Almost everyone thinks I lost my mind! Morrison Formation Dinosaur Delivery

[Nanotyrannus35]

10 hours ago, Flx said:

 

Thanks for the assessment.

When I create labels, do you think it is save to call both the metatarsal/toe and the vert "Ornithischian"?

Not sure but this publication might help

 

CarpenterGalton2018PhotodocofMorrisonbipedalornithischia.pdf

[Flx]

Here's another sauropod long bone. It almost perfectly matches a Camarasaurus fibula illustration that I found online. 

 

The length is about 130cm. This is quite long even by Sauropod standards. Again, I included a picture of my 3 year old son for size comparison.

This bone is not associated with the tibia I posted earlier (both are from Morrison Fm and from the same quarry but from a different layer / different flooding event that burried the bones).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 16, 2022 by Flx

[Flx]

[fossilhunter21]

Looks like you are finding some nice stuff! I especially love that little vert. 

 

I am looking forward to seeing what else you find,

 

-Micah

[Flx]

I worked on a block which was supposed to contain caudal verts. Unfortunately, the verts were in very bad condition (basically chunkosaurus). However, at some point I noticed that a few pieces seemed to be teeth fragments rather than bone.

 

After a 30min 3d puzzle game I ended up with a pretty ok partial Camarasaurus tooth. 

About 10% of what you see is crack fill. 

[fossilhunter21]

53 minutes ago, Flx said:

I worked on a block which was supposed to contain caudal verts. Unfortunately, the verts were in very bad condition (basically chunkosaurus). However, at some point I noticed that a few pieces seemed to be teeth fragments rather than bone.

 

After a 30min 3d puzzle game I ended up with a pretty ok partial Camarasaurus tooth. 

About 10% of what you see is crack fill. 

That is a beautiful tooth! Nice job on the 3d puzzle!

 

-Micah

[Flx]

15 hours ago, fossilhunter21 said:

That is a beautiful tooth! Nice job on the 3d puzzle!

 

-Micah

 

Thank you. 3d puzzles are fun! 

However, It would have been great if the block had been collected one or two years earlier. The tooth probably would not have been shattered then (it was only about 3cm underneath the surface).

 

 

[fossilhunter21]

7 hours ago, Flx said:

However, It would have been great if the block had been collected one or two years earlier. The tooth probably would not have been shattered then (it was only about 3cm underneath the surface).

 

Yeah, that would have been nice. But at least it was in chuncks, and not dust.  

 

-Micah

[Flx]

I am again working on another sauropod leg bone (Camarasaurus tibia?) and I thought I give you some insights about my workflow.

The lenght is about 120cm and the weight 100+ kg.

 

Step 1: Use a winch to put the fossil onto something that can hold the weight (my normal table does not work well)

Step 2: Using a hand saw, I cut the plaster jacket and remove pieces of the jacket. It's a good idea to first remove small pieces only to avoid that the fossil falls apart.

 

 

 

Edited June 1, 2022 by Flx

[Flx]

Step 3: Using hand tools and the airscribe I carefully remove matrix until the topside of the bone is exposed. I fix lose bone fragments with cyanoacrylate glue (I use both low viscosity and high viscosity glue depending on the fracure widths & bone porosity).

 

Edited June 1, 2022 by Flx

[Flx]

Step 4: I clean the surface with the airscribe and a sandblaster (blasting media is Aluminum Oxide). This step takes a lot of time, but it is very satisfying as the typical dark color of the bone becomes visible.

[Flx]

Outlook:

Step 5: Crack fill

Step 6: Stabilize bone topside using a consolidant

Step 7: Create a temporary support for the bone

Step 8: Flip

Step 9: Remove plaster jacket  

Step 10: Remove matrix on bottom side (now facing up)

Step 11: Clean bottom surface with airscribe and sandblaster

Step 12: Crack fill bottom side

Step 13: Stabilize bone using a consolidant

Step 14: Paint crack fill

Step 15: Figure out a way to get that thing into my house for display

Step 16: Build a nice looking stand that can support the weight?

 

[Ptychodus04]

Wow! I'm behind on following this thread and just got caught up. Great work and great fossils. You're really making good time on this project! 

[RJB]

Wow!  Thats beautiful.  Have you figured out Step 15: yet? 

 

RB

[Ptychodus04]

1 hour ago, RJB said:

Wow!  Thats beautiful.  Have you figured out Step 15: yet? 

 

RB

3yo son and a triceratops... all the labor one needs. 

[hadrosauridae]

2 hours ago, Flx said:

Outlook:

Step 5: Crack fill

Step 6: Stabilize bone topside using a consolidant

Step 7: Create a temporary support for the bone

Step 8: Flip

Step 9: Remove plaster jacket  

Step 10: Remove matrix on bottom side (now facing up)

Step 11: Clean bottom surface with airscribe and sandblaster

Step 12: Crack fill bottom side

Step 13: Stabilize bone using a consolidant

Step 14: Paint crack fill

Step 15: Figure out a way to get that thing into my house for display

Step 16: Build a nice looking stand that can support the weight?

 

 

I would stabilize the bone with consolidate before using any crack filler.  

 

Wonderful fossils you have there, I love following this thread.

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

Very interesting reading your procedure. It's not often you hear or see a preparation project of this magnitude being undertaken. Very cool! And amazing results!

[jpc]

Aluminum oxide?!?!  Granted that each quarry and every bone is different, but I use only sodium bicarb on most of our Morrison bones.  Do you use AlO2 at  low air pressure?  

 

[Flx]

3 hours ago, RJB said:

Wow!  Thats beautiful.  Have you figured out Step 15: yet? 

 

RB

 

No, I'll cross that bridge when I get there, 

[Flx]

38 minutes ago, jpc said:

Aluminum oxide?!?!  Granted that each quarry and every bone is different, but I use only sodium bicarb on most of our Morrison bones.  Do you use AlO2 at  low air pressure?  

 

 

Yes. I assume you are worried regarding the AlO2 being very hard material?

I did quite a few tests and the AlO2 works well for my bones. Besides the hardness of the material other parameters influence the outcome a lot including pressure, nozzle diameter, working distance and most importantly the particle size of the abrasive.

 

Anyway, the biggest challenge I usually have is that the joint surfaces of the bones are much softer than all the other areas. I am always super careful with joint surfaces. 

 

[jpc]

23 minutes ago, Flx said:

 

Yes. I assume you are worried regarding the AlO2 being very hard material?

I did quite a few tests and the AlO2 works well for my bones. Besides the hardness of the material other parameters influence the outcome a lot including pressure, nozzle diameter, working distance and most importantly the particle size of the abrasive.

 

Anyway, the biggest challenge I usually have is that the joint surfaces of the bones are much softer than all the other areas. I am always super careful with joint surfaces. 

 

Thanks for the answer.  Yes. lots of factors involved. 

Joint surfaces in dinosaurs is always a weak spot.  

[Mark Kmiecik]

6 hours ago, RJB said:

Wow!  Thats beautiful.  Have you figured out Step 15: yet? 

 

RB

 

Step 15: Sit back, suck down a cold one and admire the fruits of your labor.

Step 16: Invite friends and colleagues to relive Step 15.

[Flx]

15 hours ago, Mark Kmiecik said:

 

Step 15: Sit back, suck down a cold one and admire the fruits of your labor.

Step 16: Invite friends and colleagues to relive Step 15.

 

This sounds like a good plan. 

[Ptychodus04]

20 hours ago, jpc said:

Thanks for the answer.  Yes. lots of factors involved. 

Joint surfaces in dinosaurs is always a weak spot.  

 

Joint surfaces are problematic in general. They tend to be tricky on every specimen I've worked on, even the super dense bones on the turtle I'm prepping have soft/punky ends. Not fun.

[Flx]

Step5 & 6: Crack fill and topside stabilization

 

For the crack fill I do the following:

- carefully remove the lose matrix in the crack using hand tools (as deep as possible).

- apply cyanoacrylate glue into the crack, hoping that it is sucked into the narrow parts of the crack

- fill the crack with two component epoxy.

 

For the crack fill I use two different products:

- The first one is a 2-component epoxy originally designed to fix dents in cars (it has been recommended to me by the prep ppl in the local dinosaur museum). The viscosity is similar to tooth paste and can be applied into narrow gaps quite well. 

- The other one is called "Apoxi Sculpt". This is also  a 2-component epoxy but mechanically it is more like plasticine (you can easily give it any shape to re-model missing bone)