Kane's Bug Preps

[Ptychodus04]

2 hours ago, Paciphacops said:

Please be aware that the longer Paleo tools stylus is thicker and requires their modified bushing, which now costs $110. All Air Products sells a replacement stylus that is about 0.5 inches longer than the factory Aro stylus, that is a direct fit in any Aro clone. I have one and the extra 0.5" makes a big difference. It is not listed on the website, so you have to call. I think mine cost around $25-30.

Thanks, I forgot about that bc my bushing was completely worn out when I made to conversion so I had to buy a new one anyway.

[Kane]

Thought I would "show my work" in the process of preparing this trilobite. It is a first for me in a few ways: the first Isotelus I've prepared, and the first time performing restoration.

 

After about 30 hours, it isn't perfect, but there were some challenges along the way.

 

I found this specimen in October during the biannual trip to Bowmanville. It is an Isotelus "mafritzae" morph type 'A' (presence of genal spine distinguishes it from morph type 'B'). This is middle Ordovician, Cobourg Fm, Hillier Mbr.

 

When initially found, only the left pleural facets were showing. Given where it had been exposed, some exfoliation is present. Once split, and then sawed from the larger rock, a few other fragments of cuticle popped off that needed to be glued back on. 

 

What it initially looked like after splitting and sawing:

[Kane]

I was fairly certain this prone was complete. The major challenge was its orientation; rather than being nice and straight, it dipped/listed into the matrix. 

 

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges of this prep (and which took the most amount of time) was that this matrix is fairly dense limestone, and my poor ARO was having a lot of difficulty with it. Even an attempt to blast it at near 90 PSI was not getting any serious cutting. It was a game of millimetres per minute. I really need a CP or ME for this kind of work!

[Kane]

Coming along a bit more. The cephalon has considerable crush damage, so the planes are going at wonky angles. But the second eye has emerged. Some trenching is being done on the right pleural side, and of course hard little brachs are getting in the way. 

 

In the second image, I can see very prominent muscle attachment scars along the axis. Cool!

 

[Kane]

By this point, I needed to take a break and plot next steps. I snapped a photo and grey-scaled it to make a kind of map of areas to renew focus on. Restoration of missing parts of the shell was going to be one of my other first-time tasks. But, given the postal labour disruption, my Milliput was caught in the parcel backlog, so I had to wait. 

[Kane]

Applying the Milliput to the problem areas, I decided not to reconstruct the left genal given that it would be floating in air! Unfortunately, that side was the exposed one, and it was a sheer drop. Instead, I filled in the areas that were missing and smoothed out some of the cracks from the crush damage. 

 

At that point, it was time to let the Milliput cure overnight so that I could abrade the rough stuff out.

 

UPDATE: The abrading hasn't done wonders with the Milliput, but it seems that tool wonkiness is setting me back a bit, and so the current state is not much different than this image at the moment. I buffed it up a bit, but it looks like more work will be needed... or perhaps this will be my preparation Waterloo.  

 

 

[DeepTimeIsotopes]

It's coming along nicely. 

[Ptychodus04]

Nice thread and nice prep @Kane. Tool wonkiness seems to be a reality of prep life! I finlly got my dust collector squared away this weekend and my abrasive tank started leaking, dumping copious amounts of baking soda into my work environment!

[Misha]

Very nice.

[Kane]

Thanks all. Have to fix some of my own mistakes next. 

 

Found the best way to cut out the compressor noise and get in the right weird head space for long prep was headphones with a mix of Rapoon and Fossil Aerosol Mining Project. 

[doushantuo]

Good prep job,but I am not the best of judges,being a non-prepper

[Malcolmt]

Coming along good.

 

Hint when the milliput is still moldable and in the basic shape you want just use a wet sable brush to smooth out the surface.  On larger areas such as an isotelus pygidium  before the milliput dries smooth saran wrap over the milliput it will make a very smooth surface for you. You can wet sand the milliput after it has dried with 600 grit black aluminum, oxide emery paper. 

 

Finally go on online and get a set of miniature clay sculpture tools from china 

 

[Raggedy Man]

 

Beautiful job!

[Raggedy Man]

1 hour ago, doushantuo said:

Good prep job,but I am not the best of judges,being a non-prepper

Just because you do not prep doesn't mean you cant spot symmetry and shotty work bud. Give your self a little credit...lol. Your knowledge about paleontology makes you a great judge and after all, you are right!

[Ptychodus04]

2 hours ago, Kane said:

Thanks all. Have to fix some of my own mistakes next. 

 

Found the best way to cut out the compressor noise and get in the right weird head space for long prep was headphones with a mix of Rapoon and Fossil Aerosol Mining Project. 

 

I wear some bluetooth earbuds under my 36db reducing ear muffs. The music is an eclectic mix that ranges anywhere from gospel to death metal.

[Ludwigia]

C'mon Kane. You'll find the solution. I'll bet that's gonna be even nicer once you're done. Forget Waterloo. You're Wellington, not Napoleon.

[Fossil-Hound]

Great work @Kane keep it up!

[Kane]

Thanks, all.  

 

Thanks, Malcolm... I wish I had consulted you for advice before I went ahead, but sanding with that grit level should salvage some of the areas. Fantastic tip about the plastic wrap! 

 

Danke, Roger. I'll be sure to get back to it after the holidays. If I can't be Wellington, I can at least be Napoleon in the early victory days.  

 

That is pretty eclectic, Kris... if not disparate! My preference is for no distracting lyrics. Ambient sound, drones, tape decay, and other stuff that makes you feel like you're on another planet (or in one of those experimental movies from the 70s  ). 

[Ptychodus04]

1 hour ago, Kane said:

That is pretty eclectic, Kris... if not disparate! My preference is for no distracting lyrics. Ambient sound, drones, tape decay, and other stuff that makes you feel like you're on another planet (or in one of those experimental movies from the 70s  ). 

 

Yah, I’m rather odd (shocking I know). 

 

Check out Heilung. They’re definitely not full of distracting lyrics, at least not for me since I have no idea what language they are using. It’s very primal stuff. 

[RJB]

 Nothin like a new prep project.  Looks like your on a learning curve but getting along quite nicely if you ask me.  Also, the way Malcolmt explains things, it seems like he has prepped out one or two bugs?  Ha! 

 

RB

[Kane]

Quick update on the bug.

 

Round 8:

 

Having had gone a bit nuts with the Milliput, I spent some time removing some of the sloppy work with acetone and a pin under microscope. Much of the pygidium was a Milliputian Mess, so I was able to restore it's former, shell-shiny glory...

[Kane]

Round 9: 

 

Also managed to bring down that big ugly hump of matrix to its right to level it out a bit more.

 

I think just one more round of smoothing out the resto, and removing tool marks from the matrix, and this one is cabinet-worthy enough for me!

[ynot]

Looks pretty good.

[crinus]

On 11/29/2018 at 8:32 AM, Kane said:

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges of this prep (and which took the most amount of time) was that this matrix is fairly dense limestone, and my poor ARO was having a lot of difficulty with it. Even an attempt to blast it at near 90 PSI was not getting any serious cutting. It was a game of millimetres per minute. I really need a CP or ME for this kind of work!

Kane,

Are you sure that your problems with the ARO isn't too low of a pressure.  I believe that recommended pressure is 100 psi or greater.  I use to have problems whenever my compressor fell below 100 psi.  Now I run it at 110 psi and never run into any problems.

Joe

[Kane]

11 hours ago, crinus said:

Kane,

Are you sure that your problems with the ARO isn't too low of a pressure.  I believe that recommended pressure is 100 psi or greater.  I use to have problems whenever my compressor fell below 100 psi.  Now I run it at 110 psi and never run into any problems.

Joe

I’ve been running it between 100 and 110. I think the issue is the tip (factory tip). I need a longer bit, but the All Air Tools webmail form on their site doesn’t work... May have to call. The blasting (not scribing) I referred to (at 90) was with the Paasche on the recommendation that perhaps the matrix could be blasted down to spare the ARO - but no dice.