Clay.

[Macrophyseter]

So I see that some people stand their teeth upright by attaching some sort of clay to hold it and prevent it from falling over. I just want to know what kind of clay would be best for that. Thanks.

[fossilcrazy]

Plastisol modeling clay should be able to hold and doesn't dry out. A slight residue from the clay should come off easily. I'm going to assume you have a nice collection from STH Kern Co. CA.

[Troodon]

Use both available everywhere

[caldigger]

I would suggest one of those puttys listed above or similar  that are specifically made for propping things up (mounting ). Modeling clays have a lot of oils in them that can seep into the tooth roots and discolor them or worse.

Stick with something commercially made for your application or museum grade products.

When you are through, we would like to see your updated collection. Did you ever make it to Sharktooth Hill?

[Macrophyseter]

1 minute ago, caldigger said:

Modeling clay has a lot of oils in hem that can seep into the tooth roots and discolor them or worse.

Ah, I see. Thanks for the heads up!

1 minute ago, caldigger said:

When you are through, we would like to see your updated collection.

Sadly, I have not gained any more acquisitions since my last post regarding my brachauchenius and tylosaurus tooth, unless you want me to post a full, detailed walkthrough of all my fossils.

3 minutes ago, caldigger said:

Did you ever make it to Sharktooth Hill?

Not yet, but my parents are on maybe for a winter visit!

[LordTrilobite]

I use something very similar to what Troodon posted. These are made for posters, but it's perfect for holding up fossils as well.

 

[jpc]

I have had posters and walls get oily stained from tacky adhesives like these.  I would not let my fossils touch them.  

[LordTrilobite]

3 hours ago, jpc said:

I have had posters and walls get oily stained from tacky adhesives like these.  I would not let my fossils touch them.  

Yes, these things do tend to leave stains on paper, at least when left for long period of time. And yes I have had some less than perfect experience with my Cave Bear foot composite. I used this stuff to keep the bones together. On the short term it did no harm at all. But since I used it for a very long time, when I removed it it did leave some stains on some (but not all) of the bones. Mind you that these bones were not very heavily fossilised as they are from the Pleistocene and let in some of the moisture. Those bones are still fine, but the articular surface just isn't as nice looking as it used to.

But I must stress I have only had these problems when using it for a very long period of time. We're talking over a year.

 

So for short term use, like taking photos, I think this stuff is fine. I've used it on countless small fossils that I needed to photograph. It's especially useful for teeth. Of course there might still be a risk if a specimen is particularly fragile. The sticking surface also needs to be clean as I've had matrix come off multiple times.

[Sagebrush Steve]

I’ve seen people recommend museum wax but I’ve not yet tried it. Just the name sounds encouraging.  And I was walking through Home Depot earlier this week and happened to see they had it in stock in a couple of different sizes: https://www.homedepot.com/p/QuakeHOLD-13-oz-Crystalline-Clear-Museum-Wax-44111/100170917

(Maybe because I live in earthquake country??)

[Wrangellian]

I wonder if just a bit of regular, natural clay would work? Get it moist and work it into the right consistency, and it will dry out but you should be able to break your fossil out of it easily enough later. You don't even have to buy it if you have any ditches or other exposures of it nearby.

[Troodon]

On 12/7/2017 at 1:07 PM, jpc said:

I have had posters and walls get oily stained from tacky adhesives like these.  I would not let my fossils touch them.  

Agreed only use them for temporary needs like photos

[jpc]

6 hours ago, Troodon said:

Agreed only use them for temporary needs like photos

I have also used them to hold small bits of fossils under the scope to glue two tiny bits together.  

[Yvie]

16 hours ago, Wrangellian said:

I wonder if just a bit of regular, natural clay would work? Get it moist and work it into the right consistency, and it will dry out but you should be able to break your fossil out of it easily enough later. You don't even have to buy it if you have any ditches or other exposures of it nearby.

But it would have minerals,like iron which would damage your items.

[Wrangellian]

Clay minerals would damage your items? More than oily putties would? I thought clay was fairly inert.

[caldigger]

Don't know about the mineral aspect on the natural clay, but my fears would be the addition of undesired moisture and if the clay forms around the item and hardens, it may become difficult to remove from its stand leading to damage of your fossil.

Another thing is natural clay shrinks so it may actually become disengaged from its mount, thus lending itself to further damage.

Best to stick with (excuse the pun there) products specifically meant for mounting purposes.

[Nimravis]

I am going to chime in here as a Mazon Creek collector on the putty aspect of this topic. One of the nice things with collecting these concretions is the fact that if the open properly, you have two fossils for the price of one. The Issue comes with storing of these fossils, especially when you have a lot of them. 

 

You can put the two halves back together and rubber band them, but then you do not know what each concretion contains. I use to use a putty type substance that was used for floral displays and I would mount each half of the concretion onto a piece of cardboard, write the description and then place in a drawer. This made it easier to found particular fossils. I did discover that this putty would also bled in to the concretion over time, leaving a mark. It did not bother the Fossil itself, but if you had any residue on your finger, that could create a real problem if you touched the fossil and transferred this residue. I stopped using this putty and since have switched to Elmer’s School glue for the mounting of the fossils. It works very well and does not leave any residue and they are easy to remove if needed. 

 

Residue left behind from floral putty. At the time, floral putty was the only type that I could find.

 

 

A concretion mounted on a piece of cardboard with Elmers Glue- This has been the easiest way for me to store and be able to see what type of fossil it is. The fossil can be removed easily and the glue leaves no residue.