HeritageFossils Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 Anyone have any suggestions on how to make your pyrite fossils really shine? I have some pyrite bundenbach fossils that looked great when I got them but have now turned to a black color. I used some jewelry polishes which make them shine up good but the effect only lasts a few days. Any suggestions? -YvW Next fossil auction: June 6th, 2010 - Beverly Hills, CA http://historical.ha.com/NaturalHistory/ Check out our auctions and past auctions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 After you polish your fossils the trick is to keep the fossil from contacting air (mainly nitrogen and oxygen) and moisture. How one accomplish this... I will turn this over to more experience members on forum..... My newbie suggestions... If yor fossils are tiny... submerge them in mineral oil. One can coat the fossil with polymer ie acrylic spray.... If fossils are large place the fossil in an cabinet with an inert gas purge such as argon gas not really practical .. .... PL 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicholas Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 I was always under the impression that its just best to leave pyrite alone. I'm sure someone can help you though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TourmalineGuy Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 (edited) Some pyrites are considerably more stable(porous) than others, so the leave-it-alone strategy works with some specimens. It will eventually oxidize. Pleecans suggestions seem sound. Just make sure not to wash them with water, use acetone! You could probably leave them in a bucket of acetone for that matter. This article suggests some things in the abstract that you could look up... http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V78-3SVYTV1-9&_user=10&_coverDate=03%2F20%2F1997&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1246859311&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=428eb8ceff2bd5f3ae983ae7cf9a3a9b Edited March 13, 2010 by TourmalineGuy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paleozoicfish Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 Article referred to in above post attached. -PzF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeritageFossils Posted March 13, 2010 Author Share Posted March 13, 2010 Hmm, I may need to test the acetone finish on a cheaper piece to make sure something unexpected doesn't happen, like the matrix dissolving. -YvW Next fossil auction: June 6th, 2010 - Beverly Hills, CA http://historical.ha.com/NaturalHistory/ Check out our auctions and past auctions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverphoenix Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 I washed mine with water, then baked them and put them in tiny individual bags with silicon packets. I think next time I will clean them in acetone, soak them in gun oil for a bit, wipe them off reaaally well, bake them, and then put them in individual bags with desiccant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 HeritageFossils.... Ive seen some pyrite made shiney by simply rubbing a soft brass wire clothes brush across the fossil giving it a 'buff up'... I think remnants of the softer metal are left behind to create the finish possibly... if it is rare or valuble I wouldnt try this though.... just have a go on your dross.... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 More than 10 years ago, we still found some "ammoniac". I mixed this product with a scouring powder (Cif). I washed my pyritised ammonits with this product and a toothbrush, I dried them well and they stood out brilliant. Now, we can't find any "ammoniac"... Certain pyritisez fossils will preserve very well because their pyrite (FeS2) does not contain a lot of sulfur (soufre in french language - "S"). Fossils containing a lot of sulfur can't be well preserved. Coco ---------------------- OUTIL POUR MESURER VOS FOSSILES : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 1 (Poissons et sélaciens récents & fossiles) : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 2 (Animaux vivants - sans poissons ni sélaciens) : ici Mâchoires sélaciennes récentes : ici Hétérodontiques et sélaciens : ici Oeufs sélaciens récents : ici Otolithes de poissons récents ! ici Un Greg... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 As a primary producers of thermal fusion FeSi byproduct during the production of brown fused alumina minerals .... An observaton of FeSi looks very similar to FeS pyrite in terms of color and luster... Just a thought.... I was wondering during fossilization there is a remote possibility of forming FeSi which is fairly resistant to tarnishing / corrosion in place of FeS. It would be plausible that a fossil containing a higher percentage of FeSi would enhance microstructure stability. PL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 I think the better stability of some, over others, is because the less stable fossils, in a lot of cases, are Marcasite rather than Pyrite. They are still called Pyritised. KOF, Bill. Welcome to the forum, all new members www.ukfossils check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrozenInTime Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 (edited) I do hope you don't want a shiny gold pyrite color.. This is a terrible indicator of the historical use of brass brushes to prep Hunsrück fossils, it ruins any detail. I've heard of several different ways to preserve Bundenbach fossils, the thing that was suggested to me when I was given some lessons in prepping Bundenbach fossils with scalpel and needle a few years ago, was to apply a thin coating of (sour-free) Paraffin on the fossil and plate. This gives it a bit of a dark "wet look" effect, and protects the fossil, as far as these fossils need protecting. I used it on the Chotecops ferdinandi trilobite from Bundenbach in my picture as well. cheers, Mark Edited March 21, 2010 by FrozenInTime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redlichia Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 Is a big problem for the pyritized fossils.... sincerely I don't collect these anymore and from many time,I have only few in hard pyrite that for now are ok but black. I have put a special thin transparent resin above a not common ammonite,because every year I find white dust above.... so now is covered but is not a very good preservation,and I don't know if the pyrite resist in the next years,however I don't council this,is an experiment also if is a not common ammonite. For the ammonites in hard pyrite and without decay,I brush soft these with a brass brush and after I paint with Paraloid and acetone but if the Pyrite is in decay with many probability the fossil year after year have the erosion.... For other type of fossils more fragile I can't say more.Some friends use the Paraffin,some put the fossils in a hermetic box with Vaseline oil,but you can't take every time with the hands the fossils because are in the oil,and for the my experience I don't know these methods,they says that are ok. Surely the pyritized fossils they survive from the erosion without humidity,air and in a obscure side of the room,without the direct light. 1 ->>>>> < Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redlichia Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 Article referred to in above post attached. -PzF Thank you for the pdf is very interesting! ->>>>> < Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members TylerChemist Posted August 17, 2011 New Members Share Posted August 17, 2011 The article referred to by TourmalineGuy and provided by paleozoicfish is very interesting. It concludes that either of two chemicals is most effective at passivating a clean pyrite surface: acetylacetone and sodium silicate. I just want to clarify that acetylacetone is NOT the same thing as acetone, and it may not be very easy to acquire by the general public. Sodium silicate, on the other hand, should be easily available, and is the better choice. It is non-combustible and relatively low toxicity. It's not very good for your skin, so wash it off quickly if you get some on you. I can't imagine what good washing pyrite in acetone might do. It's dangerously flammable, and, so far as I know, inert to inorganic materials (ie minerals). Please correct me if you have evidence to the contrary. If you just need a safe non-aqueous fluid, without solvent or reactive chemical effects, to mobilize debris, then I suggest that you try a low-viscosity, high flash-point mineral oil like kerosene. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 The article referred to by TourmalineGuy and provided by paleozoicfish is very interesting. It concludes that either of two chemicals is most effective at passivating a clean pyrite surface: acetylacetone and sodium silicate. I just want to clarify that acetylacetone is NOT the same thing as acetone, and it may not be very easy to acquire by the general public. Sodium silicate, on the other hand, should be easily available, and is the better choice. It is non-combustible and relatively low toxicity. It's not very good for your skin, so wash it off quickly if you get some on you. I can't imagine what good washing pyrite in acetone might do. It's dangerously flammable, and, so far as I know, inert to inorganic materials (ie minerals). Please correct me if you have evidence to the contrary. If you just need a safe non-aqueous fluid, without solvent or reactive chemical effects, to mobilize debris, then I suggest that you try a low-viscosity, high flash-point mineral oil like kerosene. All good points; thank you! "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 pyrite disease is a major issue to many fossil collectors, and it seems to be an intractable and imperfectly understood phenomenon. some feel that it is caused/catalyzed/underwritten/funded by bacteria, and therefore some efforts seem to be aimed at killing off and keeping off those bugs. it may be that some feel dunking pyrite in acetone will serve to dry it out, or kills any bacteria on it. i don't know. i do know that some paleo peeps (including me at times) probably over-use acetone. but i'm kind of fond of the stuff. note to careless, inexperienced, and/or pyromaniacal people reading this - acetone is deadly and will shoot your eye out so stay away from it. additional note to people reading this - everything tracer posts is purely intended to be either humorous, or not humorous but pretending to try to be humorous while really trying not to be humorous to create awkward tension, but not in a bad way. so the fact that acetone is probably miscible with scotch should in no way make scotch any less of a shunned substance by those to whom pyrite remains, and always will...patently indigestible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 The article referred to by TourmalineGuy and provided by paleozoicfish is very interesting. It concludes that either of two chemicals is most effective at passivating a clean pyrite surface: acetylacetone and sodium silicate. I just want to clarify that acetylacetone is NOT the same thing as acetone, and it may not be very easy to acquire by the general public. Sodium silicate, on the other hand, should be easily available, and is the better choice. It is non-combustible and relatively low toxicity. It's not very good for your skin, so wash it off quickly if you get some on you. I can't imagine what good washing pyrite in acetone might do. It's dangerously flammable, and, so far as I know, inert to inorganic materials (ie minerals). Please correct me if you have evidence to the contrary. If you just need a safe non-aqueous fluid, without solvent or reactive chemical effects, to mobilize debris, then I suggest that you try a low-viscosity, high flash-point mineral oil like kerosene. Acetone will help remove traces of water that might be in the fossil .... one of the byproducts of pyrite decomposition is sulfuric acid (further damage fossil).... presence of water will also accelerate pyrite rot... there may also be galvanic corrosion present... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members dmzeidler Posted January 15, 2014 New Members Share Posted January 15, 2014 Researching the same thing, I found a PDF that suggests two different options - ammonium gas treatment & Ethanolamine Thioglycolate : http://vertpaleo.org/PDFS/0c/0cf8d5c7-d1a1-4a0a-96b2-a28658f9b4cf.pdf And another page http://www.mineral-forum.com/message-board/viewtopic.php?t=1182 that suggested some alternatives to Thioglycolate. Sorry about the font issue -- upgraded to Win 8.1 / IE 11 and it has some severe issues. (like selecting, copying, cutting, pasting, blah, blah, blah.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrguy54 Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 For "pyrite disease" look up marcasite. The stuff just naturally breaks down into the white powdery-looking substance. Store in a sealed container (Tupperware-ish) along with a dessicant packet. Works great. I have quite a few pyrite fossils from Sylvania OH and some pyrite spheres and such from Indianapolis. You may cringe at this, but they sparkle after using a toothbrush, water and Comet. Got this from a long-time member of the Dayton Gem and Mineral club. The shine slowly fades so I do it whenever I notice the need. Been doing this for 5+ years and see no damage to the objects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 For "pyrite disease" look up marcasite. The stuff just naturally breaks down into the white powdery-looking substance. Store in a sealed container (Tupperware-ish) along with a dessicant packet. Works great. I have quite a few pyrite fossils from Sylvania OH and some pyrite spheres and such from Indianapolis. You may cringe at this, but they sparkle after using a toothbrush, water and Comet. Got this from a long-time member of the Dayton Gem and Mineral club. The shine slowly fades so I do it whenever I notice the need. Been doing this for 5+ years and see no damage to the objects. You may not see any damage to the objects, but I would assume that, if you are cleaning off corrosion and then it corrodes again and you clean that again, and again and again, it will eventually disappear. If it happens slowly enough you will not notice it because you won't remember exactly what it looked like originally! Better to keep water, especially, away from pyrite or marcasite. If it were me I would try to clean any corrosion (without water), as described above, and then coat it with something protective/airtight, maybe one of the oils mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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