Palm inflorescence? - Novice questions about prepping

[abctriplets]

As I had posted in my trip summary (http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/76375-summer-road-trip-part-2-kemmerer-fish-dig-updated/) one of my 9-year-olds discovered a palm inflorescence at a fish dig in Wyoming a few weeks ago.

 

We are completely new to this hobby/obsession.

Would this be something that would be worthwhile to have prepped?

What might a final product look like?

And how would you go about displaying it?

(and I can recognize that this would be well beyond our novice skill set, we'd be outsourcing this to someone more skilled)

[Raggedy Man]

Your questions are well founded. @ssethI would also be stumped. Hopefully you'll find the help you're looking for.

[snolly50]

@Ptychodus04 Kris might be willing to give it a shot.

[sseth]

That is quite a nice piece.  They are rare to come out with color.  It is absolutely worth being prepped.  They are quite beautiful and collectable. 

Here is an example of how they look.  They look fantastic hanging on a wall.

[Ptychodus04]

I'm your huckleberry.

 

Since this little beauty is split so oddly, it can be addressed 2 different ways. The first is to leave it as a 2 piece (gluing on the broken bits) and prep away the matrix from each side. This is by far the safest route for such delicate things as this. The second and more radical route would be to glue the whole thing back together and attack it from one side.

 

I would not recommend option 2 for this piece simply because it would put one of the exposed fish on the back of the slab... BORING.

 

On the display, I would build a custom steel mount for the pieces so they would be held side by side. The mount would be built to hang on the wall or stand on a table based on your preferences.

[JohnBrewer]

[sseth]

I would agree that gluing is not best.  These are so thin that it will more than likely cause you a lot of problems.  No profile like a fish has in the formation.    I have had the most success in the past with just prepping down what is there.  I think you will have the best success with that too.  Just know that most of the smaller branches will not have color, just an impression so don't blow through them.

[abctriplets]

Oh wow. Thanks for the tips, Seth. But this will be one I will be having someone else deal with. I feel I'd break it just by looking at it!