Jump to content

Mammoth Repair


Ptychodus04

Recommended Posts

I picked up this mammoth humerus from the Brown County Museum of History a couple weeks ago and have begun the repair. Apparently, someone tried to move it and it must have gotten dropped. I don't have the story on the damage, only the request for repair. Nobody's admittin' nuthin'! :P

 

It came to me in 3 boxes (never a good thing for a single bone). This bone has an unknown provinance but has been at the museum for decades. Judging by the state of the plaster restoration, I would say this was done sometime in the 1960' or 70's.

IMG_7957.thumb.jpg.70fafc925e370c7f6a4c044d8ce149fd.jpg

 

I soaked the exposed bone in stabilizer and applied a liberal mount of clear, non-expanding, Gorilla Glue to the joints and strapped the whole thing together for a couple of days. My lab is still covered in Green river fish so, while the wife was away from the house, the bone got moved to the dining room table. to her credit, she didn't say a word about it when she got home! :thumbsu: I think she's been around me long enough to expect random dead things showing up in her house. This was when I discovered that I am completely out of white Apoxie Sculpt for the crack filling. Thankfully, I have to paint the repairs anyway so, they will get dark brown epoxy.

 

IMG_7979.thumb.jpg.105e3159ea6942c4365110734d681e1a.jpg

 

I don't have a picture of the epoxied cracks yet but they are done and I've used about a gallon of cyannoacrylate on the plaster because upon closer inspection, the whole thing was covered in hairline cracks and just waiting to fall apart. I don't want to do a full restoration on this thing so I made the decision to save what is there.

  • I found this Informative 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Good job. :)

Harry Potter helping?

"Reparo!" 

That would be wonderful. Unfortunately, no, he is not pulling his weight on the mammoth conservation.

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, will stevenson said:

thats a mammoth task:D

No, not a mammoth tusk, a mammoth humerus. :D

  • I found this Informative 1

Life's Good!

Tortoise Friend.

MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png.a47e14d65deb3f8b242019b3a81d8160-1.png.60b8b8c07f6fa194511f8b7cfb7cc190.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

No, not a mammoth tusk, a mammoth humerus. :D

well thats quite humerous:)

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, will stevenson said:

well thats quite humerous:)

Considering it's the trunkated version. :)

  • I found this Informative 1

Life's Good!

Tortoise Friend.

MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png.a47e14d65deb3f8b242019b3a81d8160-1.png.60b8b8c07f6fa194511f8b7cfb7cc190.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One would have to be pretty thick-skinned to tolerate y'alls quips. 

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your prep jobs are always exceptional @Ptychodus04. I have no doubt that your restoration work will be done equally well! 
 

It looks much better than it did before and well on its way to being museum quality again. :dinothumb:

 

You mentioned painting the piece. Out of curiosity, what sort of paint would you use for something like this?

  • I found this Informative 1

The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.  -Neil deGrasse Tyson

 

Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, FossilNerd said:

Your prep jobs are always exceptional @Ptychodus04. I have no doubt that your restoration work will be done equally well! 
 

It looks much better than it did before and well on its way to being museum quality again. :dinothumb:

 

You mentioned painting the piece. Out of curiosity, what sort of paint would you use for something like this?

Thanks. I use acrylic paints due to the ease of cleanup.

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Here’s the humerus as it sat yesterday with the epoxy putty repair.

04831986-AAA2-4569-AE11-6850F580E49F.jpeg.ef2a59682607ca637f7a92558bae9ff5.jpeg

 

And today, after I completed the paint. The old plaster restoration needed some gluing and repaint as well.

B0B85196-E0FB-42FA-934E-219D7A61DAE3.jpeg.f26378baa01f9a9f79cd716f678f5f24.jpeg

 

 

  • I found this Informative 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks great! Looking at your first picture, with it in pieces, and comparing it to the final, it’s a complete transformation. :dinothumb:

  • I found this Informative 1

The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.  -Neil deGrasse Tyson

 

Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I dropped off the humerus to the folks at the BCMH today and they were excited to have it back and be able to put it back on display.

 

The first comment when they saw it was “it finally looks real!” In reference time the poorly done original restoration. 
 

The best part of all of this is that it is part of an interactive exhibit that allows children to handle the fossil!

 

5742E93A-7A6B-42F9-AEA9-E828595B4C4A.thumb.jpeg.1dc7ae2b4e5f70d4cf39eee9b980c4e5.jpeg

  • I found this Informative 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

Hi Kris,

 

I hope you are all doing well.

The reason for my note is a large Mastodon Humerus I recently acquired.  I have been collecting paleo bones for quite a while and ran across this Mastodon Humerus that had been found by a hunter in the Arkansas River in Tulsa County Oklahoma.  I received it on Thursday and after letting the package sit in quarantine for a couple of days I opened it this weekend.  Unfortunately, the bone was badly damaged in shipping and is in need of restoration.  Since it was packaged I have all of the pieces.  Is there anyone you have worked with who does restoration and repair of damaged bones?  Is there any advice you can give me?  I want to see the bone repaired if at all possible.

Thank you,

Len Baker

 

IMG_7187.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...