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Ideas For Displaying Fossils


hitekmastr

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VERY COOL!

Thanks! I've received several 'inquiries' about folks wanting some for themselves. That has given me several more 'new' ideas.

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.
-Albert Einstein

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Thanks! I've received several 'inquiries' about folks wanting some for themselves. That has given me several more 'new' ideas.

What did you use for the metal "pins" that hold the fossil in place? How did you secure them to the wood?

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Those fossil escargots are some of the tastiest looking fossils we've seen on the Forum... :popcorn:

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What did you use for the metal "pins" that hold the fossil in place? How did you secure them to the wood?

I bought the plaque, it was on sale. I was going to make my own, but for 10 bucks and a buck for the data plate, oh well. :D I bought "L" hooks with a screw end. Centered the fossil, drilled three pilot holes and secured the bottom 2 then crab. I put a thin sheet of styrofoam wrap to 'cushion' the fossil and placed the last hook. Think I'll do something similar with other fossils.

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.
-Albert Einstein

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L hook screws - very clever! I think this may be the solution I'm looking for to display some of our fossil ferns which are thin sheets of shale but don't make great sculptures, and are hard to see in Riker frames. I'm going to experiment with this. Very cool!

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Here is my "Devonian fossil sculpture" - I drilled 3/16 inch holes through the pieces - the holes went into the rock behind the surface fossils - using extra long masonry drill bits. At first the drilling was slow and I couldn't get through the final hardest piece which had iron content - but then someone gave me a tip and I dipped the bit in water to lubricate it and that made it work. This is the first try at this concept and we plan to collect more pieces this spring to create more of these displays.

attachicon.gifDevonian Fossil Sculpture_sm.jpg attachicon.gifDevonian Fossil Sculpture_Pieces Can Rotate1_sm.jpg attachicon.gifDevonian Fossil Sculpture_2nd Pc Showing Bead_sm.jpg

Note the beads under each rock piece that allows the pieces to swivel on the rod so you can turn the pieces to look at all sides. The top piece has a thoracic trilobite segment (probably Dipleura) - here is what it looks like up close:

attachicon.gifDevonian Fossil Sculpture_Top Pc_sm.jpg

Now that, my friend, is ingenious.

I've found that some small clear display cases work nicely, and use the ones meant for sports memorabilia for larger fossils.

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Michael's and I assume Hobby Lobby, has lots and lots of wooden plaques in a variety of styles.

Bev :)

The more I learn, I realize the less I know.

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Michael's and I assume Hobby Lobby, has lots and lots of wooden plaques in a variety of styles.

Bev :)

I got my plague at a local sports and military shop. They had many types of display ideas and was way cheaper than I could have made. Some plaques I made in the past warped, these pressed & laminated ones are cheap, durable and come in a variety of sizes. They ain't bad lookin' either and come ready to hang.

If I ever find something incredibly rare, then I'd probably get a nice piece of hardwood, stain & varnish and display accordingly. Maybe next to the wedding pic or in my wife's china cabinet... yeah, that'll work. ;)

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.
-Albert Einstein

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OK - my next project will be to get a wooden plaque and L screws and mount a fern fossil. The trick will be to choose the best color wood stain so the black shale doesn't blend in too much with the background. Also, it would be nice to find a way to provide more detailed information and some identification of the species on the fossil sheet, and that's a big challenge since the ferns and seeds etc. are dispersed and there can be 3 to 6 species on one piece!

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Hey everyone - I have a question - we have some pieces of shale where the fossils are really distinctive but they are black instead of white, yellow or orange. Is there any type of lighting that would make the dark fossils "pop" on the shale background or is this an unsolvable problem? Assume black on grey is going to be permanently hard to see.

Another idea I have is to include a photo of every fossil I frame and mount the photo on the back of the plaque with ID of the individual species of ferns and plant structures. That would also verify the find and so forth, where and when it was discovered, the geological formation, age and so forth - which accomplishes the goal of preservation and display. It's not ideal but since it's so easy to take digital photos these days and we have a wireless printer also, so this is a fairly simple solution although of course the ID will be on the back of the plaque.

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OK - my next project will be to get a wooden plaque and L screws and mount a fern fossil. The trick will be to choose the best color wood stain so the black shale doesn't blend in too much with the background. Also, it would be nice to find a way to provide more detailed information and some identification of the species on the fossil sheet, and that's a big challenge since the ferns and seeds etc. are dispersed and there can be 3 to 6 species on one piece!

I've got a slab of ammonites from Morocco that are in some very dark colored matrix. I'll get an 'oak colored' light shaded plaque so the slab will 'stand out' better.

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.
-Albert Einstein

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Two Ideas for you:

One, if you get the plaque large enough to display all of the information you want to display, print it up and decoupag (sp?) it onto the plaque with Modpodge. Also, the Modpodge in gloss, painted onto the fossils only in the matrix will make them stand out somewhat--don't like it? Wash it off with water. If you like a little "bling", use the modpodge to adhere glitter (maybe in a pyrite look) around the outside of the fossil to draw attention to it. Or create an arrow from scrapbooking supplies to point the fossil out.

Two, print the info up and put it in a small picture frame next to the plaque. Classy and the info is where you can see it. :)

Bev :)

The more I learn, I realize the less I know.

:wacko:
 
 

Go to my

Gallery for images of Fossil Jewelry, Sculpture & Crafts
 

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Look at Bev, being all craftsy and what not. ;)

The wires through the fossils gave me an idea. Something else to add to my list of future projects.

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So I was just looking at a Facebook link on making homemade wind chimes, and thought it would be awesome to incorporate fossils into this?! :)

http://recycledawblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/how-to-make-wine-bottle-wind-chime.html?m=1

Could always hang inside at eye level and doesn't have to be wine bottles... Thought a good idea for a corner for those that are running low on floor/table/display case room. :)

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How about fossils attached to a stand or hanging moble that represents their taxonomic relationship? A 'trilobite tree' could resemble this:

post-6808-0-39106800-1365725442_thumb.jpg

Context is critical.

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Wow, what creative ideas!

A trilobite tree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THIS is intriguing!

IDEAS ANYONE?!

Bev :)

The more I learn, I realize the less I know.

:wacko:
 
 

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Gallery for images of Fossil Jewelry, Sculpture & Crafts
 

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Hmmm... Say hang them at different lengths to show somewhat of a tree? Maybe hang a cylindrical thing down the middle with colors or marks on it to show the age of what is hanging at that same length?

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Hmmm... Say hang them at different lengths to show somewhat of a tree? Maybe hang a cylindrical thing down the middle with colors or marks on it to show the age of what is hanging at that same length?

Perhaps. The sky's the limit.... or at least the ceiling is. :)

Context is critical.

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Perhaps. The sky's the limit.... or at least the ceiling is. :)

I think the plain wind chime would be more realistic for me. Could wire wrap like Bev's jewelry so wouldn't even have to damage anything. I personally would need to find more fossils first... ;) Just thought cool idea for one of you? :)
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Another idea. With wire wrapping and looping around the net, no holes needed in fossils. :)

attachicon.gifIMG_20130412_205901_788-1.jpg

Yes, I could see making that into a faunal chart. Strata on the left. Taxonomy on the top. :)

Context is critical.

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That is really a neat way to dispay marine fossils! Even suspending larger fossils in a fishing net for 360 viewing!

Around here there are a lot of old canoes turned into shelving. Imagine an old row boat set up for shelving displaying marine fossils!

Wonderfully creative! Thank you Lisa!

Bev :)

The more I learn, I realize the less I know.

:wacko:
 
 

Go to my

Gallery for images of Fossil Jewelry, Sculpture & Crafts
 

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Hey everyone - I have a question - we have some pieces of shale where the fossils are really distinctive but they are black instead of white, yellow or orange. Is there any type of lighting that would make the dark fossils "pop" on the shale background or is this an unsolvable problem? Assume black on grey is going to be permanently hard to see...

Michael,

I've found the same issue with the black on black ferns I find here in CT. I think they stand out better in flourescent light, ...especially when they are lighted from above or below.

If you cannot find the right sized flourescent lighting, you could try LED lighting - they come in lots of sizes and shapes.

Regards,

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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