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Advice on coating ammonites.


dontom

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I got these ammonites a few months ago and I was wondering if I should put any kind of protective coating on them.  I have them in storage now. When I display them they will not be near any direct sunlight but I was still worried the color may fade plus the shell is very delicate. I’d prefer to leave them natural but if there is a chance they will fade then I’d prefer to put some kind of protective coating on them.  Will they fade over time even if they are not in sunlight?

 

should I coat them or leave them as is?  If I so what is the best product to use and how should I apply it? 

Thanks 

D89EFB31-3701-4E32-884D-033E4E035426.jpeg

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First off, you need to send them to my address.  Then you won't have to worry about them anymore.

See how stress relieving I can be?  Just trying to help.

 

Oh, and by the way, your ammonites...Loving them!!!

Where are these from?

 

 

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Lovely ammonites  :wub:

 

If the shell is flaking off yes but if the are solid no need too. The beautiful colours are coursed by aragonite . Nacre was the main component of the shell: after the organism’s death, the shell fossilised and formed aragonite. I don’t think they will fade at all but if you want to coat them a thinned down PVA will do. Always do a test first on the back of the rock to see how it drys . Cheers Bobby

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@dontom: Not sure if it would apply to these specimens, but I know @Ludwigia adds a beeswax coating on his prepared ammos that locks them in with just a very subtle gloss. If I'm not mistaken, the coating can be removed if desired. 

...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

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I've never seen a plate with these species together before. It would be interesting to know where they come from. Reminds me of the Psiloceras from Watchett, Somerset. I wouldn't coat them, since they look sturdy and you're not planning to place them directly in the sunlight. Just make sure you don't drop it on the floor ;)

 

Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger

http://www.steinkern.de/

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I have a few Psiloceras from  Somerset and they are incredible fragile in that they are very compressed and will flake off. I also use clear beeswax on some of my Ammonites does a great job but if I applied it to the Ammonites of Watchett they would just chip off completely under the  application of the wax. 

 

Yours look good to me . :dinothumb:

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Looks like they've already been coated?  But if you do coat them with something, i would make sure the material is not a patrolium based product.  Bobby mentioned PVA.  I think thats an acrylic of some kind?  Should work me thinks.

 

RB

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Thanks for all the info from everybody.  I'm glad most of the advice was to leave it as is because I really did not want to mess with it.  The main reason I was considering coating it was because I read somewhere that ammolite and ammonites are very prone to fading from light exposure, unless they are coated.  I was going to coat it prevent that from happening but I was glad to hear that I really don't have to worry about it fading.  They do appear fairly flaky but I'm not worried about that aspect because I haven't had any parts actually flake off and once it's displayed it won't be touched so that is not a real issue.  I'm going to leave it as is and I'm glad I asked here first before I tried something which could have led to me ruining it.  A couple of people asked about the location, the info is below.

Thanks again for the help

 

 

Dichotomoceras sp. and Macroconch of Amoeboceras ilovaiskii (Sokolov)

Upper Jurassic period of Russia Kostroma region, Russia

Mesozoic Era, Upper Jurassic Period, Oxfordian Stage, about 162 myo

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Nice plate with some awesome Ammonites. I would not coat them and just keep an eye on them.

If they do start to fade or flake due to heat/cool cycles then I would use thinned down PVA.

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