularly use a combination of multiple viscosities. It all depends on the condition of the fossil/matrix.

I'm going to need a Fossil Forum intervention. I used the B72 for the first time today, with Acetone, at a ratio of about 5% and it is amazing!! I confess I like a bit more of the wet look than most, but on the shells I was working on, it brought out the colour beautifully. I'll try using a 50:1 ratio in the future for stabilization, but I'm going to have to stop myself from putting it on everything!!

Shells.jpg

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Those bivalves look great. Stabilizing has its place for sure. Sometimes, as with your bivalves, it will enhance the overall appearance, but most importantly, it will harden delicate specimens.

 

Fossil bone is often desperately in need of stabilization in order to remain intact. Conservation grade plastics like Paraloid, Butvar, and Vinac are indefinitely stable and reversible. This is why museums use them. If you want to reduce the sheen imparted to the specimen, you can wipe acetone on the surface to remove the top layer of plastic that is there.

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On 1/19/2022 at 6:52 AM, Fossil Fen said:

I'm going to need a Fossil Forum intervention. I used the B72 for the first time today, with Acetone, at a ratio of about 5% and it is amazing!! I confess I like a bit more of the wet look than most, but on the shells I was working on, it brought out the colour beautifully. I'll try using a 50:1 ratio in the future for stabilization, but I'm going to have to stop myself from putting it on everything!!

Shells.jpg

Golly gosh, I need to get my hands on some of that miracle glue!

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~ Isaac; www.isaactfm.com 

 

"Don't move! He can't see us if we don't move!" - Alan Grant

 

Come to the spring that is The Fossil Forum, where the stream of warmth and knowledge never runs dry.

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