Is my prep plan any good?

[ShinySpirals]

Hi all,

 

I had a little trip to the Jurassic coast this weekend gone. During that time I found a lovely bit of iridescent ammonite poking out of a rock that had slipped down. There are a number of other ammonites in the rock too.

 

I was wondering if anyone had advice/criticisms of my prep plan. I've not worked with iridescent ammonites before but understand them to be quite flaky.

 

Step 1

Soak to reduce salt water content. I've given it a good soak in tap water last night. Not sure if more is required but on previous fossils from the coast I've never had any issues doing it that way.

Step 2 

10% paraloid solution on the exposed iridescent section.

Step 3

Use a prepping pick to carefully remove the matrix and as I go, add further paraloid to freshly exposed ammonite. I want to avoid using my Dremel as I think the vibration could cause damage potentially.

 

Do this sound ok to you all? 

[Ludwigia]

Sounds alright. Good luck!

[ShinySpirals]

47 minutes ago, Ludwigia said:

Sounds alright. Good luck!

Thanks Ludwigia! 

[jpc]

I know Pleistocene bones form salt water should be treated with fresh water rinse, but is this necessary for actual rocks? 

 Do they absorb the salt in the ocean? 

[TqB]

1 hour ago, jpc said:

I know Pleistocene bones form salt water should be treated with fresh water rinse, but is this necessary for actual rocks? 

 Do they absorb the salt in the ocean? 

It's sometimes necessary, for example Cretaceous Chalk, but most people don't bother with Dorset Jurassic limestones. I've had no problem with Lias mudstones and limestones from around there that were collected several decades ago.

[ShinySpirals]

4 hours ago, TqB said:

It's sometimes necessary, for example Cretaceous Chalk, but most people don't bother with Dorset Jurassic limestones. I've had no problem with Lias mudstones and limestones from around there that were collected several decades ago.

Thank you, that's really good to know. I was worried about how things might behave a few years down the line. I started the prep tonight but it's slow going manually scraping away 

[Ptychodus04]

Beware of applying Paraloid to the shell. It changes the way light hits the shell and this can have an effect on how the light reflects off the different layers. You may find that some of the beautiful iridescence is diminished.