Fossil Prep.: Texas Limestone, Crustacean?

[Hailey]

Hey, I'm just starting out and I wanted to know, what preparation tools and tactics will work best for removing limestone without damaging the specimen? (Preferably low budget)

 

I also don't have a lot of workspace since I'm just taking a crack at this legitamate, fine-detail stuff for the first time; and after some research on air scribes, abrasives, and erasers, I realize they are much too costly and the whole air system and workbox takes up a lot of room I don't have.

 

So is there anything you all could recommend for me?

[JohnJ]

Welcome, Hailey.  The find in your photo is the internal mold of a large bivalve, similar to Inoceramus.  It is one of those finds that there is really not any way to prep, or a need to prep.  Is it from the North Texas area?

[fossilized6s]

Unfortunately this piece looks like a steinkern of a bivalve of sorts and the shell has been eroded away. That means this wouldn't be the best candidate for a prep. Given the smooth surface you may get a few clean brakes along the edges with a cheap engraving tool, but you won't get too far with this in my opinion.

 

I would buy yourself a cheap engraver from Harbour Freight, Dremel, etc. and practice on a handful of fossils you don't mind ruining. Also cleaning vinegar is a simple and easy prep solution for limestone, but you can only use this in certain situations. Sticking this steinkern fossil in vinegar would totally dissolve it away. 

[Hailey]

It was found in Central Texas.

(2inches x 1.5inches)

Could a piece (like the top corner-ish on the curve of the "head") suggest there is something underneath the said steinkern though?

 

Sorry for my noob questioning/:

Edited December 30, 2018 by Hailey

[JohnJ]

Yes, there are likely small, calcitic fragments of the shell. But, these fossils are locally, very common and the fragments are abundant.

[abyssunder]

It really looks like an internal mold of an inoceramid valve. Maybe it's one of the Platyceramus species.