Fossil Storage, And Display.

[Lmshoemaker]

Hello all,

I was hoping to ask how you guys go about displaying or storaging fossils you have collected; mine are simply slopped atop my dresser and shelves in my closet, this is all very unorderly and wish to change it; so what arrangements do you guys have, what helps you keep your collections organized? I'm also curious about cases for certain fossils or those small whit boxes vendors sell fossils in at shows, do you know where I could get these?

[-Andy-]

I have got a display cabinet with multiple levels.

I sort it out into 'Green River Fish', 'Dinosaur Fossils', 'Predators', 'Invertebrates' etc...

As for boxes, I get mine from IKEA, or from Ebay.

[Tarheel59]

Rikers for small, and (or) flat fossils. I use old pill bottles for micros from a certain site never mixing any site with another to avoid cross-contaiminating with Pyrite. Old cigar boxes for larger bits and pieces. Plastic tubs for odd bones and shells that I have lots of.

I display all over the house in several rooms. Lots of shells in clear vases, also corals bundled together in vases. Some verts on shelves as well nice looking pieces that display nicely such as megs propped on little display props(not sure of their name) . Virtually almost every room has some fossils. I guess that could be deemed good or bad.. Ohh and I have several jars of smaller sharks teeth... Jeff/Tarheel

[Caleb]

I use an old watchmakers desk that I picked up at a flea-market/swap meet a couple years ago. It has 12 drawers about which is perfect for most of my smaller items. The larger items I put on top to display and the very nice stuff I put in a glass display case that was picked up for very cheap on craigslist.org. For parts, we use many sets of drawers including an old library card catalog set. This works very well for the many many parts we pick up and has a spot on the front to place a label card. All of our items we've picked up at various flea-markets and garage sales, cleaned them and repainted most to match.

Ebay is a good place to pick up white boxes and nationalartcraft.com is a very good site for reasonably priced display stands. The site isn't the most user friendly, but just do a search for display.

Display case on watchmakers desk.

Some of our parts drawers

[Raistlin]

Wow, Caleb that is a nice display. And that trilobite is massive. Where do you find one that big? I didn't even know they got that big.

Also what is that side of ribs looking thing? Looks interesting.

Robert

[Caleb]

Wow, Caleb that is a nice display. And that trilobite is massive. Where do you find one that big? I didn't even know they got that big.

Also what is that side of ribs looking thing? Looks interesting.

Robert

My father picked up the trilobite on ebay as a gift, and it turned out to be fake. It's not uncommon for that type(Drotops from Morocco) to get that large and I sure wish it were real. The ribs looking thing is part of an Endoceras cephalopod, a squid like creature. The chambers show up particularly well due to a black mineral deposit on them.

[Lmshoemaker]

Thanks guys, Caleb reminded me of something, why don't you guys post some photos of your set-ups?

[Raistlin]

My father picked up the trilobite on ebay as a gift, and it turned out to be fake. It's not uncommon for that type(Drotops from Morocco) to get that large and I sure wish it were real. The ribs looking thing is part of an Endoceras cephalopod, a squid like creature. The chambers show up particularly well due to a black mineral deposit on them.

Yeah that is a shame it was fake. Looks really cool regardless. The squid looks awesome also. You have a wonderful setup going for sure.

Robert

[markm]

As far as storage is concerned, I would highly recommend architectural "flat file" cabinets, sometimes referred to as "map" cabinets. These offer a series of 4 or 8 large drawers, and are perfect for large or small fossils like fish or crinoids. I organize my collection (99% fish) phylogenetically. The great news for us fossil collectors - most architectural firms are going all-electronic at this point, making flat files of blueprints obsolete! I picked up mine for a hundred dollars, one tenth of the retail price for the two cabinets I bought!

[fossilcollecter]

I have a a large cabinet that has transparent windows, so people can see my fossils on display. I also label them, so people know which fossil is which (although a lot of my fossils are unknown, but now that I found this forum I can identify more and more fossils!).

[Wrangellian]

Here's a couple of my homemade ones, have posted these before. I have recently acquired more that I might take pics of later. I use the white boxes too, also from ebay, with some cotton or similar in the bottoms. For larger fossils that don't fit in the boxes I put a layer of some fluffy white flannel-like material in the bottoms of the drawers. The largest fossils that can't fit in the drawers go on top, though that space is limited, so am planning to trim a bunch once I'm set up for that.

I agree the 'flat file' cabinets are the best for storage and easy access, though not if the drawers are too large and flimsy (some I have seen are) - you can easily fill them with a lot of heavy rock so they have to hold up! For me the good ones are not easy to come by, at least not at an affordable price, so I have had to build my own, with some help, or refurbish an old one which was at least as much work as building one, but worth it!

I saw a good affordable one on craigslist not too long ago but when I inquired about it, I was told it was gone on the first day it was listed!

Edited June 8, 2012 by Wrangellian

[Raistlin]

Wow, those are really nice. I am going to have to get a nice display going.

[geologistintx]

I also think that flat files are convenient. Partitions can be also added for small fossils and help to keep them organized.

[Raistlin]

OMG malts is that trilo real? That thing is bigger than a dinner plate from the looks of it.

It is really nice looking. Well your whole set up is nice looking.

[fossilman01]

• I have display shelves up high on my livingroom walls and a couple display drawers..........Some are in my shop in boxes,till I figure how to display them....
  
• My buddy in Montana,has two businesses that display his fossils(in their waiting areas),both are banks.
  
• They built the display glass shelving for him..The rest of his fossils are in bedroom drawers for display at his house and a few in his livingroom too.........
  

[-Andy-]

Here is a pic of my fossil cabinet.

[KansasFossilHunter]

Here's a link to one of my displays: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php/topic/27417-my-new-fossil-display/page__fromsearch__1

[Sundancer73]

Wow! Mine are still in tupperware bins unsorted and distinguished by the dive date,, I have a LOT of work to do..

[Wendell Ricketts]

Here's a couple of my homemade ones, have posted these before. I have recently acquired more that I might take pics of later.

Dear Wrangellian:

I'm still reeling from the quote I just got from a local cabinetmaker: $2400 for two, three-foot high wooden display cabinets like yours. So now I'm convinced I've got to figure out how to make these on my own. You wouldn't have plans or specs for the cabinets you made, would you (that you'd be willing to share)? Those look about 99.999% like what I've been picturing in my mind's eye! All best, W.

[Wrangellian]

Hi Wendell, I don't use plans so I can't easily scan anything to send you but I could take measurements and more photos and answer questions as you go along. Each unit I've made is a little different - which one were you thinking of in particular? Of the two pictured, the one has 2 columns of drawers about 2 7/8" deep (outer measurement) for smaller/flatter fossils, and the other is a single column of drawers about 3" deep (outer) and a couple of 4" at the bottom. I've since made more units similar to the latter but taller overall (more drawers) with drawers mostly 2.5" deep and a few 3.5" at bottom. What kind of fossils do you have to store?

Eric

[erose]

As a cabinet maker myself, I would say $2400 is a pretty fair price. Actually a rather good price for custom cabinets. But since most of the cost is labor if you are handy with tools then building your own will certainly save lots of money. There are plenty of good books with basic furniture plans you can adapt. Try the library or a used book store.

[Wendell Ricketts]

As a cabinet maker myself, I would say $2400 is a pretty fair price. Actually a rather good price for custom cabinets. But since most of the cost is labor if you are handy with tools then building your own will certainly save lots of money. There are plenty of good books with basic furniture plans you can adapt. Try the library or a used book store.

I gotta get me a job where I can earn more than $150 bucks an hour! Really, for what I was asking for, I couldn't see my way clear to considering that a fair price. Five drawers, 34x30, in pine. Plus the place I went to dealt in prefab furniture, so the entire outer cabinet portion plus molding was already a 'set piece', so to say. They'd have had to put in 5 sets of runners instead of three and, of course, custom-size the drawers.

W.

[Wendell Ricketts]

Hi Wendell, I don't use plans so I can't easily scan anything to send you but I could take measurements and more photos and answer questions as you go along. Each unit I've made is a little different - which one were you thinking of in particular? Of the two pictured, the one has 2 columns of drawers about 2 7/8" deep (outer measurement) for smaller/flatter fossils, and the other is a single column of drawers about 3" deep (outer) and a couple of 4" at the bottom. I've since made more units similar to the latter but taller overall (more drawers) with drawers mostly 2.5" deep and a few 3.5" at bottom. What kind of fossils do you have to store?

Eric

Hi, Eric. I was particularly interested in the slightly taller cabinet in your second (rightmost) foto. My collection is, except for a very few shark teeth, entirely inverts. There aren't many very large pieces, with the exception of some corals. I was imagining drawers of a standard depth - about 3" -- which ought to do fine for almost anything. One of the things I'm mulling is that I don't want to have to sort/store by size, but by taxonomy. (So maybe that's an argument for deeper drawers.)

What I was particularly interested in was how you built the drawers and dealt with the rails (or whatever they're called) on which the drawers actually slide. I can't tell from the foto, but it looks like a basic tongue-and-groove? You haven't had trouble with drawers sticking? Don't want to put you out or take a lot of your time, but whatever you'd feel willing to share would be gratefully received.

Best,

W.

[Wrangellian]

I know what you mean about the <$150/hr job! Everything these days seems to cost far more than it should. I'd build a set for 1/10 that price - it wouldn't be the finest materials or workmanship but it would work. And if your fossil collection is to grow, you will eventually need more of them. ching ching ching...

Anyway yes it's a tongue in groove type of thing. I've pared it down to the simplest possible construction so I can get the most bang for my buck (time/effort). As for friction, I just make sure it's sanded sufficiently and rub wax on it. I dont want them too slick as they don't latch into place and I need them to stay put when I'm not pulling!

Most of my fossils fit in the 3 or 3.5" deep drawers. If yours are anything like mine, I would recommend having one 4" drawer at the bottom and the rest 3 or 3.5". That way you can sort by taxonomy for the most part except for those few pieces that don't fit and can be referred to the bottom drawer. Otherwise you could end up with quite a bit of empty space (taller cabinet for the same amount of fossil). That's if space and cost of materials are a concern. Of course with all being the same depth the construction is a little easier.

I'm not sure if we should continue this by PM, it could end up being a long back and forth.

E

[erose]

Hey Wendell,

I think I had the wrong cabinets in mind. I was thinking you were talking about something like Andy's in post 18. Forum get's the better of me.... You are absolutely correct that $2400 is pretty high for a two short flat files. Especially when they are just modifying them. But cabinet makers are not getting $150 an hour. When I build exhibits I am lucky if I make $25 and hour. But this stuff takes some skill and if they are to be finished and then delivered the hours add up. A good rule of thumb is that the material cost is 1/3 to 1/4t the total cost. labor is the most expensive part. So a few sheets of plywood, hardware and paint might be $150-200. Triple that and you are up to $450-600 pretty quick. Cheaper materials might lower the cost a bit but it can still take as long to build. The good news is that almost all of what us collectors need can be had from garage sales, Craig's List, thrift stores, IKEA, etc.

Edited June 10, 2012 by erose