Chewy7697 Posted August 16, 2018 Share Posted August 16, 2018 My father dug this piece of petrified wood from a riverbed outside of Texarkana Arkansas approximately 25 years ago. He passed away in 2009 so I never got any more information from him regarding it. My question is how would I go about polishing it or just sealing it from the climate? The crystals are what I'm concerned about with the idea of polishing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted August 16, 2018 Share Posted August 16, 2018 Welcome to TFF! It looks like it is carbonized. Are little pieces coming off or does it smudge black on Your hands when handled? 1 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...
Chewy7697 Posted August 16, 2018 Author Share Posted August 16, 2018 When I moved it from my mom's property to my house , two chunks broke off and inside was what looked like charcoal, smelled and felt like burnt charcoal also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewy7697 Posted August 16, 2018 Author Share Posted August 16, 2018 But the rock itself isn't coming apart anywhere else, and it's extremely heavy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewy7697 Posted August 16, 2018 Author Share Posted August 16, 2018 What exactly is carbonized? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewy7697 Posted August 16, 2018 Author Share Posted August 16, 2018 Here are two pieces that came from it when it was relocated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted August 16, 2018 Share Posted August 16, 2018 Carbonized wood no longer is brown and flexible; it has turned to lignite or coal. The wood looks like that found with coal. The quartz crystals are rather grey; I wonder if they contain coal/carbon inclusions. I have seen similar wood from east of San Francisco, CA that shows (in one wood piece): part silica and part still coal. My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KimTexan Posted August 16, 2018 Share Posted August 16, 2018 Welcome to the Fossil Forum from Dallas area. I know nothing about polishing crystals. I have cleaned quartz, aragonite and calcite using dilute muratic acid. For quartz I think oxalic acid is the best though. I don’t know what types of crystals are on the petrified wood. I think very dilute acid would work, but I have no idea how it will affect the petrified wood. Also the crystals don’t look very hard or super stable. I’d test a small area first to make sure it doesn’t harm the fossil or make the crystals fall apart. Also I would brush it on rather than soak it. Maybe you could test a piece that came off first. Here is a link to directions for cleaning quartz crystals with oxalic acid. It is from the Hot Springs, Arkansas area. You can skip the iron removal step. http://www.rockhoundingar.com/cleaning.php If it were mine I would make an attempt to glue back on the pieces that came off if not too much other rock didn’t fall off too. Supper glue should work fine. If a little glue shows around the edge you can use a cloth or q-tip acetone (like fingernail polish remover to the excess from the edges. You’ll have to wait for others to comment on sealing it. I’ve heard you can use rock sealer like you’d use on a rock wall, but I imagine there is something better. Hope that is helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted August 16, 2018 Share Posted August 16, 2018 46 minutes ago, Chewy7697 said: What exactly is carbonized? What You said here.... 48 minutes ago, Chewy7697 said: When I moved it from my mom's property to my house , two chunks broke off and inside was what looked like charcoal, smelled and felt like burnt charcoal also. I am having some trouble with the color of Your piece. In the first picture it looks like charcoal, in the third it looks more tan. In the last 2 pictures it looks white with a black "skin" on it. Can You take pictures in direct sunlight? 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...
goatinformationist Posted August 17, 2018 Share Posted August 17, 2018 Warm soapy water and a soft brush. Rinse, dry, repeat until optimum results appear. Druzy is not stable. I would not take this beyond a basic clean. I have plenty of the same in my house, even some brilliant pet wood from Alabama. Clean it and keep it dusted. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewy7697 Posted August 17, 2018 Author Share Posted August 17, 2018 So it's called Druzy wood? Would it be possible to maybe seal it with clear epoxy? Yes I'll take some pictures tomorrow outside, that is if I can roll it out my basement door. I have it on a piece of plywood sitting on top of a rolling stool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goatinformationist Posted August 17, 2018 Share Posted August 17, 2018 Druzy is a word used to describe the small, sparkling quartz or calcite crystals, sometimes microscopic, that can be found on pet wood or other stony minerals. If you coat them in epoxy it would take away some part of the light reflecting quality of the crystals thereby rendering them in equal part less sparkly. I suggest that you clean your specimen and leave it without further maintenance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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