Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'preparing'.
-
Rocks are handy for a campfire. A common use for stones in a campfire is to create a protective ring around the flame. This ring serves two purposes: Creates a barrier between the fire and the rest of the forest, keeping the rest of the woods safe. Creates a wind barrier that can help light the fire, especially in wet and windy conditions Whatever the reason, someone made a campfire at my fossil dig site, it's a small secluded beach along a river. A nice place to make a campfire. By the way, I noticed that a rock they used to make the protective ring around the flame, had very distinct and visible small white fossils on it. A small chuck of rock found in the ash contained even whiter fossils. I deduced that the bleaching of fossils is created by the heat of the fire. I started experimenting, I put a rock containing fossils in the oven and set the heat to maximum (don't laugh, this is a very serious experiment) after heating the fossil for a solid hour, nothing happened. For my second try, I used my barbecue (don't laugh), I think I can have a higher temperature with it, I cook the same fossil for an hour and I get the same result: nothing. I needed more heat, so for my third try I put the fossil not on the grill but directly on the burners, and hooray I got white crinoids and Sowerbyella that really stand out from the matrix. Does anyone know what is the chemical process that creates this amazing effect? I wonder if this is a good method to give a second life to dull, unappealing and scientifically unworthy fossils. The heating process helps to bring the fossils out of the matrix, making it visibly more interesting. What do you think? A dull and unattractive fossil I used for my test After high temperature heating
-
Hey everyone! So recently I purchased some unprepared Moroccan trilobites. I am having a very hard time preparing them and am making a lot of mistakes. And I was just wondering if these maybe are not the best for practice for a beginner, or is it just me? Thanks, @fossilhunter21
- 10 replies
-
- moroccan
- trilobites
-
(and 4 more)
Tagged with:
-
Hi, all. My family and I only got into fossil hunting in July, but we already have made a few trips to collect them since them. Most of what we've found are small impressions in larger rocks. It's nothing that would likely impress anyone here, but we like them. We would like to clean them, and I have seen a few YouTube videos showing how to use vinegar to remove dirt and some of the surrounding surrounding rock. If I put a fossilized impression in vinegar for a few hours, would it destroy it? If so, what would be the best way to clean/prepare them?
-
Preparing acanthodian fossils from the Tillywhandland quarry.
James_R_V posted a topic in Fossil Preparation
Did some fossil hunting at the tillywhandland quarry near Forfar during the weekend and found of partially exposed acanthodian fossils. I just wandering if anyone could give me some advice on how to expose the fossils without damaging them. Someone mention that I could use acid to expose them, but I have been reading that potassium hydroxide could do just as well. The fossil are in clastic carbonate laminates.- 3 replies
-
- acanthodian
- tillywhandland
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
Hi all! I am new to the forum and relatively new to fossil collecting. I would like to try my hand at preparation, but am not sure where to start. It seems like purchasing mosasaur teeth still embedded in matrix and slowly working to get them out might be a good way to practice with cheap and easily obtainable fossils, but I do not know how to go about this. In my head I imagine purchasing a few 20-30 dollar teeth with matrix, chisels, and scribers to be a great and (relatively) cheap way to begin practicing various techniques that I intend use for the rest of my life, is there anything else I need to be aware of, or perhaps other recommended forms of practicing preparation and removal of fossils from rock for beginners with a plethora of patience/time? Hopefully this makes sense!
-
So, what do we all havecurrently on the prep table? Be interesting to see what challenges await everybody. My current piece is this bone block, most likely ichthyosaur rib. A few scattered ammonites from the genus Dactylioceras sp. if expecting to probably found more bone further in all being well, probably a vert or two and some more ribs.