Advice on Prepping Limestone

[Baryonyx89]

Hello everyone,

 

I'm New to the fossil forum. I'm from Minnesota and I've got some nice sized Ordovician fossil from the Platteville formation in Rochester, Minnesota. They're in Limestone sediment. One is a slab that is a filled on both side with crinoid stems (hoping for other rarer parts under the sediment on this slab). The other two are large section on cephalopods.

 

I'm looking for some advice/tips on how I should go about prepping them. Like what kind of tools should I be using and if I should use any chemicals. Any advice/tips would be appreciated. Still fairly new to fossil preparation.

 

Also if better pics are needed I can get them

 

Thank you

 

Edited March 31, 2019 by Baryonyx89

[caldigger]

@minnbuckeye @Bev

[minnbuckeye]

Welcome to the forum from Plainview! Your large cephalopod looks like the outer shell is gone. What you see is likely the internal impression of that shell . If that is so, NO prep can be taken. Just enjoy the beautiful find as is. By the way, isn't it still frozen out there?????? Or did you find that in warmer weather?

 

Mike

[Baryonyx89]

Thank you, that's good to know. I'm in the South St. Paul area going to be moving to Burnsville in April. And no we're past our frozen weather... Hopefully. It's gotten a bit warmer. Hoping to do some local collecting her in the next few weeks. Don't have access to a ton of spots in the twin cities but I've got a few spots I collect at.

[Bev]

Nice find! Actually, you may be able to bring it out a bit more with some vinegar or  toilet scrubber that dissolves lime. I would try a tiny section before I proceed further onto the whole thing, but you can sometimes really bring out the distinctiveness with a little lime dissolver.   :-)

[minnbuckeye]

 @BevNot to butt in on his post, but Bev did you still want the metal from my barn roof??

[Bev]

9 minutes ago, minnbuckeye said:

 @BevNot to butt in on his post, but Bev did you still want the metal from my barn roof??

 

9 minutes ago, minnbuckeye said:

 @BevNot to butt in on his post, but Bev did you still want the metal from my barn roof??

LOL  You are so much fun Mike!  I would love it, but I am so slammed with working on this place right now I barely have time to leave home for anything. But THANK YOU for thinking of me! I wish life would slow down and I could go back to fossil hunting and gardening. However, what fun, I have a Mystery Cave Naturalist staying in the tiny house in back of the horse pasture at Camp. I'm teaching him about fossils! LOL  :-D  He is an accomplished campfire cook and we are considering doing some fun stuff like "Campfire Cooking with Gabe".

Oh, I was talking with Matt Benz the KTTC weather guy and he said that the June 9th and 15th dates that MN Bound gave us may be a week later down here. They probably gave us the viewing dates for the Cities. Maybe you have time to put a post up about that and share it with the other members of TFF? It was pretty exciting! Of course I'm not sure I want to see myself on TV, but hopefully they edited it down to the cool people like you.  :-D

 

Check out this trilo one family found on the last hunt. #2 on my Spring Valley fossil hunt map.  :-D

[minnbuckeye]

 @Bev, Looks like a scutellum trilobite pygidium. I have found only one

[Bev]

On 6/4/2019 at 4:28 PM, minnbuckeye said:

 @Bev, Looks like a scutellum trilobite pygidium. I have found only one

 

On 6/4/2019 at 4:28 PM, minnbuckeye said:

 @Bev, Looks like a scutellum trilobite pygidium. I have found only one

 

Interesting, now I don't know what to think! I know it is rare though as I have only seen a couple and this one is BIG and NICE! FYI MN Bound said that KARE moved our episode to the 16th of June and Matt Benz said it will probably air down here a week later.  :-)