Crinoid Prep

[Ptychodus04]

My other current prep is a nice crinoid slab. Here’s what it looked like in the beginning. Large, thin, and VERY cracked.

[Ptychodus04]

Here it is after a stack of PVA on the cracks and the entire back to help hold it together and 3 hours of scribe work. Sometimes you have to get worse before you can get better. This is one of those times! I’m finding buried stems all over this thing as I chase the exposed stuff with the scribe.

[DLB]

cant wait to see this when its done.

[Wolf89]

[ynot]

Looks like quite the project!

Good luck with this one.

 

 

[Ptychodus04]

This one is slow because it’s 100% under the microscope in order to see the intertwined stems. It’s like a plate of spaghetti.

[RJB]

Very cool plate.  Lookiing forward to seeing the finished product. 

 

RB

[Jeffrey P]

I'm looking forward to seeing it too. Good luck on this one.

[FossilDAWG]

This should be pretty amazing when it's done.  One question though, are there calyxes on there somewhere?  None were obvious to me.

 

Don

[Ptychodus04]

47 minutes ago, FossilDAWG said:

This should be pretty amazing when it's done.  One question though, are there calyxes on there somewhere?  None were obvious to me.

 

Don

I have not found any yet. Fingers are crossed that there are some hidden waiting to be uncovered. 

[Jeffrey P]

I believe there are some crinoid heads along the edges of the slab. They are tiny and flattened and partially buried in the shale and therefore not that easy to make out. Then again I could be imagining that. Time and a lot of prep work should determine the answer.

[Ptychodus04]

Here it is after 6 hours total work. The stems keep showing up as I follow others with the scribe. I have yet to find a calyx but I haven’t lost hope yet! This is going to be cool when it’s finished.

 

[Walt]

This is going to be so special when you're done... 

[DLB]

its starting to POP! looking good

[RJB]

  My fingers are crossed for one calyx.  Good luck

 

RB

[ynot]

@Ptychodus04

Any progress on this piece?

[Ptychodus04]

I had a few weeks of serious high school band chaperoning that just ended so I’m back on the prep attack.

 

I have some abrasive cabinet issues that I hope to address tonight. I have to build a stand to hold it at the right height and reattach the vac hose, etc.

 

Then, I should be in business.

 

 

[RJB]

22 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

I have some abrasive cabinet issues that I hope to address tonight. I have to build a stand to hold it at the right height and reattach the vac hose, etc.

 

Then, I should be in business.

 

Goooooooooooooo  Kris goooooooooooooooooo!!!!  

 

RB

[Kane]

22 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

I have to build a stand to hold it at the right height and reattach the vac hose, etc.

 

 

 

Perhaps an adjustable riser may do the trick, which would spare you from having to build a new stand from scratch for each job (or my inelegant solution of swapping in and out various sizes of small boxes and books  ). 

[Ptychodus04]

33 minutes ago, Kane said:

Perhaps an adjustable riser may do the trick, which would spare you from having to build a new stand from scratch for each job (or my inelegant solution of swapping in and out various sizes of small boxes and books  ). 

It was a stand to hold the blast cabinet rather than the specimen. I'm currently employing the highly technical cardboard box system for the interior.

 

I did get the stand built and hooked up the vac hose. About 5 minutes into working on Nathan's fish, I discovered that my shop was filling with a clout of very fine abrasive media. Soooo, off it goes and I quickly exacted a retreat from the lung killing room. Clearly, there's an issue with my water trap (probably all the water evaporated since it's been a while since I used abrasive and I neglected to check). After the smoke, er dust, cleared I went back out. At that point, I was mentally done with the whole thing and decided I needed to work on a Christmas knife instead...

[Kane]

Ah, now I understand... I assumed you meant the interior. I suppose you can't knock the cardboard box method; I find it a handy location to stick my pin vice or other sharp hand tools I may need within reach without having to take my eyes out of the scope and lose concentration.  For that, I think we all need prep assistants along the lines of performing surgery:

 

"Nurse, the scalpel, please. Cotton swab. Acetone... Glue... Tiny brush.... Swap the line from abrader to scribe, please... Suction... " 

"Doctor Prep, I think the patient is dead."

"Well, yes, for quite a few million years now."

[Ptychodus04]

44 minutes ago, Kane said:

"Nurse, the scalpel, please. Cotton swab. Acetone... Glue... Tiny brush.... Swap the line from abrader to scribe, please... Suction... " 

"Doctor Prep, I think the patient is dead."

"Well, yes, for quite a few million years now."

 

 

[RJB]

On 11/13/2018 at 9:32 AM, Kane said:

Nurse, the scalpel, please. Cotton swab. Acetone... Glue... Tiny brush.... Swap the line from abrader to scribe, please... Suction... " 

"Doctor Prep, I think the patient is dead."

"Well, yes, for quite a few million years now."

Some funny stuff for sure. 

 

RB

[Ptychodus04]

All right. 12 hours later and the crinoid slab is done. This thing really is a plate of spaghetti. 

[DeepTimeIsotopes]

26 minutes ago, Ptychodus04 said:

All right. 12 hours later and the crinoid slab is done. This thing really is a plate of spaghetti. 

Wow, it's a beauty!