Beach Boy Posted May 30, 2013 Author Share Posted May 30, 2013 Great find! Love it! Thank you lissa pleased you liked it Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 Great balls of fire! Don't polish it, it looks great as is! (You might get opinions that run the full spectrum on that) Didn't need a lot of prep - that's the great part.. Bask in that for a while. Whenever we find an ammo cluster here (RARE) it needs all kinds of prep, incl. gluing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beach Boy Posted May 30, 2013 Author Share Posted May 30, 2013 Great balls of fire! Don't polish it, it looks great as is! (You might get opinions that run the full spectrum on that) Didn't need a lot of prep - that's the great part.. Bask in that for a while. Whenever we find an ammo cluster here (RARE) it needs all kinds of prep, incl. gluing. Eric great balls of fire I gave it two or three good hits and it just opened as seen , i spent around half an hour just tidying the fossil up, how lucky is that . Regards Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beach Boy Posted May 30, 2013 Author Share Posted May 30, 2013 Hi Dave I’m in Surrey, which isn’t great (apart from the Cretaceous Weald Clay) but bordered by Sussex and Hampshire, which are great. I can get to the Jurassic South Coast in a little over an hour and be on the Isle of Wight in under 2 ½ hours. The London Clay is within easy reach too. I travel a lot (both UK and worldwide) and always try to set aside some time for collecting if I’m somewhere interesting. Roger Thanks for the reply Roger , seems you are pretty well placed for a variety of fossils , Good hunting Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davehunt Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Great find! Side by side, it looks like an old prehistoric pocket watch opened up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Eric great balls of fire I gave it two or three good hits and it just opened as seen , i spent around half an hour just tidying the fossil up, how lucky is that . Regards Dave Pretty lucky,... I guess if you hit it at a different angle you would have taken a lot longer to prep it. I wonder if these could benefit from the freeze-thaw method as used on Mazon Creek nodules, or would it just wreak havoc on the shelled ammos? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beach Boy Posted May 31, 2013 Author Share Posted May 31, 2013 Pretty lucky,... I guess if you hit it at a different angle you would have taken a lot longer to prep it. I wonder if these could benefit from the freeze-thaw method as used on Mazon Creek nodules, or would it just wreak havoc on the shelled ammos? Eric I don't have any knowledge of the freeze thaw method so i don't know if it would work but i bet there are people on this forum who can advise. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beach Boy Posted May 31, 2013 Author Share Posted May 31, 2013 Great find! Side by side, it looks like an old prehistoric pocket watch opened up! Hi Dave What a brilliant description Thanks for replying Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 (edited) Yes it does look like a pocket watch mechanism now that you mention it! All you need to know about freeze-thaw is, instead of whacking it, you soak it for a while (days?) in a bucket of water, then take it out and put it in the freezer long enough that it has a chance to freeze thru, and keep repeating this until it breaks apart on its own. You might not need to soak for long each time as long as it's kept in water when not in the freezer. You could try it on a nodule that you suspect of having a common ammo in it. I dunno, maybe this type of rock doesn't have any natural fractures to make this work - will wait for other expertise.. Edited May 31, 2013 by Wrangellian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosmoceras Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Regarding threeze thaw on these nodules. Unfortunately often when they are split (in any way) some of the shell falls away on the counterpart side, thus meaning it must be glued back together and prepared out with a hardy tool such as an air pen. There is a big different between the composition. The Mazon Creek nodules I have handled seem flimsy, some layered and you can easily break them. The nodules from the north Yorkshire area are the complete opposite. They are extremely dense and there are few clear layers. If you know there is something within and you can see part of the ammonite sticking out many people prepare them without even splitting. The rocks are impermeable and there are not many furrows or cracks through. To see how these nodules split watch this video - I don't think it would be very effective, but it might be worth a go. Regards, 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CH4ShotCaller Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Very cool find and a perfect 10 with the splitting! It looks great the way it is, no prep needed. Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. -Albert Einstein Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beach Boy Posted May 31, 2013 Author Share Posted May 31, 2013 Regarding threeze thaw on these nodules. Unfortunately often when they are split (in any way) some of the shell falls away on the counterpart side, thus meaning it must be glued back together and prepared out with a hardy tool such as an air pen. There is a big different between the composition. The Mazon Creek nodules I have handled seem flimsy, some layered and you can easily break them. The nodules from the north Yorkshire area are the complete opposite. They are extremely dense and there are few clear layers. If you know there is something within and you can see part of the ammonite sticking out many people prepare them without even splitting. The rocks are impermeable and there are not many furrows or cracks through. To see how these nodules split watch this video - I don't think it would be very effective, but it might be worth a go. Regards, Thanks Thomas Knowledgeable explanation much appreciated. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beach Boy Posted May 31, 2013 Author Share Posted May 31, 2013 Very cool find and a perfect 10 with the splitting! It looks great the way it is, no prep needed. Thanks for your reply i like perfect 10 but it's not very often i am that lucky, i usually get a 5 Regards Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beach Boy Posted May 31, 2013 Author Share Posted May 31, 2013 Yes it does look like a pocket watch mechanism now that you mention it! All you need to know about freeze-thaw is, instead of whacking it, you soak it for a while (days?) in a bucket of water, then take it out and put it in the freezer long enough that it has a chance to freeze thru, and keep repeating this until it breaks apart on its own. You might not need to soak for long each time as long as it's kept in water when not in the freezer. You could try it on a nodule that you suspect of having a common ammo in it. I dunno, maybe this type of rock doesn't have any natural fractures to make this work - will wait for other expertise.. Eric I think the reply from Thomas explains what we needed to know. Regards Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 (edited) Yes and he seems to indicate people can and do what I was suggesting in the other thread about prepping them! (Thanks Thomas) Edited May 31, 2013 by Wrangellian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beach Boy Posted May 31, 2013 Author Share Posted May 31, 2013 Thomas How do i get a look at the prep video. PM if required Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosmoceras Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Thomas How do i get a look at the prep video. PM if required Dave PM sent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 I'd be curious to see that/those vid(s) too...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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