Terry Dactyll Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Having a lot of work to do on the house I didnt really expect to come across too many fossils but it just goes to show how things can surprise you...Whilst out on the hunt I came across 2 Metophioceras which are from the same bed and very similar proportions.... Specimen A Specimen B The plan was to prep these and end up with a 'pair' for display purposes but so far I have only managed to work on one shell.... Something else turned up on another hunting trip and has taken priority in the queue... Thats another story.... The first Metophioceras specimen A looked pretty good preservation wise but I decided to do a check just incase.... If you have a look at the RH side you can see I have excavated a wedge shape going towards the centre of the ammonite... This lets me know that all the whorls are preserved and it gives me confidence to start cleaning and sculpting the rock as I go... it 'proves' it is worth spending the time on the specimen... Previously I have done upto 30 hours and ended up with a dud so it was a valuable lesson to learn and pass on.... A base was cut on the specimen for display purposes.... 1 Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted February 1, 2016 Author Share Posted February 1, 2016 (edited) Working towards the centre I had to go for the Arro pen as opposed to the CP... The vibrations of the CP were to severe on the shell so I had to take it easy... The completed specimen.... I hope the other is in as good shape.... Edited February 1, 2016 by Terry Dactyll 2 Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted February 1, 2016 Author Share Posted February 1, 2016 Woops... Missed a stage.... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossil Claw Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Beautiful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Nice one! That dog of yours certainly does have a good nose...or have I seen that photo before? Am I seeing right? Does specimen two have 2 of them back to back? Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Pure artistry, Steve! Thanks for posting your process,... now,... about that other find needing priority.... 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...
fossilized6s Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 (edited) Nice prep, as usual. Nice that it has the inner chambers. You may have to reinforce your beams in your home for all of your added tens of thousands of pounds of fossils. Haha Edited February 1, 2016 by fossilized6s ~Charlie~ "There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why.....i dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" ~RFK ->Get your Mosasaur print ->How to spot a fake Trilobite ->How to identify a CONCRETION from a DINOSAUR EGG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belemniten Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Like always .... Great work and awesome find Many greetings from Germany ! Have a great time with many fossils Regards Sebastian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted February 3, 2016 Author Share Posted February 3, 2016 Thanks Guys....I will add some images of specimen 2 here when I get round to it.... Roger... I loaded the dog photo in my Gallery... The shell behind is a Coroniceras I'm working on now... I will tell you about it soon.... Tim..... I will show you soon the other shell.... fossilised6s.... Your not kidding there, I made steel reinforced shelving to hold them up.... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 Im glad im not lifting that kind of rock anymore but you sure do some nice prep work. RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted February 5, 2016 Author Share Posted February 5, 2016 RJB.... Thanks... I dont know where the strength and energy comes from myself sometimes to lug these a mile or so.... a vision of the end result perhaps.... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted February 25, 2016 Author Share Posted February 25, 2016 I threw the second Metophioceras on the bench... The Paracoroniceras just needs its finishing coat of clear marble floor wax to be applied but I wont get round to that until weekend..... This Meto is slightly different preservation than the first so its important to prove its worth prepping... The second photo shows uncovering the next whorl....I will have another go at it to uncover more of the central part of the shell before I continue... 1 Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted February 27, 2016 Author Share Posted February 27, 2016 I think I've done around 3 hours now proving this shells worth...Better than 30 wasted and nothing to show for it which has happened previously on this material.... What was worrying there was no calcite preservation but after digging down, and then down and then further down thinking it wasn't there a calcitic center suddenly appeared... Its showing signs of crushing but thats ok....Its give me some confidence to proceed now... The only possible problem is the shell is on a slight angle... So I will inspect the outer whorl first just in case there are any fracture zones and then work my way in towards the middle... 3rd whorl visible... Angle of ammonite in limestone bed.... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TqB Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Fabulous shells, Steve - are you running out of room yet? Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted February 29, 2016 Author Share Posted February 29, 2016 Tarquin.... Not far off to be honest... I need a bigger fossil room lol.... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted March 3, 2016 Author Share Posted March 3, 2016 I managed another couple of hours on the latest shell... I kept to the plan and headed straight for the area that I think could prove to be crushed or damaged...Fortunately looking ok so far so the journey continues....Air chisel and air pen work.... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 So far so good... Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Andy- Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 Wonderful prep work there. You really brought out the beauty in them. Looking forward to meeting my fellow Singaporean collectors! Do PM me if you are a Singaporean, or an overseas fossil-collector coming here for a holiday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted March 6, 2016 Author Share Posted March 6, 2016 Roger... Thanks.... Andy.... The second one is still ongoing... I shall do a few more hours on it this coming week....Rib at a time the story continues.... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted March 11, 2016 Author Share Posted March 11, 2016 I been doing an hour here and there and going anti clockwise is becoming a bit of a mining operatiion....The ammonite is on an angle and it almost reaches the back of the stone... I decided to go clockwise for a bit and 2 ribs in... bang.... no ribs... I skimmed slowley down trying to uncover another rib going down further than I should and nothing there... I then followed the edge of the whorl roundand found that this continued... I decided to go back up for the ribs and found the top of one, the shell had collapsed a little and was 1/4 inch below where it should be creating a little step in the whorl... Sigh of relief, at least its in there.... The story continues.... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDudeCO Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 wow great finds and fantastic prep work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted March 12, 2016 Author Share Posted March 12, 2016 Thanks.... Its starting to turn into something... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted March 27, 2016 Author Share Posted March 27, 2016 I have done a little more work defining the end of the ammonite.... More than often from this coast the ammonite shell may run into a number of different adjacent, (naturally fractured) limestone blocks and a significant chunk of the fossil can be lost... In this case half the outer whorl edge was lost.... I hope by showing the various stages of uncovering a large ammonite from such hard matrix with no separation layer will give you the confidence to have a go yourself..... Happy Easter Everyone..... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TqB Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 Coming on nicely, Steve - that does look like hard work! Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnBrewer Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 Looking forward to seeing the finished ammo John Map of UK fossil sites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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