“show us your handmade display stands”

[Bobby Rico]

I add my Deer jaw to my collection and the stand looks ok I think.

[Bobby Rico]

I have this cool foot cast and have never really displayed it well. It is nice enough I think to have some sort of a stand. I don’t know how to make it work. Please any ideas would be great. 

[MrBones]

I love all of these!

[AK hiker]

Custom built in display that will  share space with some ammonites.

 

 

Edited June 20, 2020 by AK hiker
I have been unable to remove the double image, please advise.

[Harry Pristis]

There are some elaborate stands presented in this thread.  Here's a simple "pillow stand" that anyone can make with Sculptamold (plaster and paper fiber) from your local hobby shop.  Let it dry and give it a coat of acrylic paint. 

 Sculptamold® is a dry, white, non-toxic compound that combines the best features of clay, plaster, and papier mache, does not shrink, and is durable for dioramas, 3-D sculptures, model railroad scenery and stage scenery.

The otter stand is made of Sculptamold.  The oreodont palate pillow stand is of Bondo body putty.

 

[Kiros]

Here my two self made stand! The one for the procyon skull, is made from simple wood boards, the one for hesperocyon femur and humerus is made cutting Plexiglas. Hope you like it! 

[Caverat]

On 2/15/2019 at 9:17 AM, Ptychodus04 said:

There are some of us here in the west who know the difference between a tortoise and a turtle. Pedantic rant to immediately follow...

 

"Turtle" is the "common" umbrella name for members of the order Testudinata. Turtles can live on land or in water. Tortoises are "turtles" but are only terrestrial. Bison and buffalo are both members of the order Artiodactyla but neither is a "common" umbrella name for the group. Apparently the only reason people call bison buffalo is the very same reason native Americans were called "Indians"... really dumb explorers.

 

To Mr. R's point, there are two types of buffalo. Water buffalo who are native to Asia and cape buffalo who are native to Africa. Oh, and there are also two bison, European and North American...

 

Petantic rant concluded. I feel better.

 

 

Yes - We toured Alligator River in Australia to see Crocodiles. The original explorers had seen alligators...... 

[Ptychodus04]

1 hour ago, Caverat said:

Yes - We toured Alligator River in Australia to see Crocodiles. The original explorers had seen alligators...... 

 

This is another topic for one of my pedantic rants on a regular basis. I’m amazed how many people don’t know the difference.

 

Buffalo and Bison is another one that burns me up. 

[Randyw]

2 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

many people don’t know the difference

I know the difference between alligators and crocodiles! One you see later and one you see after awhile....( sorry I couldn’t resist)

[PrehistoricWonders]

9 hours ago, Kiros said:

Here my two self made stand! The one for the procyon skull, is made from simple wood boards, the one for hesperocyon femur and humerus is made cutting Plexiglas. Hope you like it! 

Wow! That Pleistocene Raccoon skull is amazing! 

[Kiros]

1 hour ago, Familyroadtrip said:

Wow! That Pleistocene Raccoon skull is amazing! 

Thank you! I really like it! 

[PrehistoricWonders]

5 hours ago, Kiros said:

Thank you! I really like it! 

No problem! Is it fully mineralized?

[Kiros]

26 minutes ago, Familyroadtrip said:

No problem! Is it fully mineralized?

No, it isn't but if burnt it doesn't smell either it comes from a very old collection and I think it's around 10k years old, unfortunately on the old description it was written only wurm glaciation 

[LordTrilobite]

I think I shared these in different topics. But they're relevant here as well. Custom transparent stands for my Subhyracodon sp. skull from the White River formation and Edmontosaurus annectens braincase from the Lance formation. They are really effective to show off fossils that don't balance very well and have some fragile parts.

 

[TyBoy]

18 hours ago, LordTrilobite said:

I think I shared these in different topics. But they're relevant here as well. Custom transparent stands for my Subhyracodon sp. skull from the White River formation and Edmontosaurus annectens braincase from the Lance formation. They are really effective to show off fossils that don't balance very well and have some fragile parts.

 

Really nice approach, I like that it's almost invisible and the focus is the specimen not the stand

[Ptychodus04]

I whipped up this little stand for a massive quartz cluster at the request of my local rock shop. The trick was to make it really small so it disappears but heavy and sturdy enough to hold the 50 pound cluster at an approximately 70 degree angle!

 

The solution was 3/4” steel round stock. Lots of mass and no flex.

 

 

[jpc]

I haven't looked at this post since it was only one page long.  There are some great projects in here.  

 

I can do woodworking and bending metal, but welding.... nope.  I hope to experiment with plexiglass someday.  Soon there will be a lot of slightly used plexiglass available (maybe for free) as we eventually beat the coronavirus.  Retirement is ten years away.  

 

But here are a few of mine I did with spray foam (sold for use as insulation).  I cannot find the photos I took ten years ago when I created these.

I use the most rigid version of the stuff.  It will stick to everything and will never come off your clothes, so I wear my gettin dirty outfit.  Saran Wrap is your friend.  It will peel off of the set up foam.  

 

Step One.  Lay some Saran Wrap down on your work surface.  

 

Step two.  Spray the foam.  Let it expand.  This will take a few minutes.  When it has slowed down, but before it sets, lay more plastic film down on top of the foam blob.  Two layers is good... just in case.  This layer will prevent the fossil from sticking to the foam.  I have also wrapped the fossil (completely or just the bottom side) in plastic wrap, then laid it down on the foam.  Either way works.  Do not allow the foam to touch the fossil or you will end up sad.

 

Step Three.  Place fossil onto plastic on foam.  Aply a little pressure if needed and not harmful to fossil tomake a nice impression.  

 

Step Four.  Allow to set.  An hour, or overnight.

 

Step Five.  remove fossil and the plastic film.  Pick up foam from work surface and remove plastic film from bottom.

 

Step Six.  Creatively cover foam with some fabric to hide its ugliness.  Hold fabric in place with pins.

 

Voila!

 

Hadrosaur vertebra, Lance Fm, eastern Wyoming.

 

Eocene Alligator jaw, Wind River Fm, central Wyoming

 

Lepticits skeleton, White River Fm, Central Wyoming.  I had the plexiglass case custom made (as well as the one in the background).

 

 

 

 

[Sjfriend]

I kinda did the same (but different lol) as @jpc for a large plant slab. The slab is a little thin, fragile, and curved (convex side up). It is about 45 x 115 x 3.5 cm.

 

Took piece of plywood, covered in in plastic wrap. Then wrapped slab in wrap. Put slab on a couple little wood blocktogether on plywood base to add a little space between board and rock. Then sprayed foam under fossil. I actually added extra weight to keep slab from lifting as foam cured. After cured, I cut foam to match shape of slab and removed plastic.

[Fossilis Willis]

I just whipped up this simple display for a little diplo as birthday gift for one of my younger brothers. I forgot to include my photo cube for scale. The fish is about 2 inches long, the stand is roughly 4x7 inches.

[LordTrilobite]

That's a beautifully made stand. Very nice.

[Fossilis Willis]

6 hours ago, LordTrilobite said:

That's a beautifully made stand. Very nice.

Thank you. It turned out nice. I may have to use this design again in the future.

[Fotsirk]

I recently made these . Not to fancy but they do there job.

3d printed stand for riker case

[minnbuckeye]

@snolly50, what did you use for the metal in this stand? Gauge wire? Easy to cut and bend? The reason for the question is that I am going to construct 20 stands for my best geodes and felt the gold matches the crystals best.  Thanks for any info you can provide! 

 

Mike

 

[snolly50]

@minnbuckeye

 

Mike, those trike chevrons are supported by brass rod stock, 3/32" (2.38mm). On other projects I have employed, 1/8" (3.18mm) stock. Obviously, the smaller 3/32" material is much easier to work and I would use it whenever practical. This is a product of K&S Precision Metals, Chicago, IL. It is sold in packs of 5, three foot rods. The 3/32" is stock #1161 and the 1/8" is stock#1162. I ordered this material, but it is probably locally available at hobby type stores. 

[Kiros]

Here my handmade stand I created for the Oreodont skull I prepared some times ago. It's made of plexiglass, no glues where used. Each piece combine with each other.