Malcolmt Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 Well as of late I don't seem to be prepping many for me, although I have had some stunning fossils pass by my workshop in the last few months I know these are common as dirt. I found this little gem (dimension 27.17 mm x 17.26 mm) on Monday May 22 at Penn Dixie. So I took time this morning while working on a stunning greenops for someone else to quickly have a go at this little beauty for myself. I will post something on the greenops prep in a bit. It is going to be a nice one. A trilobite does not have to be rare to be beautiful. As far as I can recall the phacops rana ( I know that is not the correct name but it probably was when I found my first one) was the first complete trilobite I ever found, so they will always have a special place for me. The mind gets fuzzy with old age as the senility begins to creep in. This one was from Penn Dixie and took a whopping 12 minutes to prep. Other than the tip of the cephalon (head) everything was buried. Buried trilos always have the best potential to be pristine. Came out pretty nice for a quickie. Was prepped on a Comco air abrasion unit with no airscribing, using 40 micron dolomite at 25 PSI with a .030 and .015 inch nozzle under a Olympus scope at 10x magnification. No restoration, no gluing, no coatings. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFOOLEY Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 It is beautiful. "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...
FossilDAWG Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 Careful, it looks as if it's about to crawl away. Beautiful work! Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yvie Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 Fantastic You need to put that in the Collection section,for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 Wow! Common or not,,,, that is a real beauty. I would most certainly put that in my collection. Nice job man! RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 Beautiful. Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt behind the trailer, my desert Them red clay piles are heaven on earth I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailingAlongToo Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 Absolutely gorgeous!! @Malcolmt You obviously have great talent in prepping the bugs! The one you did @Fossil-Hound was incredible......... Don't know much about history Don't know much biology Don't know much about science books......... Sam Cooke - (What A) Wonderful World Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossil-Hound Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 @Malcolmt very nice! In all the hours I've spent at Penn Dixie I have yet to recover a completely pristine prone. Albeit this is small it's pristine and completely prone. A real keeper. Congratulations on the find and preparation. Do or do not. There is no try. - Yoda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 Well done, as usual, Malcolm. 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...
Malcolmt Posted May 24, 2017 Author Share Posted May 24, 2017 2 minutes ago, Fossil-Hound said: @Malcolmt very nice! In all the hours I've spent at Penn Dixie I have yet to recover a completely pristine prone. Albeit this is small it's pristine and completely prone. A real keeper. Congratulations on the find and preparation. At about 1.3 inches long I would say it is somewhat average size for Penn Dixie, I think the longest I have ever found there is about 2 inches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossil-Hound Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 4 minutes ago, Malcolmt said: At about 1.3 inches long I would say it is somewhat average size for Penn Dixie, I think the longest I have ever found there is about 2 inches. Actually that is a very decent size. Excellent find. Do or do not. There is no try. - Yoda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 Looks beautiful indeed. Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aerogrower Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 That is incredible the detail and preservation! Very nice. Thanks for posting this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darktooth Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 Great work! I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 Nice one Malcolm and well worth the tremendous effort Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnBrewer Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 What a stunner. 12 mins!? Is that a typo? Or do you drink a couple of Redbulls after your 4 cups of espresso before prepping? John Map of UK fossil sites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolmt Posted May 24, 2017 Author Share Posted May 24, 2017 18 minutes ago, JohnBrewer said: What a stunner. 12 mins!? Is that a typo? Or do you drink a couple of Redbulls after your 4 cups of espresso before prepping? Nope that's what I spent, most eldredgeops from Penn Dixie can be completed well under 1/2 hour, The matrix is much softer than dolomite and the exoskeleton is fairly hard, the matrix tends to delineate itself from the actual trilobite fairly well. Now something like an inflated greenops from there can easily be 4 to 6 hours.I would never use such a high PSI on a greenops. The exoskeleton on them tends to be thinner and it is very easy to blast away a pygidial spine. At a lower PSI it just takes a lot longer but you have far more control under magnification of what you take off. The majority of this guy was prepped with the .030 nozzle with the .015 only used for the little crevices at the end. On the greenops I have used mostly the .015 so far and will do final prep with 325 mesh dolomite and a .010 nozzle which is the smallest I have been able to buy or find. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnBrewer Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 Thanks for such a detailed response Malcolm. They are really are fine nozzles you use. Caffeine would obviously be detrimental in that case! John Map of UK fossil sites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolmt Posted May 24, 2017 Author Share Posted May 24, 2017 John, All the prepping I do is under an Olympus scope , without a scope you cannot prep the fine detail. And I usually have a tea, coffee or beer right beside me when I am prepping. And of course the radio is going non stop. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcbshark Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 Beautiful work you've done there Every once in a great while it's not just a big rock down there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranitomeya Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 This is a great thread! Thanks MalcolmT for sharing the the details of your prep process. Very interesting and informative. I think referencing back to these posts will save me a lot of heartache when I begin prepping my own stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey P Posted June 1, 2017 Share Posted June 1, 2017 I don't think I've ever seen a better one. Gorgeous!!!! Congratulations on the prep, Malcom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrguy54 Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 That's a great trilobite!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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