Lmshoemaker Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Just curious, how many people use a pickaxe when collecting fossils? I was curious about getting one sometime, but I don't know if it would be good for my purposes. I'd mostly be digging through shale for trilobites and crinoids. I think I remember one of my hunting partners using one once, but I can't remember. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 In all my years I have only needed one on a few occasions. But it really depends on your local collecting conditions. I still keep at least a small hand size pick in my car just in case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 I have one, but I really don't use it that often. Only when I want to create cleavages or need a lot of leverage in tough banked stones like at Sengenthal. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 I use one on occasion, (Rather infrequently) but only because I am digging down into the ground, not shale. I usually use shovels or spades instead. Regards, Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lmshoemaker Posted January 24, 2015 Author Share Posted January 24, 2015 I have one, but I really don't use it that often. Only when I want to create cleavages or need a lot of leverage in tough banked stones like at Sengenthal. P1020321.1.jpg Thanks, I think I'd be using it in the way you described. At my site it is easy to get a pry bar under a layer, but the plates tend to be large enough to where removing them is difficult. I was thinking making artifical fractures perpendicular to bedding might help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Thanks, I think I'd be using it in the way you described. At my site it is easy to get a pry bar under a layer, but the plates tend to be large enough to where removing them is difficult. I was thinking making artifical fractures perpendicular to bedding might help. The red steel wedges (plus the sledgehammer) you can see in the photo can be helpful as well. I'd suggest first of all to loosen up the horizontal and then go into the perpendicular. Sometimes if you use enough chutzpah, the extra strain on the rock causes perpendicular cracks at the weak points. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lmshoemaker Posted January 24, 2015 Author Share Posted January 24, 2015 The red steel wedges (plus the sledgehammer) you can see in the photo can be helpful as well. I'd suggest first of all to loosen up the horizontal and then go into the perpendicular. Sometimes if you use enough chutzpah, the extra strain on the rock causes perpendicular cracks at the weak points. Thanks! But alas, I am a weakling, so that extra chutzpah doesn't apply! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike from North Queensland Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 I use similar tools as those in Ludwigia's photo and also always carry a decent crow bar as well. Have not found the need for a wheelbarrow as yet but if I could not park my ute next to where I was digging I would bring that too to carry all the equipment. Still want a nice big petrol (gas) concrete saw just in case. But remember when digging do not dump the spoil where you are digging towards unless you have to leave and want to discourage the next person there. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Have not found the need for a wheelbarrow as yet but if I could not park my ute next to where I was digging I would bring that too to carry all the equipment. I don't normally have one either. That wheelbarrow was just on loan from the locals. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cluros Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Try a slate bar instead. It weighs 14 pounds and I've seen a friend of mine really take apart ledge with it. It certainly isn't for fine work but for mass removal it is great and it is easy on the back. I've had surgery on both shoulders so my swinging days are over. I bought one for my own arsenal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lmshoemaker Posted March 1, 2015 Author Share Posted March 1, 2015 Try a slate bar instead. It weighs 14 pounds and I've seen a friend of mine really take apart ledge with it. It certainly isn't for fine work but for mass removal it is great and it is easy on the back. I've had surgery on both shoulders so my swinging days are over. I bought one for my own arsenal. Do you have a picture of the one you are thinking about? I looked them up on google, but no one picture really looks the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Russell Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Hey Lincoln. I haven't had much luck using a pick axe in shale. (Like the Waldron shale). Even in reworked piles. And they seem to cumbersome to try and slit shale with them. Even the small handheld ones; which I prefer, don't work as well as other tools. Such as a small sledge hammer and chisel. The one place I've found where a pick axe works really well is on the mazon creek spoil piles. But even then, I still prefer a shovel. Regardless, I think a pick axe is a reasonable investment for most fossil hunters. One can never have too many tools at your disposal. Finding my way through life; one fossil at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooth_claw Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 I have used pick axes before but only for trenching around large fossils and getting under plaster jackets- I can't really see the value of having one for shale (the prybar/wedges suggestion from other members is solid advice). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KansasFossilHunter Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 My pickaxe is extremely helpful! It would probably take me days with traditional smaller hand tools. Here are some of the adventures my pickaxe has seen: -KansasFossilHunter (Kris) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lmshoemaker Posted March 4, 2015 Author Share Posted March 4, 2015 My pickaxe is extremely helpful! It would probably take me days with traditional smaller hand tools. Here are some of the adventures my pickaxe has seen: IMG_0171.JPG IMG_0906.JPG -KansasFossilHunter (Kris) Ah yes! This is precisely what I'd be using it for! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFOOLEY Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 My pickaxe is extremely helpful! The Estwing GeoPick is the way to go! Very durable and light weight...an outcrops worst nightmare. "I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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