Mystery Fossils Revealed !!!

[RJB]

Hi @LordTrilobite, it was very sticky so it wont be pristeen, but the shell material seems to be very sturdy making it fairly easy to 'wear' the rock down to it. 

 

RB

[RJB]

6 and 1/2 more hours into this.  its getting close in some areas where the two halves meet.  Gunna be interesting to see how well this thing fit together.  Im kinda nervous.  I used one heck of a lot of glue and exspected to see glue oozing out on all sides when I clamped it together.  Not much glue came out.  Yikes!!!

 

RB

[Ptychodus04]

@RJB I know you're as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs! I'm sure you're in good shape though. Can't wait to see this monster come crawling out of the rock.

[Macrophyseter]

Pretty suspenseful prepping, but its coming out lovely. Good luck 

[Doctor Mud]

Looking good!

Look at allllll that leg! The legs look nicely positioned and maybe also the big claw too??

 

hope there is a snug fit for ya.

[Doctor Mud]

When you are removing all that rock, just think- it could be worse!

 

look at this big concretion I saw on my last visit. Imagine removing all that rock 

The crab is a gonner but thought it was interesting to see how such a big concretion formed around this crab.

 

Pick is 30 cm long

 

[crabfossilsteve]

Oh Yeah, that one looks like it is going to come out really nice with the legs down to the tippies with room to spare.

[Macrophyseter]

4 hours ago, Doctor Mud said:

When you are removing all that rock, just think- it could be worse!

 

look at this big concretion I saw on my last visit. Imagine removing all that rock 

The crab is a gonner but thought it was interesting to see how such a big concretion formed around this crab.

 

Pick is 30 cm long

Yeah, trying to prep that would be ages-boring, especially since most of the job would be trying to remove the fossil-less parts of the concretion.

[RJB]

    Gots just over another 6 hours into this thing and the nightmare has begun!   I can tell that I did a purty good job gluing it back together but can tell that there was some flake rock that was gone but at the same time lots of areas where the glue is paper thin, so a good glue job for sure.  The real scary thing is where the crab parts on the top piece of rock meet the crab parts on the bottom piece of rock???!!!  Im scared for sure!  Time will tell?  Ha!!!   Thats a very nervous Ha.      I can see five legs  now but wondering where the other 3 may be?   With the left first leg going up against the crab im sure they are stacked on that side?  Dang!!!  Again, time will tell.  Really no telling where legs will be sometimes.  All I need is another 2 million hours!!!     Amazing how much rock there is to remove.  Most of today was removing rock but I was able to follow out the first left leg.  Arm and hand very sore.  Looking very ugly at this point but Im sure I can make most of that dissapear?  Fingers are crossed.

 

RB

[Doctor Mud]

This is my favourite thread right now!

 

Love watching you work Ron.

 

im sure it's going to look awesome once you are done.

 

whats going on at the top right above the right "arm" is that the claw partially exposed. Is the orange glue or oxidized ("rusted") iron in the rock from the exposed surface. It will grind off I'm sure.

[RJB]

Hey @Doctor Mud, thats a spot where the rock caved in because of missing rock and glue.  Looks ugly for sure, but I can take care of that.  I think there is gunna be a bit of that here and there around the crab, its gunna take me some extra time to fix some of this stuff, but I think in the end it will look purty good?   Ive got a long way to go still. 

 

RB

[Doctor Mud]

Gotcha.

 

yes no problem, a little bit of grinding and smoothing will fix that.

 

hope the left legs splay out for you. There was a lot of depth to the legs on the big crab I did so the others could be a bit deeper in.

[RJB]

Hey @Doctor Mud, im not too worried at the moment?  but being that there is so much more rock to remove, my real worrie is where the crab pieces meet inbetween the break!!!   Also, I did see that HUGE rock with the destroyed crab in the middle.  Wow!!   Huge rock.  Not one I would want to tackle!!!  

 

RB

[crabfossilsteve]

Hey Ron

 

What's happening with this beastie's prep,  I'm in withdrawal!!!!?????

[RJB]

Hey @crabfossilsteve, and everyone else.  I ran into some real disapointment and put it aside for a few days.  I have talked with my crab buddy from NZ and he assures me that im being a bit premature with my dissapointment.  I may go back on the attack sometime today?  

 

RB

[ynot]

4 hours ago, RJB said:

  I ran into some real disappointment and put it aside for a few days.

 That is not good.

Hope it is just a minor annoyance, and it comes out of it's (rock)  closet.

 

[Doctor Mud]

Oh dear 

 

Is it a leg issue?

 

They can be deeper than you think.

i had one where the legs spanned 3 cm from top to bottom.

 

hope it turns out for the best. We are all cheering for you 

[RJB]

 Ok, thanks guys,  I didnt post the last prep session because of what I thought were some problems, and i still think there are some major problems, but not as bad as I had first thought?  These darn crabs all do have problems, but this crab being that it was a split concretion and lots of glue to fight through is really turning out to be super tuff!!!  Im finding out that some of the tippy tippy's are taking a 90 degree turn down onto the rock!!!???   And one may be missing!!!    Ive got another 11 and 1/2 hours into this thing, but so far its not lookin  to bad?  Im a bit scared and still have a long ways to go.  Time will tell?  Oh,, the left claw it lookin real good!

 

RB

[Doctor Mud]

Looking great!

Still going to be one of the most complete specimens out there. Not many prepped from such complete concretions.

 

Channel RJB is my favourite channel right now. I'll be tuning in again later to see your progress.

 

Is the back leg folded back on itself?

Looks like a fossil crab yoga pose? Downward facing crab?

 

 

[Ludwigia]

5 hours ago, RJB said:

 Ok, thanks guys,  I didnt post the last prep session because of what I thought were some problems, and i still think there are some major problems, but not as bad as I had first thought?  These darn crabs all do have problems, but this crab being that it was a split concretion and lots of glue to fight through is really turning out to be super tuff!!!  Im finding out that some of the tippy tippy's are taking a 90 degree turn down onto the rock!!!???   And one may be missing!!!    Ive got another 11 and 1/2 hours into this thing, but so far its not lookin  to bad?  Im a bit scared and still have a long ways to go.  Time will tell?  Oh,, the left claw it lookin real good!

 

RB

I hate that sometimes, just when you think you're getting towards the end of something, then it takes a turn for the worse Slow and steady, but lookin good, Ron.

 

[crabfossilsteve]

Looks like its coming along pretty well there Mister Crab.  Yeah, those glue lines can be a pain, but you know the rest of leg is on the other side. Is you main concern the right claw?  I expect this beastie will turn out just lovely when you are done.  Understand first hand stopping and putting a project aside when you get frustrated and restarting later.  Frequently its not as bad as you originally thought.  

[RJB]

Ok, 5 more hours into this thing.   @Doctor Mud, yes the back right leg is going back on itself.  Thanks for the Kudo's @Ludwigia and yes @crabfossilsteve, that right claw has got some problems, not counting a couple of other areas!!!   Here is what it looks like now.  I did a bit of work on many areas today.  Gots lots more work to do, but I can see now that im getting thre.  Only about 30 or 40 more hours to go.  I may have to put it aside and go on the attack in 2 or 3 weeks?  Just soooooooooooo much work for this thing. 

 

RB

[crabfossilsteve]

Looks like its coming out pretty damned nice.  Yeah there are problems...haha.  When you get it done and have completed all of the fine detail I think it will be great, even after all the frustration.

[Miocene_Mason]

I'd say it's turning out very well, funky legs add some character. The size of the thing is still amazing to me! Good luck!

[RJB]

Thanks @crabfossilsteve and @WhodamanHD, i just realized that you cant see the two tippy tippy's on the first two legs on the left side that ive been working on.  Gots to go a bit deeper to get to the points but I will do that in the next prep session, along with other stuff. Gots some repair to do to on the right claw and a couple of rock building area's too.  Just will take some more time. 

 

RB