fossilus Posted January 9, 2020 Author Share Posted January 9, 2020 1 hour ago, Ptychodus04 said: I wholeheartedly agree with @Uncle Siphuncle. This is what I do as well with the exception of performing all work under magnification. I can’t see well enough with out it and find that I can get a much better result by employing 5-10x for all preps. Of course, this tends towards slower preps but that helps with the results as well. Actually my son and his wife gave me a lighted magnifier for Christmas, so I can definitely see an advantage for my old eyes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 The visor will give you much finer hand-eye coordination, so you don’t unwittingly mar the surface with the scribe. But if you do in a few small places, you can mix cheap acrylic paints to color match, and dab with a Q-Tip to mask your transgressions. I often dry brush or dry dab for most subtle cover up. 2 Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilus Posted January 26, 2020 Author Share Posted January 26, 2020 So I have some photos of my cleaning up of the tooth. The tooth was covered by well cemented sand/conglomerate. I don't have an air scribe, but do have some crude air abrasion. So what I've done is use mostly dental tools, trying not to over prep, so that when I have better equipment I will be able to finish the job. As I finished each portion I applied Paraloid B-72 dissolved in acetone approximately 3% ratio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilus Posted January 26, 2020 Author Share Posted January 26, 2020 I started with the occlusal surface which was quite solid and just brushed on the paraloid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilus Posted January 26, 2020 Author Share Posted January 26, 2020 On 1/9/2020 at 11:12 AM, Uncle Siphuncle said: On a tooth like yours, I’d prob leave any open root cross sections infilled with matrix for stability. Sometimes I like to leave the non-show side with matrix in place to preserve a bit of context, but that is purely subjective preference, not really a suggestion. It will be killer no matter what you do. What I found on this tooth was a definite "A" side and a "B" side. By chance I prepped the "B" side first. This side was on top and was missing the cementum ( I assume it was eroded off at some point". Also the Roots are very fragile and I found out quickly that the were best left underprepped. "B" side photo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilus Posted January 26, 2020 Author Share Posted January 26, 2020 These are early photos of the better side, which does have the cementum preserved, but also had much harder matrix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilus Posted January 26, 2020 Author Share Posted January 26, 2020 So this is as far as I care to go without a good scribe. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilus Posted January 26, 2020 Author Share Posted January 26, 2020 This is how the tooth displays, with mammoth tusk tip I found June 2018 and a juvi mastodon found in 2016. Final numbers are occlusal surface length 8.75 in. Max length 13.5 in. Weight 13 lbs after removing a good amount of matrix. Appreciate everyones input. So, is this a lower jaw, m 3? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilus Posted January 26, 2020 Author Share Posted January 26, 2020 On 1/8/2020 at 7:53 PM, goatinformationist said: Please consider SHMP before you attempt further mechanical means of cleaning. SHMP can really help to loosen medium to hard clays without damaging your fabulous tooth. See this: Cleaning Quartz - GMS › writings › cleanquartz-carter SHMP (sodium hexametaphosphate) pronounced “shemp”. SHMP is a detergent used to help get clay out. It causes the clay to be suspended in the water and ... I love to tout my club. If anyone else has experience with SHMP please shout out so that everyone can hear. I have used this on fossils and minerals for about 10 years with good results. And you can ask for it at just about any chem supply (it's cheap). Good luck. I've order the SHMP, I have several pieces with this hard matrix and plan on seeing how it works! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 Love your finds! Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilus Posted January 26, 2020 Author Share Posted January 26, 2020 Thanks Dan! I'm just excited that there are still things to find in my retirement! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 Nice work on the mammoth tooth prep - it looks great on display with your other proboscidean fossils! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JarrodB Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 I think it looks great with the limited prep. Nice display piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goatinformationist Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 On 1/9/2020 at 9:39 AM, Plax said: you reckon this would work on hard clay crab concretions? The active ingredient bonds to particulate matter and carries it to the bottom of the tub. This is the same ingredient found in Calgon for dishes, the "no spots" people. If it is soft clay sure, medium hard clay, let it soak longer, hard clay (concrete), let it soak for a very long time and maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plax Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 will give it a try on a "B" grade crab concretion. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dre464 Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 I really need to break out the canoe, and head down the rivers around here (Kingwood, Texas). Looks like amazing stuff out there! Congrats! "Men became scientific because they expected Law in Nature, and they expected Law in Nature because they believed in a Legislator." - C.S. Lewis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyc Posted February 6, 2020 Share Posted February 6, 2020 Wow, Ron! Just saw this post for the first time. Not only can I not believe I missed this post; I also can’t believe I missed those beauties the last time I went down that stretch! Killer finds!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilus Posted February 6, 2020 Author Share Posted February 6, 2020 2 hours ago, garyc said: Wow, Ron! Just saw this post for the first time. Not only can I not believe I missed this post; I also can’t believe I missed those beauties the last time I went down that stretch! Killer finds!! Thank goodness we all miss something! Otherwise there would be nothing left! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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