Show Us Your Work (Prepping) Area

[JimB88]

Wasn't sure where to put this...

I thought it would be interesting to see the prep areas of my fellow forum members. Workbenches, drawer systems,etc..all fair game. How each of us organizes our finds when prepped too! This may also be helpful for those new to fossil collecting.

Ive posted mine before, but Ill do so again here. Again, Im currently still getting organized. So its a mess...

I you get a drawer system (which are fairly cheap) I would get one with larger drawers (I plan on having several which will be attached to the wall.) The case in point - I found so many diaphragmus elegans they all wont all fit in the drawer!

I am lucky in that I have a shed devoted just for this.

Edited June 23, 2010 by JimB88

[Terry Dactyll]

Jim...... I took these photo's ages ago ....glad I still have them..... ones of my tools on my 'usual' prep bench and one is of an angled prep bench that locks into a vice bolted to the bench, so this makes it removable and used for doing smaller stuff and close up work.... I must get better magnification, at present I use a magnifying glass pushed into a piece of copper pipe.... you may make that out.....

[jpc]

I just boughta house this past winter. One of the drwas was am extra garage... one for fossils torage and one for theprep lab. I don't have any pix, but maybe I'll take some this weekend and post them.

[JimB88]

Jim...... I took these photo's ages ago ....glad I still have them..... ones of my tools on my 'usual' prep bench and one is of an angled prep bench that locks into a vice bolted to the bench, so this makes it removable and used for doing smaller stuff and close up work.... I must get better magnification, at present I use a magnifying glass pushed into a piece of copper pipe.... you may make that out.....

The table is a great idea! Is that a rock-saw? I was thinking about getting one (with the water feed.)I like the scope too..where can one find those?

Edited June 24, 2010 by JimB88

[JimB88]

I just boughta house this past winter. One of the drwas was am extra garage... one for fossils torage and one for theprep lab. I don't have any pix, but maybe I'll take some this weekend and post them.

Cant wait! It would be cool to have a garage to convert into a prep lab.

[jpc]

JimB88-

I got my scope at a surplus sale back in the early 90's. I didn't get it but mom and dad bought it for me at an MIT sale. One of the best Xmas gifts since santa died. These days, you don't have to be near a big research university getting rid of perfectly good stuff... try ebay. "binocular microscope". If you really must, there are few things that I think are a must in a scope... it has to have continuous zoom, which means not just a 1x and a 3x (f'rinstance) setting, but a zoom that rolls smoothly through all different powers. And it should be on a boom, not on a stand. With a boom you can fit and manoeuver bigger rocks under it.

Hope this helps

jpc

[Terry Dactyll]

The table is a great idea! Is that a rock-saw? I was thinking about getting one (with the water feed.)I like the scope too..where can one find those?

Jim...... The scope was off ebay for around £25....they appear all the time, you just have to keep your eye open... its russian made and does the job great for prepping small nodular stuff.... it takes some practice getting used to the airpen under it.... even digging in the smallest nodule is like waving a javalin in a dustbin.....

The rocksaw is just a hand held one, like you see workers on the roads using.... I find it invaluble.... its fitted with a diamond blade so the cuts are thin and accurate.... It works for me ''so far''.....

[old dead things]

Go back to page 14 in General discussion under the heading " Fossil Barn" to see photos of my fossil work area. I'm too lazy to repost the pictures.

Jim

Old Dead Things

[crinus]

Showing you my prep/storage area means showing you my basement.

Let's start with the storage area. It is a total mess. Boxes everywhere. If I died today they would be useless as most are unlabeled. I only organize this area about once every five years. At that time I put notes in the boxes and even label the box and it gets put on a shelf. I think it is time to try and organize. There are more storage area in the basement but you get the idea.

Next comes the work area. Table with light and scribes. I have a total of 4 scribes that I use. Next to the table is the air abrasive machine and next to that is the box for using the air abrasive machine. This box comes equipped with a microscope.

Once the fossils are prepared they go into the permanent storage/display area. Most of these specimens are cataloged into a database with a reference number. I have many backup copies of the database. If I lost it I would really kill myself.

I built my own cabinets and have a total of nine. Eight of the nine are completely full.

[Terry Dactyll]

Crinus.....Stunning !...... I like the effort you have gone to with this....The workshop looks fantastic with everything at hand, and your cabinets and ' museum ' are brilliant.....

[tracer]

yes, crinus' worksite, storage and collection are amazing. those who haven't viewed his collection on the web should...

[Bootsie]

Guess I'll enter my humble garage workshop..........

I also employ a 10" rail saw and diamond side grinder to whittle some rocks down to size.

[JimB88]

Showing you my prep/storage area means showing you my basement.

Let's start with the storage area. It is a total mess. Boxes everywhere. If I died today they would be useless as most are unlabeled. I only organize this area about once every five years. At that time I put notes in the boxes and even label the box and it gets put on a shelf. I think it is time to try and organize. There are more storage area in the basement but you get the idea.

Next comes the work area. Table with light and scribes. I have a total of 4 scribes that I use. Next to the table is the air abrasive machine and next to that is the box for using the air abrasive machine. This box comes equipped with a microscope.

Once the fossils are prepared they go into the permanent storage/display area. Most of these specimens are cataloged into a database with a reference number. I have many backup copies of the database. If I lost it I would really kill myself.

I built my own cabinets and have a total of nine. Eight of the nine are completely full.

Wow! You have a great set-up! Where did you find those drawers? I too have a ton of flats filled with rock sitting around. Do you ever forget what you have?

Edited June 26, 2010 by JimB88

[JimB88]

Guess I'll enter my humble garage workshop..........

I also employ a 10" rail saw and diamond side grinder to whittle some rocks down to size.

I love how light it is in there. Nice set-up (is that a cephalopod just north of the grinder?) Im thinking about getting a grinder - how well do they work?

[wRick]

"I built my own cabinets and have a total of nine. Eight of the nine are completely full."

Crinus, can you post plans for how you built the cabinets? They're fantastic!

[crinus]

Crinus.....Stunning !...... I like the effort you have gone to with this....The workshop looks fantastic with everything at hand, and your cabinets and ' museum ' are brilliant.....

Thanks. Putting all this together was a lot of work over many years. A lot of money invested in my work shop and display area.

[crinus]

"I built my own cabinets and have a total of nine. Eight of the nine are completely full."

Crinus, can you post plans for how you built the cabinets? They're fantastic!

In order to do that I would have to know how to digitize the plans. Way beyond my capabilities. Besides that, I technically do not own the plans outright. My design, but a friend did all the drawings and layout.

crinus

[Stonebreaker]

I do alot of custom woodworking and took CAD classes just for my woodworking...if u shoot me a good pic of the plans i could digalize it. Even w/o it I could get close with some proper mesurements. I assume drawers are all dovetailed for strength? I need to look at those cabinets closer.

[jpc]

Crinus... the museum looks great. What sort of wood did you use for the cabinets?

Here's a few shots of my set-up... it looks a bit like crinus' set-up.

This is my main work area. Microscope, sandblaster and sandblasting box, air line connections and air scribes, comfy chair (five wheels), and etc. Notice that the microscope swings from over the sandblasting box to over the worktable. And I do go back and forth a lot. I also do a lot of my airscribing inside the sandblastingbox. Cuts down on noise and dust. The PVC pipe against the wall goes to a woodshop dust collector in the closet.

This is the lablooking left of that main set-up. A big table on wheels in the middle for big stuff (a triceratops squamosal in this case... put on hold to work on freelance work) and for organizing. A big sandblasting box off on the right edge of photo (the sandblaster is just to the right of that). Rock saw in tha back corner and a shelf full of Stuff.

Setting this all up and using it is the highlight of having just bought a house. Lawnwork is the lowlight. Why mow when I could be out fossiling or in the lab prepping? I'd show off my museum, but it is still in boxes since I moved. I'm waiting for the right shelves to come along.

Edited June 27, 2010 by jpc

[crinus]

I do alot of custom woodworking and took CAD classes just for my woodworking...if u shoot me a good pic of the plans i could digalize it. Even w/o it I could get close with some proper mesurements. I assume drawers are all dovetailed for strength? I need to look at those cabinets closer.

The whole thing is nicely laid out using some kind of drafting software. The problem is that I only have a hard copy. I will try taking it to the local Kinko and see if they can scan it into a digitized form.

crinus

[JimB88]

Crinus... the museum looks great. What sort of wood did you use for the cabinets?

Here's a few shots of my set-up... it looks a bit like crinus' set-up.

This is my main work area. Microscope, sandblaster and sandblasting box, air line connections and air scribes, comfy chair (five wheels), and etc. Notice that the microscope swings from over the sandblasting box to over the worktable. And I do go back and forth a lot. I also do a lot of my airscribing inside the sandblastingbox. Cuts down on noise and dust. The PVC pipe against the wall goes to a woodshop dust collector in the closet.

This is the lablooking left of that main set-up. A big table on wheels in the middle for big stuff (a triceratops squamosal in this case... put on hold to work on freelance work) and for organizing. A big sandblasting box off on the right edge of photo (the sandblaster is just to the right of that). Rock saw in tha back corner and a shelf full of Stuff.

Setting this all up and using it is the highlight of having just bought a house. Lawnwork is the lowlight. Why mow when I could be out fossiling or in the lab prepping? I'd show off my museum, but it is still in boxes since I moved. I'm waiting for the right shelves to come along.

Nice! I take it you do prep professionally?

[Bootsie]

I love how light it is in there. Nice set-up (is that a cephalopod just north of the grinder?) Im thinking about getting a grinder - how well do they work?

Yeah- I have tons of cephelopod pcs., they're pretty common where I live. That is a Suhner grinder- polisher w/ dry diamond pads for polishing pieces that I cut in half. I use a 41/2" grinder w/ a dry-cut diamond blade to cut larger rocks down to size. If the building trade ever picks up, I'd like to get an inexpensive micro-abrasive unit 'cause the matrix really wears out any abrasive bits for my Dremel tool.

[jpc]

JimB88-

yeah, I do some freelance work at home evennings and weekends. It makes me money and I have worked on some truly cool fossils...many one of a kinds, but it does cut into my personal prep time.

[Bootsie]

Showing you my prep/storage area means showing you my basement.

Let's start with the storage area. It is a total mess. Boxes everywhere. If I died today they would be useless as most are unlabeled. I only organize this area about once every five years. At that time I put notes in the boxes and even label the box and it gets put on a shelf. I think it is time to try and organize. There are more storage area in the basement but you get the idea.

Next comes the work area. Table with light and scribes. I have a total of 4 scribes that I use. Next to the table is the air abrasive machine and next to that is the box for using the air abrasive machine. This box comes equipped with a microscope.

Once the fossils are prepared they go into the permanent storage/display area. Most of these specimens are cataloged into a database with a reference number. I have many backup copies of the database. If I lost it I would really kill myself.

I built my own cabinets and have a total of nine. Eight of the nine are completely full.

Crinus- are you a hobbyist, or a professional paleontologist? That is an absolutely awesome collection dude!

[Auspex]

Everything he does, he does a professional job on.