Manticocerasman Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 I recently got a new job, and to make things even better, my job is at a company who processes and places floors and walls in stone, mostly marble. This opened a few opportunities for me , having access to a huge amount of polishing and cutting tools, so this week I gave it a try: I took 2 of my Goniatites that weren't of top quality, or to hard to prep. and today the helped me to cut the fossils and polish them. The fossils turned out really well here are my first 2 polished Manticoceras sp. from the Frasnian layers of Lompret in Belgium: before polishing them: after cutting and polishing: top goniatite: Bottom Goniatite: both of them: And a question for the moderators: the fossils have been cut and polished today, but were found earlier this year, are they valid entries for FOTM since al the cleaning , cutting and polishing was done now? Thx Kevin 6 growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belemniten Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 Very nice Kevin You did a great job! Congrats Many greetings from Germany ! Have a great time with many fossils Regards Sebastian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 Very pretty! Good work. Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranzBernhard Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 Ah, polished goniatits! Very, very lovely! You did a great job and you have opened up a new "source" of fossil specimens: The discard piles! Franz Bernhard 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 And a question for the moderators: the fossils have been cut and polished today, but were found earlier this year, are they valid entries for FOTM since al the cleaning , cutting and polishing was done now? Thx Kevin The staff will discuss this. Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM - APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 Wonderful that You took a couple of garden rocks and ended up with nice display pieces! Congratulations on the successful experiment! 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...
Innocentx Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 Major fun times with your access to machines. Very nice! "Journey through a universe ablaze with changes" Phil Ochs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manticocerasman Posted September 21, 2018 Author Share Posted September 21, 2018 2 hours ago, belemniten said: Very nice Kevin You did a great job! Congrats Thx Sebastian. 2 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said: Very pretty! Good work. Thx T.D. 2 hours ago, FranzBernhard said: Ah, polished goniatits! Very, very lovely! You did a great job and you have opened up a new "source" of fossil specimens: The discard piles! Franz Bernhard Thx. Indeed, I have a whole box of specimens that will never come out nicely with regular prepwork, I know what I will be doing with those 32 minutes ago, ynot said: Wonderful that You took a couple of garden rocks and ended up with nice display pieces! Congratulations on the successful experiment! Thx Tony, there will be more to come 23 minutes ago, Innocentx said: Major fun times with your access to machines. Very nice! Thx. I will also experiment with other kind of fossils in the future like corals 1 growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 Your goniatites look great when cut and polished that way. They have been transformed into works of art! It's a perfect use of otherwise unpreppable discards. However, from the perspective of fossils as data for paleontology, sectioning and polishing does not add information that would enhance the scientific value of these specimens, for example by allowing them to be identified with greater certainty. On the other hand, sectioning and polishing corals reveals details of internal structure that are generally required for a confident ID, as well as commonly enhancing the appearance of the specimen. From the perspective of the FOTM contest, prepping should enhance the scientific value of the specimen by uncovering diagnostic features and by repairing (as in gluing back together) broken pieces. Of course a good prep job will also enhance the appearance of the specimen, and this will naturally influence how people vote for an entry. A great prepper has both sublime technical skill and an artist's eye. However, manipulation of a specimen in a way that improves its appearance at the expense of loss of detail or scientific value will not count as "preparation". As an example, cutting/polishing pieces of agatized bone so they can be mounted in a pendant would not result in something that could be entered in the FOTM contest, although the result might be beautiful as jewelry. Don 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 @Manticocerasman Nice results! It sure can be a relevation when you start cutting and polishing what would often just be rejects when seen from the outside. I started doing this quite a few years ago on the machine I used to use to cut and polish agates after I discovered that fossils can also have interesting internal mineral replacement structures. I did it mostly for the sake of the aesthetic quality of the "slices", as I call them, but it's also instructive viewing the internal structure of not only ammonoids, but also other fossils as well. Corals and sponges, for instance, often need to be cut in order to be properly identified. 3 Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goatinformationist Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 This is what I do with 10" slab saws in my basement. Cheap to buy and easy to use. Get yours today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranzBernhard Posted September 22, 2018 Share Posted September 22, 2018 8 hours ago, Manticocerasman said: Indeed, I have a whole box of specimens that will never come out nicely with regular prepwork, I know what I will be doing with those 8 hours ago, Manticocerasman said: I will also experiment with other kind of fossils in the future like corals Can not wait... (Some may know that I am a somewhat polished freak ) Franz Bernhard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted September 22, 2018 Share Posted September 22, 2018 Those came out purty dang nice! From what I would call 'lake skippers' to pieces of art. Nice job. RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manticocerasman Posted September 22, 2018 Author Share Posted September 22, 2018 18 hours ago, FossilDAWG said: Your goniatites look great when cut and polished that way. They have been transformed into works of art! It's a perfect use of otherwise unpreppable discards. However, from the perspective of fossils as data for paleontology, sectioning and polishing does not add information that would enhance the scientific value of these specimens, for example by allowing them to be identified with greater certainty. On the other hand, sectioning and polishing corals reveals details of internal structure that are generally required for a confident ID, as well as commonly enhancing the appearance of the specimen. From the perspective of the FOTM contest, prepping should enhance the scientific value of the specimen by uncovering diagnostic features and by repairing (as in gluing back together) broken pieces. Of course a good prep job will also enhance the appearance of the specimen, and this will naturally influence how people vote for an entry. A great prepper has both sublime technical skill and an artist's eye. However, manipulation of a specimen in a way that improves its appearance at the expense of loss of detail or scientific value will not count as "preparation". As an example, cutting/polishing pieces of agatized bone so they can be mounted in a pendant would not result in something that could be entered in the FOTM contest, although the result might be beautiful as jewelry. Don I do agree that the polished fossils should not enter the FOTM contest, but I have to disagree on the loss of sientific value on the specimens. Especialy for paleozoic cephalopods: for the study and identification we often have to refer to destructive methods like cutting them to be able to identify the species of the fossil. For example Orthocone fossils are cut and polished to determine the shape and position of the siphuncle to make the determinations. This is also true for the goniatites like Manticoseras, due to the lack of ornamentation on the shells we have to cut them through the microconch and see the shape of the shell to make propper idintifications towards species : 1 growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted September 22, 2018 Share Posted September 22, 2018 Kevin, we are looking more for preparation that reveals the original, external morphology of a specimen (with very rare exceptions) for the Contest. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manticocerasman Posted October 1, 2018 Author Share Posted October 1, 2018 A new try. This time a double one. 1 growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manticocerasman Posted October 1, 2018 Author Share Posted October 1, 2018 and this one. he turned out very wel, I got this one right in the middle. 1 growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Innocentx Posted October 1, 2018 Share Posted October 1, 2018 Um, nice again! "Journey through a universe ablaze with changes" Phil Ochs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Rico Posted October 1, 2018 Share Posted October 1, 2018 Very pretty indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranzBernhard Posted October 2, 2018 Share Posted October 2, 2018 Beautifull! Thanks for sharing! Franz Bernhard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manticocerasman Posted December 20, 2018 Author Share Posted December 20, 2018 This time we used the tools on cutting and polishing a few rock containing 2 orthocones. On one of them got cut more or les on the syphuncle, so maybe I can get this specimen identified. the specimen is from Lompret in Belgium ; Frasnian ( late Devonian ) 4 growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 Cephalopods from my southern neighbours...lovely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manticocerasman Posted January 17, 2019 Author Share Posted January 17, 2019 A new Manticoceras sp. that I pollished yesterday. the original piece was broken, I restored it using special epoxy to glue marble. ( you can see the black crack through the fossil ) They have a lovely colour variation in the chambers . The piece was then cut and both sides pollished. 1 growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manticocerasman Posted July 3, 2019 Author Share Posted July 3, 2019 a few extra pollished critters: 3 growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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