Practice preparation, any and all advice wanted!

[Digi]

I've always been interested in fossils but I've never even thought of prepping some till I joined the forums. I have some plant dense rocks from washington that I think would be good practice, but I don't know the first step to this process. I have a dremel tool and hopefully I'm going out to get some new tips soon. It's shale as far as I can tell. Thanks for any and all advice, tips, steps, etc you guys are willing to give!

 

[Ludwigia]

Can you please describe the hardness of the matrix? Plant fossils are not always easy to prepare since the material is quite sensitive. If the matrix is hard, then there's a chance of damaging them. If it's a soft, finely layered shale, then your best bet is razor knife and pin vise, but you'll have to pick and choose what needs to remain and pieces can fly off very easily if you're not careful.

[Ptychodus04]

That looks like it is from the Chuckanut Formation. If so, it is most likely relatively hard. The Chuckanut is mudstone and sandy shale for the most part. You’re going to be pretty limited on prep options for it. If there’s something to be uncovered, you want to use small chisels to chip the rock away. The plant fossils are often very thin and delicate. They are easily damaged, especially by grinding as it is very difficult to know when to stop.

[RJB]

  Yep, like mentioned above,  can be tuff to prep.  Most of the leafs ive prepped out are broad type leafs and have to uncover the tips or the stems.  I would not use a dremel for this but an air scribe.   Good luck.  Prepping can be exstreamly fun!!!

 

RB

[steelhead9]

I would strongly discourage you from practicing on fossils like this. Very hard matrix and paper thin plant fossil. I prep for a living and I would never work on a specimen like this (well, I mean if someone paid me enough...). I've got lots of much better practice pieces, so if you want to pm me with an address and pay for shipping, I'll send you a few. Since you live in Washington, get out there and find some crab concretions. Those are really fun to work on. Good luck!

[Digi]

I might still mess around with it with a chisel just to reveal a bit more, but thank you all for the advice. I’ve seen the crab concretions on RB’s threads and they’re absolutely stunning! But I’m completely new to fossil hunting in Washington and all’s Ive heard is that they’re near Olympia. 

 

Just from looking around it seems that the most common tools would be a sand scribe, and vise chisel? Any other recommendations?