Ptychodus04’s Fossil Fish Prepapalooza

[Randyw]

Maybe the knightia is performing a barrel roll evasion maneuver?

[daves64]

Could just be a primitive attempt at a Pisces symbol. You could call that one your Pisces plate.  Sorry... Drs put me on Vicodin a couple hours ago. 

[Pemphix]

Very nice preps !

Congrats !

Not everyone has that calm hand to do such work....

[RJB]

21 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

I’m getting where I don’t want to even look at another GRF fish! But, they won’t prep themselves will they?

Hopefully someday you will run into one where the rocks pops off like a dream come true.  They dont come around very often but when they do it kinda spoils you on the next one.  Good luck Kris.

 

RB

[Ptychodus04]

17 hours ago, Randyw said:

Maybe the knightia is performing a barrel roll evasion maneuver?

That’s a possibility. 

16 hours ago, daves64 said:

Could just be a primitive attempt at a Pisces symbol.

I’m sure that’s what the fish were going for.

3 hours ago, Pemphix said:

Very nice preps !

Congrats !

Not everyone has that calm hand to do such work....

Thanks. It definitely takes a lot of practice.

 

1 hour ago, RJB said:

Hopefully someday you will run into one where the rocks pops off like a dream come true.

That would be fun. I’ve never run into that on a GRF fish.  I think this will prep like a dream though since the rock is coming off with only the thinnest of layers on top of the fish (for now at least).

[Ptychodus04]

I got back on the GRF fish prep today. Still roughing out but had a fortunate event occur. While I was adding copious amounts of vibrations to the slab, a crack opened up under the material I was removing at roughly the fish later. I proceeded to rough out more of the head as the crack got a little bigger. Fingers were crossed that I would get the head roughed enough that this piece could come off as a whole without peeling the fish. It was a calculated risk but one I though would pay off nicely.

 

It did and with a little help from my friend the Super Jack, the piece peeled off leaving the smallest of layers on the body and a micro layer on the dorsal fin! These fins are going to be amazing.

 

[Fossildude19]

[RJB]

12 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

It did and with a little help from my friend the Super Jack, the piece peeled off leaving the smallest of layers on the body and a micro layer on the dorsal fin! These fins are going to be amazing.

Always nice when things work out.  and saves a ton of time too.  This fish looks like a good one.  

 

RB

[Ptychodus04]

39 minutes ago, RJB said:

This fish looks like a good one.  

I think it will turn out pretty good. It has some issues (mangled face and some ribs floated) but overall should be a nice Diplo. The fins are going to be spectacular.

[Pagurus]

Can hardly wait to see it fin-ished.

[Ptychodus04]

24 minutes ago, Pagurus said:

Can hardly wait to see it fin-ished.

[Randyw]

8 hours ago, Pagurus said:

Can hardly wait to see it fin-ished.

Groan!

[Ptychodus04]

No pics yet but I did some test abrasion on the fins last night and they are going to be beautiful. Using straight soda at 20 PSI, I was able to work out to the very ends of the rays without peeling them off on the test section. Fingers crossed.

 

Tonight, I have to build a new blast cabinet as the one I currently have is woefully too small for this slab of rock. We are still in the mid 90s so I don't have any intentions of moving the prep outdoors! Thankfully, I have a few pieces of plywood lying around looking for something to do...

[RJB]

On 10/1/2019 at 7:10 AM, Ptychodus04 said:

 Using straight soda at 20 PSI, I was able to work out to the very ends of the rays without peeling them off on the test section.

Getting the fins prepped out this way is outstanding.  cant wait to see them now!!!  Hurry!!! 

 

RB

[Ptychodus04]

13 hours ago, RJB said:

Getting the fins prepped out this way is outstanding.  cant wait to see them now!!!  Hurry!!! 

 

RB

All it takes is some free time! I would have finished my box Tuesday night but I need to buy a new plunge cut bit for my router in order to make the needed holes. 

[Ptychodus04]

The new blast box is done and my dust collector burned up its motor today... it never ends! Thankfully, the box is so big the abrasive falls before it has a chance to come out at me.

 

The box measures 36” wide by 30” deep by 12” tall. I had to build a 4” platform inside to raise my subjects within the focal distance of my microscope but there’s still plenty of working room.

 

There’s also plenty of room on top for all the stuff you need when you’re prepping.

 

[Randyw]

Nice setup!

[Ludwigia]

Looks good. I know what you mean by "it never ends". Just when I want to give a fossil the final blast, the hose blows a hole and I have to replace it. I guess that's since I have to often work at very high pressure. Have fun replacing the motor. Hopefull my dust collector has a few more years to go.

[Ptychodus04]

4 hours ago, Ludwigia said:

Looks good. I know what you mean by "it never ends". Just when I want to give a fossil the final blast, the hose blows a hole and I have to replace it. I guess that's since I have to often work at very high pressure. Have fun replacing the motor. Hopefull my dust collector has a few more years to go.

I’m hoping it is something simple like a capacitor it hums but doesn’t turn.

[Ludwigia]

1 hour ago, Ptychodus04 said:

I’m hoping it is something simple like a capacitor it hums but doesn’t turn.

Maybe it's humming "Turn, turn, turn" from the Byrds?

[Ptychodus04]

4 hours ago, Ludwigia said:

Maybe it's humming "Turn, turn, turn" from the Byrds?

Maybe. I’m hoping that it was just moody and didn’t appreciate having to run with the ice cold Texas weather yesterday morning.

[RJB]

On 10/12/2019 at 5:17 PM, Ptychodus04 said:

 Thankfully, the box is so big the abrasive falls before it has a chance to come out at me.

 You must be using bicarb?  Dolomite will not fall until the next day!!! 

 

RB

[Ptychodus04]

16 hours ago, RJB said:

 You must be using bicarb?  Dolomite will not fall until the next day!!! 

 

RB

Yep. I'm planning to switch over to iron powder as soon as I sell my right hand since it is 10x the cost of bicarb or dolomite. In the long run, it should be cheaper as it is easily recovered and reused, but it's a big hit up front.

[Ptychodus04]

So, I took a break from the big Diplo and started working on a smaller block with 4 Knightia that are amazingly well preserved (from what I can tell this far). They are prepping well With soda at 18 psi after I remove the top layers of matrix with my scribes. There’s a conveniently placed darker hard layer right on top of the soft layer above the fish so it’s easy to prep down to it with my Aro without hitting the fish! Then, I take that layer off with the micro jack and a raid the remainder. All of this is done under the microscope at 10x. What could go wrong you ask?

 

I found out today after about 10 hours in the block. I took the micro jack out of the blast box to clean some accumulated dust off the stylus and grommet and promptly dropped it! Adios Mr Stylus! 
 

[Randyw]

 

noooooo! At least it was just the stylus and not the fish!