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Hey all! I have been building out (slowly) my prep lab and learning a ton! Early this year I invested in a air scribe and went with the Chicago Pneumatic CP9361 Air Scribe. I'm trying to locate information on different tips that would be applicable to this model but not coming up with much. Does anyone have any experience with this model and have any recommendations on either replacement or other tips that would be applicable to this model? My prep is mostly working with shale from south IN, OH, KY and Utah. Any help would be appreciated! ... (wife doesn't know this yet, but I'm looking into an air abrasive system next Thanks! Steve

Looking for a conversion/modification kit for my Chicago scribe. Only one I can find is through zoic. Was hoping to find one in the US. Any information will help

@EphemeralMoose I haven’t used the Zoic Trilobite scribe personally but it is an Aro clone scribe and they are great middle of the road scribes across the board. The Fossil Shack scribe is a good scribe but it is designed for work on softer matrices (specifically, the Green River Formation). It is good for lighter/detail prep. The Chicago Pneumatic CP9361 is a medium to heavy prep tool. It will hog through most matrices but is useless for detail work. Most of the Zoic scribes are designed to be on the lower end of the air consumption spectrum so, if you’re limited by your compressor, I would lean toward their scribes. My preference on stylus length is opposite of @hadrosauridae as I much prefer a longer stylus to a short one. I find the longer stylus to provide more access to tight spaces but it comes with a downside. It is much easier to break a longer stylus so, you have to be more careful not to drop it or knock it off the table. I’ve spent several hundred dollars replacing styli due to clumsiness. This is something to consider with a child apprentice. With proper PPE and dust remediation, a work box is not essential. I didn’t start prepping in a box until I started working with abrasives. Even with a box, the floor of my lab gets pretty dusty. A lot of this is iron abrasive that falls during clean up or movement of specimens. I’m prepping a lot more than a typical hobbyist though so, I tend to generate a larger amount of debris in a given timeframe.

Today's Fossil Friday contribution is about the chicago pneumatic air scribes. Periodic maintenance is highly important, but many new owner dont know how or are intimidated to open them up.

Thanks! Yeah, the drive mechanism is a Chicago CP9361. I will go to the store tomorrow and see if I can find a replacement roll pin. It shouldn't be a specialised part, which is good

One more session! The right side of the legs are done, and so is most of the merlus. They still need touch ups, but thats final stage stuff! The carpus is pretty dang big, and hopefully this claw is too. As soon as I got to the propodus, it started flaking away from the rock beautifully. The best separation out of the rest of the crab! I was loving it.... I packed up for the day and decided to clean the scribe. As I unscrewed it, the drive pin in my CP9361 had broke on one side, and half of it fell out! Im not sure how serious that is, how it happened, but I will get it fixed before I start again. Just when I was on to the meat of the crab too!

If I had to pick one, knowing the scribes you currently have, I’d go with the Velociraptor. It is right in the sweet spot between the Chicago (Zoic Chicago is a modified CP9361) and the Micro Jack lines. Microraptor is comparable to a Micro Jack 2/3 depending on the air pressure used. The HW-322 is in a realm all of its own. There’s just enough airflow to clear the work area and I’m turning the matrix on this bird to a fine powder but not through pulverizing it. The tool is actually breaking down the matrix into its component pieces. I’m working at 40x and it’s kind of fun to watch the matrix crumble under the stylus.

So I've never used an air scribe before. I've read everything in the forum about the cp9361, and I'll probably buy an Aro for detail work. But, the instructions that came with this thing suck, I can barely read them. Really my question is about oil. Where do I put the oil, how often, and what kind of oil do I use? Thanks in advance! -J

For me, the Cp9361 is essential. But it is reserved for big preparation. However, it is noisy

Cards on the table I don't know much of anything about air tools. I have had a CP9361 scribe for a while which came with a type M air fitting. I was recently gifted a new Fossil Shack scribe that came with a type Q air fitting. Is there a universal quick connect that can work with both or a splitter I could put on the compressor with both types of connections. I have tried talking to a couple of local warehouse store workers about it to no avail so I figured I would take a shot and ask here. Top is from the CP9361, bottom is from fossil shack. I could replace the fitting on the CP9461 to match since that one at least comes apart. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated

I have been prepping for nearly 7 years and work on private contracts. I used to work in a museum where they have been using the same methods since mid-2000s so I was taught to prepare using the techniques and tools that they taught me with (and developed my own skills for micro-preparation), namely just using a pneumatic scribe (ME-9100, CP9361, MJ) and a microscope. I've been curious about chemical prep, and was wondering if someone could explain to a complete newbie some of the ins and outs of the method? Or direct me to any forum threads/good websites that explain it. I want to broaden my abilities and also find out if there are any modern developments, besides just buying a new scribe, to preparation as a whole (not just mechanical). I've also never tried sandblasting but wasn't sure if that would be useful. Basically I want to know when it's appropriate to use chemicals, pneumatic tools and sandblasting. Any insights from fellow preppers would be appreciated! Just for a bit more information I primarily work on mammal-like reptiles (therapsids) from the Permian-Triassic boundary from the Karoo area in South Africa. Disclaimer: I must admit I haven't had the chance to search the forum extensively for this information so I'm sure there must be info I just haven't found it yet

Well this year I've started collecting items to begin preparing crabs and trilobites. Obviously the crab nodules are a bit tougher than the trilobites so I'll need to take that into consideration. I recently purchased a CP9361 for a pretty good deal and also have a decent microscope with 20x magnification. I'll build an air cabinet for micro blasting later and then pickup a medium hopper and micro sand blaster for trilobites eventually but I'm going to start off preparing crab nodules which is why I went for the CP9361. Also probably going to pickup a long 2" tungsten point tip for the CP9361 as their stock tip isn't that good (or so I've heard). I work at my nearby museum preparing a Barosaurus and they use everything from the ARO (couldn't find one of those), ME9100, Micro Jacks, and the CP9361. The museum curator advised going with the CP because they are cheaper and he said he's never had one break down on him and he's had a couple ME9100 break down. So now I have to look ahead and decide what compressor to get! I'll probably be preparing fossils for no more than 2-3 hours at a time but want to be prepared just in case. Everyone who is experienced at preparing on this forum suggests prepping for as long as possible to avoid shutting the compressor on and off thereby fluctuating the hardwares air regulation system. A few things to keep in mind when working on fossils for a long time with a compressor as your power source: * Avoid oil lubricated compressors as the oil can leak from your air line to the fossil. * Go with a compressor that outputs at least 90-110 PSI since most scribes operate at this level. Also make sure it outputs at least 2 CFM (cubic feet per minute). Most tools I've observed require about 1 CFM but it's always good to have more in case you want to use your compressor for other things or more heavy duty tools. * Go with a compressor that holds 20 gallons of air or more if you're going to be working on fossils for a while. Here's a couple I had my eye on: 15 Gallon Dewalt: https://www.lowes.ca/air-compressors-kits/dewalt-16-hp-15-gal-200-psi-portable-electric-air-compressor_g1335346.html @Malcolmt didn't you say you had one like this? This one is 15 gallons and I thought you recommended 20 gallons? Thanks. 27 Gallon Dewalt: https://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-27-gal-200-PSI-Portable-Vertical-Electric-Air-Compressor-DXCM271-COM/303655008?MERCH=REC-_-PIPHorizontal2_rr-_-206796177-_-303655008-_-N 20 Gallon Husky: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-20-Gal-175-PSI-Portable-Electric-Air-Compressor-C201H/206189626 10 Gallon California Air Tools: https://www.homedepot.com/p/California-Air-Tools-10-Gal-2-0-HP-Ultra-Quiet-and-Oil-Free-Electric-Air-Compressor-10020C/206644539?MERCH=REC-_-PIPHorizontal2_rr-_-206796177-_-206644539-_-N Probably won't go with 10 gallon as that won't produce enough air for longer preps. As long as the compressor runs continuously for a few hours that should be sufficient. I'm leaning towards the more expensive 27 gallon Dewalt because it has such a good rating and a bigger tank then the 15 gallon Dewalt or 20 gallon Husky. I'm a bit surprised both the 27 and 15 gallon Dewalts are priced the same from two different stores. What are your thoughts here? Obviously I'll get the three year warranty with this unit. Can't skimp on that!

I am in the process of designing my new prepping blast box, and I decided to make a cardboard mockup. After the advise members gave in my last thread, I tore apart my work bench, and rebuilt it lower to accommodate a box. Since I am just about to pull the trigger on a boom microscope, I wanted to wait until I actually have it to make sure the working height, depth of field, etc are all going to work with the box before actually making it. I used @Malcolmt box design with a slight mod. The box is 24x20. I thought about making it larger, but I decided that was probably going to be overkill. Malcolms design calls for a 13" high box, but since I'm adding a microscope, I thought that might be too tall? The specs say the working height with a .5x barlow is 8 inches, so that is the height of this mockup. I spent a while trying to decide how I wanted it to open. I have seen top-open, front-open, and the entire box tilt up. My current thought was a half tilt hinge. My thinking was that if I have something flat and fragile, this lets me slide it in without possible obstructions, or dropping it as I try to put into the box. This design would also make cleanout a lot easier than something top-down. The vac port would be at the rear center, and I was thinking of drilling a hole (or 2) at the back, lower right side to pass the air scribe / air-abrasion handpieces in through. The 20 inch depth works well to leave room for both the vac hose as well for tilting the top up and back far enough that it should rest against the wall without fear of it falling. I dont know how big the microscope base will, or where the best positioning will be, so I'm not sure if I currently have enough room for it. Now, my unknowns and concerns. First, working space. Since it's 8 inches tall, that gives me just barely enough room for my CP9361 scribe on a very thin specimen. If the fossil is several inches tall, there is no way I could work on the top of it. This has me thinking of maybe leaving the bottom off the box, and having a booster-seat base that could go under it go adjust the height. My biggest concern there is one of stability without a solid base to the construction. Soooo, what am I missing? What am I overlooking or not considering? What are your thoughts on it in general?

Yep, you need a lot of different power levels. I have a CP9361 for "heavy" work and I have some blocks that I wish I had something even stronger. I also have an Aro clone for finer work, but still cant use it on many delicate specimens. I wish they werent so expensive, but you do get what you pay for in these. For a single use pen, I would suggest something like an Aro clone. Just know its limits and dont try to do too much. You can always clean up the fine detail with pin-vises, brushes and air-abrasion.

Any recommendation on where to get tips for the CP9361? I'm looking at this mask https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003973C6A/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1 and this air compressor - https://www.harborfreight.com/20-gallon-16-hp-135-psi-oil-lube-vertical-air-compressor-64857.html Thoughts? I just bought this CP9361 https://www.online.com/itm/Chicago-pneumatic-cp-9361-Engraving-Pen-New-In-Bag-Free-Ship-/274115761739?hash=item3fd292964b%3Ag%3A~wgAAOSwIi5d3Yk1&nma=true&si=nHb4Ka%2BUdLrDa%2BzcZLkuUnhDYEA%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Finally I can share an incredible piece with you all!!!!!!!! I have been very fortunate to be able to do invertebrate fossil preparation for The Royal Ontario Museum (The ROM). I have recently been given permission to share pictures of some of the work that I have done for them. Thank you Dr. J.B. Caron. In the coming weeks I will share some pictures of other pieces I did for them. In total I prepared about 12 pieces for them out of their collection and I donated 7 pieces for the new gallery. In case you are not already aware they will be opening a major new fossil gallery "The Dawn of Life" later this year. Here is a major piece that I did for them last year. The piece is quite stunning in person , my photography does it no justice. You will be able to see it in person in the new gallery. There are over 60 Leviceraurus mammilloides on the plate. As well as a few other species of crinoid and trilobite. To spare you all the waiting here is the finished piece The piece was prepared over a 12 month period and required around 200 hours to prepare. It was prepared under a Olympus zoom microscope using the following air scribes (CP9361, ARO, Pferd MST-31, Paleotools Microjac 2) The air abrasion was performed with a Comco MB1000 using baking soda and dolomite in the 40 micron range and mostly 20 to 30 PSI. Since this was a piece of scientific importance (there may be a new species on here and it potentially shows some sexual dimorphism ) all associations were left on the plate. If a brachiopod was covering a trilobite it was not removed. Partial trilos were not removed to exposed complete ones below it. Dr. Caron was quite specific in what he wanted in the way the specimen was prepared. There are probably more trilos that have not been exposed and these may be discovered in the future by Xray. At 200 hours I quit searching for more as the plate had nice aesthetics and the museum needed it to do professional photography and measuring for the display. This picture is as it was found in the field back in 2019 by David A. who is a member here on the fossil forum. The fossil was found in an Ordovician quarry (St. Mary's Cement) that allows a very limited number of qualified collectors in a few times per year. The slab as found required 4 people to bring it down the side of a very large blast pile using a blanket. It was estimated that the slab weighed about 300 pounds. Here I am u The 2nd and 3rd pictures are me cutting and thinning the slab using a checkerboard technique done with a diamond rock saw. This got the piece to a transport weight of about 60 pounds. The rest of the pictures are a sequence leading up to the finished piece which weighs about 50 pounds and was the first picture shown in this post. If you have any questions please feel free to ask or send me a private message if you prefer. The piece in my basement before any preparation. Not so pretty at this point in its life.... The piece at 1 hour The final shot here was with about 20 hours to go

Paleotools sells adaptors with bushings and tips to fit on either the ME9100 or CP9361 but at that point you're paying roughly $300 for just that bushing with tip which in my opinion isn't practical. I found some on online for $25: https://online.us/x9ZAaS Just ordered a CP9361. Need to figure out what compressor to get that's actually affordable.

I bought my cp9361 from an auction site for around 70 bucks. Of course the stylus upgrade cost more than the scribe itself. I've thought about getting ahold All Air myself to see what they charge to see what they charge for a 8315 these days, I hear goog things. It's crazy to me that they don't sell them on their website, only over the phone. Sorry for being a bit vague. Usually a hammer and maybe chisel are used to "pop", although you might be able to do it with a clamp, especially a little conc like that. The clamp is used to glue the two halves back together to help ensure a very tight fit. I avoid any rotary tools, except for maybe smoothing the rock at the end. I use my scribe to get down to and completely uncover the crab. But then again, there are many folks here that know crab prep and prep in general far better than myself. Good luck, you are staring down a very expensive rabbit hole.

The prep with this scribe will take forever. If you want to try your hand at the prep, a CP9361 or ME9100 is what you need. The 9100 is the better tool in my opinion, I’ve owned both.

I purchased a 9361 Air Scribe off Ebay and it came without any instructions.Specifically how to change the tip. I've looked it over and can't figure it out...and don't want to break the thing. I also see mention of a chisel tip and have been unable to find one, any help would be appreciated. Thanks

From time to time people ask what kind of tools do I use. I was cleaning and maintaining my air scribes today and decided to take a family picture of them. I don't think I have ever posted a pic of all my scribes. Yes you need more than one air scribe. Pretty much each one of these scribes is very good at certain things and not so good at other things. Over a course of a month I will probably use every one of these. Unfortunately I broke the stylus on the Ingersol Rand (at the extreme right of the pic) a couple of months ago and am trying to track down a reasonably priced replacement stylus. This tool was my favorite for bulk matrix removal. If you have one you don't need or no a source please let me know. I have found some but they are coming in at about $150US for a single stylus by the time I ship, pay duty and HST to Canada so I have not bought. From left to right they are as follows: Seally (from England)........................ great for bulk removal of matrix and nothing else (110 PSI) Very inexpensive CP 9361..............................................great for bulk removal and landscaping, cant get too close to fossil not for fine detail (90 to 110 PSI) Pferd MST-31 with fine stylus............my go to general purpose scribe can do anything except bulk removal (110 PSI) HW-10.................................................general work with the stylus shown...detail work with the fine removable steel needle stylus not shown(50 to 90 PSI) HW-70..................................................excellent for bulk removal, landscaping , can work very close to fossil without damaging skin (operates at 20 to 30 PSI) $$$$ very expensive HW-322...............................................Super fine detail, uses very low PSI, very little vibration imparted on fossil, of no use for any major matrix removal (operates at 20 to 30 PSI) $$$ pretty expensive Paleotools MicroJack -2....................Super fine detail, of no use for any major matrix removal (100 to 120 PSI).You will notice that I created an air diverter on the front to blow the air towards the needle. Without this the dust builds up and you cannot see what you are cleaning. The microjack-2 literally takes off dust. ARO 8315............................................general work, landscaping (90 to 110 PSI), there are clones of this available but an original made in USA is best, they last forever Ingersol Rand EP50...........................Awesome bulk removal scribe, landscaping , not good for any detail work (110 PSI) If I was starting out on a limited budget I would get a used CP9361 (replacement stylus and parts are cheap) and an ARO clone from xxxxxxxxx (PM me for source as I don't think I am allowed to say on here). On a true budget a used CP with original blunt stylus and a longer sharp pointed stylus is an acceptable place to start.. As is just the recommended clone ARO Feel free to PM me and ask any questions about these scribes or scribes in general

A year and some ago I bought a Krantz W 224 airscribe to start doing some mechanical preparation and promised to do a prep thread once I got started. Prior to this type of prep I have done a lot of silicone casting (which I might make a separate thread for) and on softer matrix used a mix of dental picks/tooth brushes. I have had several different setups over the past year, and the past 2 months or so can be seen on the following picture After spending a tedious amount of time with the rough matrix removal I decided to add a Cp9361 airscribe, which has sped things up a lot.

So I’m just in a bit of a quandary about which scribe to get, as many have been before me. I’ve worked in the local vert. Paleontology lab at the museum as a lab tech and have mainly been using the chicago pneumatic scribes(CP9361-1) as a general tool for removing matrix. However when it comes to working from home I was wondering if perhaps there was something more out there. I have looked up both the Zoicpalaeotech ( ZPT-TR) and the Hardy Winkler (HR-65&HR70). Both look like great tools. I especially like the fact that the ZPT-TR has both course and fine stylus. Would like to know if anyone has done a comparison of the different types/brands and how they stack up against each other?

Hello everyone, I found this bad boy about a year ago in Wyoming. It was in a 100’ ravine and I tore my calf getting it out. I’ve tried to prep it out myself, but the matrix is extremely tough-I’ve spent a few hours with my CP9361, but I don’t have the time, tools, or skill to finish this. I’m guessing that it’s all or mostly in there, but who knows. It’s pretty heavy at around 40 or 50 lbs, but the preserved part that is extruding is very tough, almost metallic. Im looking to pay someone to prep this out for me-I really want to display this thing, especially considering the injury I sustained getting it out of the hole. If anyone has suggestions, or is willing to give it a go, let me know. cheers -J

And the fossils themselves. The CP9361 isn't a detail scribe. It's for blowing through matrix. The ARO is a more all around scribe. You get a bit of detail ability with mediocre volume removal. There's really no one size fits all scribe. I use 3 (CP9361, ARO, Micro Jack 4) with plans to buy a Mighty Jack and Micro Jack 1 or 2 to extend my range.