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Auction Prep Part Deux


Ptychodus04

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I'm almost caught up on prep jobs (3 going concurrently now) so I figured it's time to start in @RJB's monster fish. Here's how it arrived at my humble abode...

IMG_4817.thumb.JPG.e05b24a306e87122ed128fc5792b90fd.JPG

 

Wow, what a fish!!!!! It rests in a 1" thick slab of 18" layer matrix (read hard as concrete) and Ron was nice enough to mount it to a 1/2" cement board... I think I got a hernia lifting it to the prep table. Needless to say, it is rather stable. Now for the prep...

 

 

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After an hour with the ARO, here's where we stand.

IMG_4990.thumb.JPG.2b283fcd2b1d817e921d17972ab68d19.JPG

 

As is typical for this layer of the GRF, this matrix and specimen is HARD. Most of the fish has 1mm or less matrix on it but it doesn't want to come off. Thankfully, the specimen is equally stubborn and doesn't want to come off the matrix on the other side.

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Ohh, a nice fishie! Good luck on the prep!

If you're a fossil nut from Palos Verdes, San Pedro, Redondo Beach, or Torrance, feel free to shoot me a PM!

 

 

Mosasaurus_hoffmannii_skull_schematic.png

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:popcorn::popcorn:

 

Man am I going through way too much pop corn in this subforum! There are just too many fossil prep threads!:P:rofl:

 

 

Looking forward to seeing the end product.:drool:

Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys."

Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough."

 

My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection

My favorite thread on TFF.

 

 

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Oh, you had popcorn for sale the whole time? Let me have some!

:popcorn::popcorn::popcorn::popcorn::popcorn::popcorn::popcorn::popcorn::popcorn::popcorn::popcorn::popcorn:

If you're a fossil nut from Palos Verdes, San Pedro, Redondo Beach, or Torrance, feel free to shoot me a PM!

 

 

Mosasaurus_hoffmannii_skull_schematic.png

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6 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

After an hour with the ARO, here's where we stand.

IMG_4990.thumb.JPG.2b283fcd2b1d817e921d17972ab68d19.JPG

 

As is typical for this layer of the GRF, this matrix and specimen is HARD. Most of the fish has 1mm or less matrix on it but it doesn't want to come off. Thankfully, the specimen is equally stubborn and doesn't want to come off the matrix on the other side.

Sounds challenging, but once you get through it's gonna be a humdinger. Ron sure does have a lot of those humdingers. Excuse my ignorance, but what's an ARO?

 

 

Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger

http://www.steinkern.de/

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Hey @Ludwigia, the ARO is an airscribe called an 8315-B.  Its a smaller scribe than the ME 9100 but larger than all the micro scribes.   Real nice lookin fish too!  Wish it was mine?   Oooops, thats right,,,, it is mine.  Really quite exciting watching someone else prep one of my fossils.  Not use to that.   Gooooooooooooooo   Kris  gooooooooooooooooooooo!!!  :)

 

RB

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8 minutes ago, RJB said:

Hey @Ludwigia, the ARO is an airscribe called an 8315-B.  Its a smaller scribe than the ME 9100 but larger than all the micro scribes.   Real nice lookin fish too!  Wish it was mine?   Oooops, thats right,,,, it is mine.  Really quite exciting watching someone else prep one of my fossils.  Not use to that.   Gooooooooooooooo   Kris  gooooooooooooooooooooo!!!  :)

 

RB

 

This is yours? Snarge!!! I was already clearing a spot in my den for it.  :wacko:

 

6 hours ago, Ludwigia said:

Sounds challenging, but once you get through it's gonna be a humdinger. Ron sure does have a lot of those humdingers. Excuse my ignorance, but what's an ARO?

 

 

Roger, here's a photo of an Aro scribe. As Ron said, it is a medium sized air scribe. It is big enough for some bulk matrix removal and small enough for detail work on larger specimens. And yes, Ron makes me sick with the number of quality specimens he has. :P

image.jpeg.cbf3c86ff1a6706a1d2260e4cd8f9fc1.jpeg

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1 hour ago, RJB said:

Hi Kris, @Ptychodus04, Im really excited and cant wait to see what you do with that backwards lower jaw!!!  :drool:   Cant wait.

 

RB

 

That's the only part that I'm expecting to confound me! Therefore, it will be last up. The plan is to pedestal the jaw if possible then remove, flip over, and fill in with pulverized matrix and glue... all without breaking it. :wacko: 

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I look forward to following your progress on this monster. What a fish and what a project! I'm slowly poking along and poking at a 6-inch knightia from that hard 18-inch layer, with a mechanical pencil and a sewing needle (in place of the graphite "lead." It would be a life-long project if I worked on Ron's fish that way!

 

Mike

Start the day with a smile and get it over with.

 

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Here we are after 3 total hours. I had to break out the CP9361 to take off some bulk matrix around the vertebrae.

 

IMG_5025.thumb.JPG.5a3abace615dc5c606197b5c671cdcd5.JPG

 

It is turning out to be a typical 18" layer prep. The matrix is pretty sticky on the scales but peels off the bones rather easily. Unfortunately for the preparator, most of the scales seem to be preserved on top of most of the bones. :P The trick is getting as much as possible with the scribes and then hitting the whole thing with abrasive.

 

@Pagurus, there's no way I would attempt this beast without the tools I currently have. I don't envy your job on the Knightia!

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20 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

That's the only part that I'm expecting to confound me! Therefore, it will be last up. The plan is to pedestal the jaw if possible then remove, flip over, and fill in with pulverized matrix and glue... all without breaking it. :wacko: 

What does this mean in laymans language Kris?

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10 minutes ago, JohnBrewer said:

What does this mean in laymans language Kris?

The jaw is broke and out of place so He is going to put it back where it should be.

Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys."

Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough."

 

My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection

My favorite thread on TFF.

 

 

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1 minute ago, JohnBrewer said:

Thanks Tony. Why Kris @Ptychodus04 just can't be clear sometimes I don't know. ;)

When You do as much prepping as He does it can be hard to get all the dust out of the way.:rofl:

Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys."

Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough."

 

My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection

My favorite thread on TFF.

 

 

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@ynot & @JohnBrewer You guys are funny... or something else I can't write on a family friendly forum. :P I thought I was very clear but thanks Tony for lowering the bar so John can understand.

 

And you're right, the dust piles up pretty quickly.

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1 hour ago, JohnBrewer said:

What does this mean in laymans language Kris?

 

Ok, more specifically, I will attempt to remove matrix around the jaw in question to the point that it is standing on a pedestal of matrix. Then I will attempt to remove the pedestal with the jaw intact. Then, it gets flipped over into the proper position and glued in place. The canal in the matrix is then filled in with pulverized matrix and glue. Once set, this glue/matrix mix is tooled to make it look more like natural matrix.

 

Of course this is a best case scenario and I'm sure will not go as easily as it sounds.

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Cant expalin it any better than that.  @Ptychodus04.  I also have two large Diplo's that have the bottom jaw/s backwards also.  Bit without any teeth, they should easily be turned over? 

 

RB

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Just now, RJB said:

Cant expalin it any better than that.  @Ptychodus04.  I also have two large Diplo's that have the bottom jaw/s backwards also.  Bit without any teeth, they should easily be turned over? 

 

RB

 

I think they would turn over well. The teeth just complicate the process because you have to be more careful. 

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Time for an update. We had a slight break in the uber hot temps today as it was only 94 so I braced the oven I call a prep area and gave this monster another 2 hours. That puts us up to 5 hours. A bunch of that time was spent cutting, trimming, and splitting the cleaved but with the skull fragment in it. I got it down to 2 small pieces and glued them on.

 

I bounced around a bit and hit a few different places to break up the tedium, alternating between bulk removal around the spine with the CP9361 and detail removal close to bones with the ARO.

 

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At this rate, I'm anticipating around 20 more hours on this prep. It's going to be a beauty.

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