First time preparer advice

[Crann]

Hi, started fossil hunting around August, as my collection grows and I find rarer interesting things I'm starting to think about real preparation, most pro's out there charge around £25 an hour I believe, so possibly around £150 for a decent sized ammonite, I'm pretty hands on and used to be an upholsterer so think would be good at it (hopefully) Now I'm looking at Ken Mannion pens (ST) and a small compressor (24litre) 2.5hp) You think I could get going with these as paying someone else to prepare over and over would be costly and I do like exposing fossils myself, thanks... Alan

[Yvie]

You've got nothing to lose and everything to gain,so much nicer to see your own work.We have just been discussing whether to get painters in to do the outside of the house,going to d.I.y.

[Ludwigia]

I would encourage you in saying that it's well worth the investment, especially if you are confident that your fine motor skills are adequate. Once you get really into it you may also want to step up to an air abrader as well, which could mean getting a more powerful compressor.

[Ptychodus04]

I started prepping fossils with a small hammer and some large drywall screws. I worked with hand tools for years before stepping up to a scribe. Start out as cheaply as you can until you decide if you really want to do it. Prepping is not for everyone just as curating a collection isn't for everyone.

 

I love to prep but hate to curate so my personal collection remains very small and I donate or gift the majority of what I collect.

[TqB]

The ST pen is useful but is rather slow. I've found the TT is the best all purpose one, powerful but can be turned right down. It's a modified CP9361 which has been an industry standard for decades.

[Crann]

Cheers folks, do second hand pens come up for sale often ? 

[Kane]

They do. If you check out the auction website (that shall not be named), I just encountered several entries under "air scribe" and "air eraser". A lot of them will be resellers, so as always, caveat emptor.

[Crann]

52 minutes ago, Kane said:

They do. If you check out the auction website (that shall not be named), I just encountered several entries under "air scribe" and "air eraser". A lot of them will be resellers, so as always, caveat emptor.

Ha, cheers

[Crann]

Had a look, few £70-£80 pens but will they do the job as good as chicago or KM pens ? 

[Crann]

Anybody heard of these ? Cheers

[Aurelius]

I would get the proper TT pen. Well built and very good support from Ken.

[Crann]

3 hours ago, Aurelius said:

I would get the proper TT pen. Well built and very good support from Ken.

But we are talking about £300-£350 difference in price from the above pen to the TT for something I'm going to trial, quite a difference.

[Ludwigia]

@Crann After a few years of prepping by hand, I decided to go for broke and invested in quality right from the beginning, since I knew the instruments would be able to tackle anything from softies to pyritized matrix and I already knew I was hooked on my hobby. I didn't see the point in buying something cheaper only to find out within a few weeks that it wasn't strong enough to do half of the jobs I wanted. Continually upgrading can turn out to be just as, if not more expensive in the end, although you do stretch the costs over a longer period of time. It's of course up to you in the end what you decide to do yourself, but you're asking for our advice here and that's my 2 cents worth. I would suggest you read through this discussion  on your local website where @Aurelius was involved. It presents a good number of points of view which could be helpful to you in making your decision.

[Crann]

4 hours ago, Ludwigia said:

@Crann After a few years of prepping by hand, I decided to go for broke and invested in quality right from the beginning, since I knew the instruments would be able to tackle anything from softies to pyritized matrix and I already knew I was hooked on my hobby. I didn't see the point in buying something cheaper only to find out within a few weeks that it wasn't strong enough to do half of the jobs I wanted. Continually upgrading can turn out to be just as, if not more expensive in the end, although you do stretch the costs over a longer period of time. It's of course up to you in the end what you decide to do yourself, but you're asking for our advice here and that's my 2 cents worth. I would suggest you read through this discussion  on your local website where @Aurelius was involved. It presents a good number of points of view which could be helpful to you in making your decision.

 

Spoke to Ken today, nice chap, think the ST would do me, I have a shrimp/lobster to prep (little) few ammonites and bone pieces, nothing major.

[Ludwigia]

6 hours ago, Crann said:

 

Spoke to Ken today, nice chap, think the ST would do me, I have a shrimp/lobster to prep (little) few ammonites and bone pieces, nothing major.

 

Good! Glad to hear that you've made your choice. Good luck and have fun!

[Crann]

5 minutes ago, Ludwigia said:

 

Good! Glad to hear that you've made your choice. Good luck and have fun!

Yea then a compressor, I hear any 24l with over 2hp will suffice.

[RJB]

I started prepping with a steak knife about 24 years ago.  The steak knife is long gone but have been having fun prepping for quite awhile now.  Good luck and have fun.

 

RB

[Crann]

2 hours ago, RJB said:

I started prepping with a steak knife about 24 years ago.  The steak knife is long gone but have been having fun prepping for quite awhile now.  Good luck and have fun.

 

RB

 I've done a few with small chisels and other tools and they look great, very hard work though, only problem is when you find special things, that's when you want something less harsh and a bit more control. 

[Crann]

Picked up pen today, compressor next, do I need a regulator so I can get started ? What's the basic set up ? Cheers

[Ptychodus04]

On 3/15/2017 at 5:10 PM, Crann said:

Picked up pen today, compressor next, do I need a regulator so I can get started ? What's the basic set up ? Cheers

 

 

Buy a compressor with the highest SCFM rating and the largest tank you can afford. There's no pushing too much air with a scribe. If the compressor is too small, it won't be able to keep up with the air demand.

 

You don't need to have an external regulator to operate. Just set your pressure via the regulator on the compressor. You definitely want a water filter. I have a small one that's in line from the compressor. You will be amazed at how much moisture is in compressed air and you don't want that running through your scribe.

[Ludwigia]

And don't forget to drain your compressor and the water filter regularly, otherwise excess water will start getting into the lines and damage your tools.

[Ptychodus04]

1 minute ago, Ludwigia said:

And don't forget to drain your compressor and the water filter regularly, otherwise excess water will start getting into the lines and damage your tools.

 

Good advice Roger. Not to mention that water in the compressor will eventually rust the tank and cause a catastrophic failure!

[Crann]

4 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

 

Good advice Roger. Not to mention that water in the compressor will eventually rust the tank and cause a catastrophic failure!

Hi, which in line water trap would you suggest ? Cheers.

[Ptychodus04]

45 minutes ago, Crann said:

Hi, which in line water trap would you suggest ? Cheers.

 

Something like this:

[Ludwigia]

58 minutes ago, Crann said:

Hi, which in line water trap would you suggest ? Cheers.

 

You can also get ones that empty themselves automatically. I get mine from someone in Germany, so I think it best you check out what's available in the UK yourself.