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Yet Another Phytosaur Prep


Ptychodus04

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Here’s another phytosaur I’m starting work on. This one is missing some pieces and we are hopeful the collector can find more this spring. Until then, I have some work cut out for me. 

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It may not look like much now but there appears to be a fully inflated skull under all that sandstone! I’ve already found where some of the random pieces in the trays did and have begun gluing and consolidating.

 

I can see the occipital poking out of the back of the block as well! Finally, a phytosaur that is more prep than puzzle. There are fresh breaks on the maxillae where more should fit. :fingerscrossed: for those bits showing up in a few months.

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5 minutes ago, Ptychodus04 said:

more prep than puzzle

Now that is another good slogan for a TFF  T-shirt  :dinothumb:

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Now, the majority of these pieces are glued into two large blocks with glue drying. The bone is pretty brittle and has crumbled on most of the cracks. I heavily consolidated all exposed bones before gluing. Tomorrow, I will add glue where needed to ensure strength on the joints. I don’t want them coming apart when the scribe work starts.

 

After all the joints are well glued I’ll glue the two large pieces together. I’m thinking a slow epoxy or polyurethane glue like gorilla glue since these are such large pieces. Once together, this will weigh around 100 pounds before the rock comes off. So, this joint is going to have some serious stress on it being mostly in the middle.

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Looking forward to seeing how this turns out :D 

:popcorn::popcorn:

-Christian

Opalised fossils are the best: a wonderful mix between paleontology and mineralogy!

 

Q. Where do dinosaurs study?

A. At Khaan Academy!...

 

My ResearchGate profile

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This looks like  a very nice fossil and also not one of those 3000 piece puzzles!  Go gettem Kris.  Id wish you good luck but I know you dont need it.

 

RB

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I see you are opting for Gorilla Glue, will you be using your new Gorilla Scribe?

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See

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21 hours ago, RJB said:

This looks like  a very nice fossil and also not one of those 3000 piece puzzles!  Go gettem Kris.  Id wish you good luck but I know you dont need it.

 

RB

Thank you sir. I’ll take any luck I can get!

 

20 hours ago, snolly50 said:

I see you are opting for Gorilla Glue, will you be using your new Gorilla Scribe?

Most likely so. This has some serious rock to cut through.

 

I glued the two large pieces together yesterday afternoon. The weight of the top piece was enough to hol itself in place securely once stood on end so no clamps required. That’s a good thing since it would have been hard to clamp. I opted for clear slow set Gorilla Glue for the job as it has some significant bonding strength and doesn’t foam like the original stuff.

 

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An hour with the ME9100 made a nice test hole. The matrix is a well cemented but soft sandstone that is just a little sticky. It will take careful prep to get close to the bone and clean out all the texturing on this skull.

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13 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

An hour with the ME9100 made a nice test hole. The matrix is a well cemented but soft sandstone that is just a little sticky. It will take careful prep to get close to the bone and clean out all the texturing on this skull.

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Wow!  This really looks like a lot of fun!  A really good project!  Gunna stay tuned to seee the progress on this one. 

 

RB

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It's too bad someone doesn't buckle down and make a documentary show called "Ptychodus's Ptreps," I think we all would intently watch you work for hours at a time if we could!

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Can't wait to see more, will love to have a piece like that here. Like the idea from jdiaz55. Did you ever consider making a video, maybe some kind of time lapse? I am sure people will love to watch you at work, I will be definitely one of them.

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8 hours ago, jdiaz55 said:

It's too bad someone doesn't buckle down and make a documentary show called "Ptychodus's Ptreps," I think we all would intently watch you work for hours at a time if we could!

That would be pretty boring for 99% of the viewing audience. :P 

6 hours ago, rebu said:

Can't wait to see more, will love to have a piece like that here. Like the idea from jdiaz55. Did you ever consider making a video, maybe some kind of time lapse? I am sure people will love to watch you at work, I will be definitely one of them.

A time lapse video might be cool but I don’t have the equipment for that.

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3 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

A time lapse video might be cool but I don’t have the equipment for that.

Ive always thought about doing this but really dont have the room for it.  I might set up something on the inside of the house?   I have something special just for this.  someday?

 

RB

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44 minutes ago, Peat Burns said:

OMG.  That makes me exhausted just looking at it.  But:  :envy: and :popcorn:

It’s a real beast. I don’t like moving it around, that’s for sure. It will probably grow on me and then I’ll cry when I have to give it back to Steven. Or, it will be so needy that I’ll be glad to see it gone! It could go either way.

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2 more hours of scribe time today and the matrix isn’t exactly flying off. The initial softness soon gave way to some significantly harder sandstone. This is good for preservation and it is actually a bit less sticky where it’s harder but it’s slower to come off. 

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You're just trying to drag out the suspense for all of us, huh? :)  It looks like you've tackled quite a project, and I hope you're enjoying it. I love watching other people work.

Thanks for sharing your progress, Kris.

Start the day with a smile and get it over with.

 

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9 minutes ago, Pagurus said:

You're just trying to drag out the suspense for all of us, huh? :)  It looks like you've tackled quite a project, and I hope you're enjoying it. I love watching other people work.

Thanks for sharing your progress, Kris.

Yep, just trying to torture you. :P

 

This is a fun prep so far. The bone seems relatively stable and the matrix is coming off well. I just turn on my music and start scribing. It’s rather calming.

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Excellent.

I wonder how long this would take with my pin vice? ;)

Life's Good!

Tortoise Friend.

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