Penn Dixie Bugs Prepped

[TNGray]

These are the best of the bugs I found at Penn Dixie. Highly recommend this site, especially for families!

[Mattalic]

Those are brilliant! Do you have information on the site I can look into?

[fossilcrazy]

Here is a link to their homepage http://www.penndixie.org/

The quarry is very collector friendly for all ages and handicap accessible.

[snakebite6769]

Great bugs, and prep! Yes, it is handicap accessible, and that makes it one of my favorites because I can bring my father with me who is in a wheelchair. Penn Dixie has some fantastic preservation and the bugs from there prep well. 18 mile creek is on my bucket list lol.

[gcaruso]

These are great! I've been to Penn Dixie three times this summer, it's a great site. Love the prep work. I really need to get myself an air abrasive setup. I'm still working with surgical equipment and scrapers.

[Bob]

What a great collection , and thanks for the info .

[digit]

Oh, now you've gone and done it---added a new entry to my fossil bucket list....

I love the enrolled ones. The only bugs I currently have are from the Wheeler Shale in Delta, UT. This looks like it would make for a fun outing. I guess I'll have to get my pencil out and add this in somewhere near the top of my list.

Cheers.

-Ken

[mmaley]

Beautiful trilobites! Great prep work. Thanks for sharing.

Mike

[Jeffrey P]

Those magnificent bugs of yours remind me why I've traveled all of the way across the state to the Buffalo area for the past two years and why I'll keep going. Great finds and wonderful prep. Thanks for sharing.

[hrguy54]

Beautiful!! who did the prep?

[TNGray]

I did the prep. I have a small air pen and a small abrasive unit from Ken Mannion in the UK.

[ohiofossilhunter]

Just so everyone is aware, there are access problems now for the Lake Erie cliffs accessed by 18-mile creek. I believe surface collecting is allowed, but if the owner sees someone with tools there will be lots of problems. This is at least the eastern side, but the parking lot now also says that the river is for fishing access only(nothing else allowed, camping or otherwise)

[gcaruso]

TNGray, what type of grit did you use? I have some trilobites for Penn Dixie and would like to prep them with an air abrasive gun but have never done it before. Did you use 220 Grit White Aluminum Oxide Abrasive?

[trilobite nut]

Gotta chime in here. I learned the hard way. NEVER use aluminum on these trilos. You will not be happy with the dull finished product. Passing on knowledge from Malcolm; powdered dolomite is the way to go for air abrasion. Does a great job cleaning and leaves the fossil shinier. Another way I discovered, since the substrate is just shale, get an electric toothbrush with a rotating head, get it wet but not dripping because that may soften the matrix around the fossil, and brush the shale outta that trilobite. Takes longer but excellent results. Also, removing scribe marks with this method makes a very smooth finish easy without the risk of damaging the trio with other tools.

Edited August 26, 2014 by trilobite nut

[gcaruso]

Thanks for the tips Trilobite Nut! Is there a certain grade dolomite or is it all the same?

[gcaruso]

P.S. Do you know of any good online places to purchase the dolomite?

[Fossildude19]

P.S. Do you know of any good online places to purchase the dolomite?

I get mine from Axner Pottery Supply.

Works well, and they are very good to deal with.

Regards,

[gcaruso]

Thanks Tim! Much appreciated.

[Fossildude19]

Thanks Tim! Much appreciated.

No problem. Good luck!

Regards,

[Lmshoemaker]

One bit of advice, the dolowhite they have is more coarse than the dolocron and can irritate the eyes a bit more.They abrade about the same, so if you don't know what to get I'd swing for the dolocron.

Edited August 26, 2014 by Cryptidsaurian

[trilobite nut]

There is different grades and again, from Malcolm, get it from a pottery place. They use it for glazing. I tried the grade sold at hydroponics shops and it almost worked. There's some particles is there just a bit too big and it clogs your nozzle.

[jgcox]

I use a mixture of baking soda and dolomite for Penn Dixie stuff and straight dolomite for harder Oklahoma matrix. A few in progress

[gcaruso]

That's very helpful! I just ordered some dolomite through the link provided (thanks again). I'll let you know how things turn out once I get everything set up.

Jgcox, those trilobites are coming along nicely! I really like the middle pic.