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Polishing Some "Chunkasaurus"


DeepTimeIsotopes

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I had to listen to a couple lectures for a school assignment which ended up totaling over 2 hours of straight listening. I cannot just sit and do nothing while I listen so I decided to do a little fossil prep. I have had this piece of what is commonly called "chunkosaurus". Chunkosaurus is a chunk of dinosaur bone that has no defining features and many times doesn't have a location attached to said specimen for us to assign it to a species or genus and so is almost practically useless to scientific endeavors. But I saw a future for this little piece so I downloaded my lectures into my phone and grabbed my stack of various sandpaper grits. I started FullSizeRender.thumb.jpg.1923ca10880ccc55983c87d9c286a644.jpgwith the opposite side looking like this.

 

First up was some 380 grit paper to get rid of the obvious saw marks the seller I bought it from had left. Here is right after I got done with the 380 paper.IMG_1642.thumb.JPG.b5ad992fd33941b939ad553ef8b729e9.JPG

Most of the saw marks except for the absolute deepest ones were gone and a little shine was showing up. I then moved onto a intermediate grit around 500 I can't tell for sure as it was old and faded on the back but I could tell the approximate grit from feeling it. This paper promptly fell apart but I got the results out of it I wanted.

I then moved up to a 1200 grit then 1500 and finally 2000. I forgot to take pictures as I was getting excited to see it start to gain a mirror finish:P

My lectures had drawn to a close so here is my final product. Please forgive my photography, my camera is acting wonky.FullSizeRender.thumb.jpg.21427f7422fbfbce26d7bfc68f6d4082.jpg

Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

Doesn't time just fly by?

 

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Two more pictures. Not bad for just some hand sanding.:ighappy: Nickel for scale.IMG_1657.thumb.JPG.a1c16ed629acfba094aeb58fee65f973.JPGIMG_1658.thumb.JPG.fea26264e0ee28d1b04196579df12400.JPG 

Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

Doesn't time just fly by?

 

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50 minutes ago, ynot said:

Neat way to listen to a lecture.

Nice bone piece.

It was the perfect activity as I could focus on what they were saying but keep my hands busy and thanks! It had the most character out of their selection.

Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

Doesn't time just fly by?

 

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I would never have the patients to listen to a long uninteresting lecture, or grind away at a chunkosaurus, so both would be mind boggling for me! Turned out real nice, thanks for sharing!

“...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin

Happy hunting,

Mason

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1 hour ago, FossilDudeCO said:

Not a bad looking bone now!

Nope, it's quite pretty now.

1 hour ago, WhodamanHD said:

I would never have the patients to listen to a long uninteresting lecture, or grind away at a chunkosaurus, so both would be mind boggling for me! Turned out real nice, thanks for sharing!

It was definitely mentally draining to listen for so long but I ended up with a nice piece to show off and sore arms. :ighappy:

Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

Doesn't time just fly by?

 

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Here are some close up pics of it. 

IMG_1663.JPG

IMG_1665.JPG

Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

Doesn't time just fly by?

 

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Very nice. I know some jewelers who would love it. What were the lectures covering? :D

 

If you want to achieve a "smooth as glass" surface, you can drop some cyanoacrylate into the voids during your intermediate phase. I have had great success with it taking a polish and use it to fill even large gaps in baculites and belemnites that I have polished.

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9 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

Very nice. I know some jewelers who would love it. What were the lectures covering? :D

 

If you want to achieve a "smooth as glass" surface, you can drop some cyanoacrylate into the voids during your intermediate phase. I have had great success with it taking a polish and use it to fill even large gaps in baculites and belemnites that I have polished.

It was nothing related to fossils, I can tell you that! :PJust some general health lectures.

That's a good idea, I will probably do that sometime in the future.:ighappy: Do you fill it then sand it just like if you were doing the fossil by itself?

Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

Doesn't time just fly by?

 

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I would get some sandpaper that is a little courser than 360  (maybe 120 or 220) and start over to get rid of the saw marks. The stone will look better that way.

Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys."

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

 

My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection

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9 hours ago, UtahFossilHunter said:

That's a good idea, I will probably do that sometime in the future.:ighappy: Do you fill it then sand it just like if you were doing the fossil by itself?

 

I start with 220 grit to remove major imperfections. After this sanding, I add the glue. I add in stages, allowing for the glue to set until it has completely filled the voids and is protruding from the freshly sanded surface. Then, I let it sit overnight. Even though it is super glue, and sets rather fast, I find it to be a little soft for a while. The next day, I hit the glue with 220 to bring it down to flush with the fossil. Then, I move to 360-400 wet sanding. after the 220 scratches are gone. I move to 500-600 wet sanding. After the fine sanding, I go to the grinder. On the buffing wheel, I use jeweler's rouge to polish. The glue takes a good polish but you have to be careful not to heat it up with the wheel.

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12 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

 

I start with 220 grit to remove major imperfections. After this sanding, I add the glue. I add in stages, allowing for the glue to set until it has completely filled the voids and is protruding from the freshly sanded surface. Then, I let it sit overnight. Even though it is super glue, and sets rather fast, I find it to be a little soft for a while. The next day, I hit the glue with 220 to bring it down to flush with the fossil. Then, I move to 360-400 wet sanding. after the 220 scratches are gone. I move to 500-600 wet sanding. After the fine sanding, I go to the grinder. On the buffing wheel, I use jeweler's rouge to polish. The glue takes a good polish but you have to be careful not to heat it up with the wheel.

When I get around to doing the backside, I'll have to use this method.:D

Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

Doesn't time just fly by?

 

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