RJB Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 Like many times I put aside what im working on for one reason or another and then pick up another project and start prepping again. I put in about 6 hours into this concretion from New Zealand. I started by digging a hole cause I could not 'read' the rock and got lucky and hit carapace. but then I could see just how calcited it was! Holy cow!!! This is the absolute worst calcited crab ive ever run into,, bar none!!! Even calcite under parts of the shell material!!! Just a freakin nightmare!!! The thing is, I payed $200 for this dang thing plus about $70 for shipping so ive got to finish it and see how it turns out? Im scared! Not happy with this one at all! Could be a cool crab, but soooooooo many hours to find out? My wife told me that if I didnt have any 'bad' ones then the good one wouldn't seem so good? Not sure about that. Gots a long ways to go, but tomorrow my hands will be very stiff. A rather large rock and lots of pushing my Super Jack through this rock. Tuff job for sure!!! RB 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 Judging by the challenges you've faced in the past, I have faith you will do this one justice. ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted March 28, 2018 Author Share Posted March 28, 2018 12 minutes ago, Kane said: Judging by the challenges you've faced in the past, I have faith you will do this one justice. Im not sure about this one Kane? I have my doughts. only time will tell? RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnBrewer Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 26 minutes ago, RJB said: Like many times I put aside what im working on for one reason or another and then pick up another project and start prepping again. I put in about 6 hours into this concretion from New Zealand. I started by digging a hole cause I could not 'read' the rock and got lucky and hit carapace. but then I could see just how calcited it was! Holy cow!!! This is the absolute worst calcited crab ive ever run into,, bar none!!! Even calcite under parts of the shell material!!! Just a freakin nightmare!!! The thing is, I payed $200 for this dang thing plus about $70 for shipping so ive got to finish it and see how it turns out? Im scared! Not happy with this one at all! Could be a cool crab, but soooooooo many hours to find out? My wife told me that if I didnt have any 'bad' ones then the good one wouldn't seem so good? Not sure about that. Gots a long ways to go, but tomorrow my hands will be very stiff. A rather large rock and lots of pushing my Super Jack through this rock. Tuff job for sure!!! RB If anyone can do it it’s you Ron. John Map of UK fossil sites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted March 28, 2018 Author Share Posted March 28, 2018 14 minutes ago, JohnBrewer said: f anyone can do it it’s you Ron. Thanks John, but like I told Kane, I have my doughts? RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnBrewer Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 Crack on mate, we’re all with you! John Map of UK fossil sites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiamL Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 Judging by your other crabs it”ll look great! I wonder how many total hours it’ll end up taking? Yorkshire Coast Fossil Hunter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted March 28, 2018 Author Share Posted March 28, 2018 2 minutes ago, LiamL said: Judging by your other crabs it”ll look great! I wonder how many total hours it’ll end up taking? My guess is about 40 to 50 hours, but the really bad thing is that there is missing shell on the carapace! not a good thing in my book. RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6ix Posted March 29, 2018 Share Posted March 29, 2018 Not to put a bummer on you but my "crying crab" was like that, some places already had a 1mm gap all around it... Now I'm at the point I'm worried the whole thing is going to explode so its on the back-burner. I can post a photo of it if you want.. I have had another where the calcite was only around the top of the carapace so as you know - its hit & miss. I'm still really keen to see what you can do with it - sometimes the imperfections are part of the story as far as I'm concerned.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted March 29, 2018 Author Share Posted March 29, 2018 @6ix You can see that this crab has that 1mm gap too in places. You can also just make out the right arm of this thing and it is also covered in a thick calcite. Gunna be interesting for sure. RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted March 29, 2018 Share Posted March 29, 2018 Good luck. I know you'll do it justice! Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted March 30, 2018 Author Share Posted March 30, 2018 Well, another 6 hours into this thing and its only looking worse!! Ive done a few crab preps in my lifetime and this one is "Bar None" the worst ive ever seen!!! I did run into a leg today also and was wondering just how they would be, and they are just as 'sticky' as they can be, except on the outside of the rock where the rock is actually softer. This one is a freakin nightmare!!! Im going to make a moving of this crab,,, the title will be,,, "Crab from the Calcite Lagoon"!!! yeah, a horror movie!!! RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 Oh my doodly! Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 That one looks very challenging and uncooperative. But you're no quitter. ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted March 30, 2018 Author Share Posted March 30, 2018 5 minutes ago, Kane said: That one looks very challenging and uncooperative. But you're no quitter. Hey Kane, yes I am a quiter and I even showed this to my wife today and she asked why i was not tossing it aside,, and ive tossed many a crab aside but the thing is with this one, its got all 8 legs. Im just wondering how good of a job I can do with all this calcite? Im thinkin its some kind of weird challenge? Gunna be interesting no matter what!!! RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 Maybe you can have it bronzed when it's done. That might look pretty cool. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted March 30, 2018 Author Share Posted March 30, 2018 44 minutes ago, FossilDAWG said: Maybe you can have it bronzed when it's done. That might look pretty cool. Not sure how one would do that or if you kidding, but yeah, that would be purty cool. I do have lots of these. Seems like it would destroy the fossil though. RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 yes, I was kidding. Just thinking about what would make a lot of nasty calcite look "better". Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 RJB, I have confidence that You can make this crab look good. 54 minutes ago, FossilDAWG said: Just thinking about what would make a lot of nasty calcite look "better". Try a black light. Makes most calcite look better. 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted April 1, 2018 Author Share Posted April 1, 2018 Almost 6 more hours and this thing has some GREAT legs and lots of them! Too bad for the rest of this thing? Gots a long ways to go but a real ? mark for the carapace and the claws? This one, I think, is going to be for 'show and tell', this way when anyone says they have a bad crab, I can say, "Oh yeah, get a load of this piece of cow poop"!!! I will then have the worst crab on the planet!!! Of course, i do have a couple of good ones...... RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted April 1, 2018 Share Posted April 1, 2018 Maybe I'm just living in the old days in terms of prices, but I can't picture spending $200 on an unprepped concretion, not knowing what's in it, and then having to go thru all the trouble of prepping it out! Seems like even on a good day the prepping is much harder than picking it up and packaging it to sell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted April 1, 2018 Author Share Posted April 1, 2018 Hey @Wrangellian, i can tell you that ive spent a heck of alot of moneys over the years to aquire certain rocks, and yes, some of it seems waisted, but for me it really is a gamble, but if you dont gamble sometimes, you dont win. Ive won many times and lost many times. But in the end,, ive ended up with some really good fossils. Here is one of my bestest ever gambles. Took over $750 and 86 hours of prep, but its one of the best Tumidos ive ever seen and its now in my collection. RB 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted April 2, 2018 Share Posted April 2, 2018 That is a great fossil. Yikes... How much would it be if you added in your hourly rate, plus the other ones you've had to go thru to find the keepers like this one?? -though I guess you're going to recover some of that when you sell the ones you don't want to keep.. And it' not about the money anyway, or you'd not do it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted April 2, 2018 Author Share Posted April 2, 2018 10 hours ago, Wrangellian said: How much would it be if you added in your hourly rate, plus the other ones you've had to go thru to find the keepers like this one Ive wondered this many many times over the years. If I was doing this for moneys, I would go broke. Ive waisted im sure many hundreds of hours trying to find that 'bestest ever' crab! RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted April 2, 2018 Author Share Posted April 2, 2018 Ok, I got an early start this morning and put in another 7 1/2 hours into this thing. Legs lookin purty dang good and lots of them, and even started cleaning up the calcite on the carapace. A really tuff job so say the least. I cant belive how fractured this thing is!!! Not to mention all the bits and pieces that are laying here and there and some areas missing shell material intirely!!! I do love to prep, but this thing is testing not only my patience but also my attention span!!! Seems like the older I get, it gets harder to concentrate for too many hours? RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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