Show us your display for small fossils?

[Denis Arcand]

I've noticed a lot of cool cabinets on the forum, but they tend to share one common trait: they're typically used for large, easy-to-view fossils. In contrast, my fossil display is designed to display smaller fossils from my collection. It is a simple table, accompanied by a magnifying glass with lighting allowing the specimens to be examined closely.

 

We acquired this table some time ago, with the original intention of using it to display the treasured beach vacation memories we have collected over the years. My wife graciously allowed me to reuse part of it to display part of my fossil collection. 

 

Edited October 6, 2023 by Denis Arcand

[Frightmares]

I use rikers, gem jars, and floating frames for some of my smaller fossils. The only down side to the floating frames is that they always seem to get fogged up, and it doesn’t go away. I’m not sure if others have had this issue, but I’m leaning more towards rikers now because of that.

[Denis Arcand]

Thanks @Frightmares, That's a beautiful display you've got there. I posted this because I'm looking for inspiration and you're giving me a lot of food for thought. Your setup is exactly the sort of thing I might consider trying, thanks for sharing!

Edited October 7, 2023 by Denis Arcand

[Randyw]

1 hour ago, Frightmares said:

The only down side to the floating frames is that they always seem to get fogged up, and it doesn’t go away. I’m not sure if others have had this issue,

I find the same thing. But not all of them I’ve got specimens from the same rock in floating frames from the same box and one will fog and the other won’t. I’m also starting to make the switch to gem jars and riker boxes….

[Isotelus2883]

I use any small boxes I can find. They work well, and if compartments are too large I tape a bit of card or heavy paper to make more walls.

[ziggycardon]

Most of the smaller fossils I keep in drawers:

I like to use multiple means to display them in there.

 

I like gem jars a lot to display them in the drawers because they are easy to place and stay in place when you open and close the drawer once full.

 

Or a combination of folding boxes and gem jars

 

 

Or just folding boxes especially for brachiopods, bivalves, gastropods and echinoïds

 

 

For many micro's I like to use magnifying boxes

 

 

Or these vials for forarms

 

 

Or the microslides for the extremely small ones.

[ziggycardon]

The small ones I do have on actual display in the open I use these:

 

I really love rikers, especially for teeth and other small fossils.

 

 

Or for the very special small fossils I use gem jars inside rikers

 

 

I also like to use gem jars

 

 

Or a floating displays for amber

 

 

Or these acrylic boxes for teeth

 

 

Or if they are heavy enough to not get blown away by the smallest breeze, I just display them in the open.

[Gareth_]

These sit in a LED lit, mirror backed glass cabinet....
 

 

[sixgill pete]

I guess the real question here is what you consider small fossils. <1 ", < 1/2"? Many of the items I see on this thread I do not consider a "small" fossil. Small to me is anything under 1/4" . For them I use gem jars in cases that hold 50 jars.

[Denis Arcand]

@Frightmares

@Randyw

@Isotelus2883

@ziggycardon

@Gareth_

 

Thank you all for sharing your creative ways to display small fossils, you all have wonderful collections. It's wonderful to see the diversity in your approaches, and I appreciate the valuable tips you've provided.

 

Your suggestions align perfectly with what I had in mind. I have a wide range of small fossils in my collection, and I was specifically looking for ideas to showcase them effectively.

 

The use of floating frames, gem jars, riker boxes, magnifying boxes, vials, microslides, and various types of acrylic boxes all seem like fantastic options, and I'll definitely consider them based on the specific specimens I have.

 

Regarding the size criteria for "small" fossils, I agree that it can vary from person to person. For me, any specimen that requires close examination, less than a inches in size, qualifies as small. Additionally, I have some monochrome Hash Plate that resembles ordinary rock from as distance, making it challenging to discern fossils (my wife wonder why I'm keeping these rocks ). Do you have any suggestions for enhancing the visibility of such fossils? For instance, have you considered techniques like coloring the fossils to make them stand out against the matrix? Alternatively i could whiten the matrix and not color the fossil)

 

For example: 

 

Edited October 7, 2023 by Denis Arcand

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

On 10/7/2023 at 10:47 AM, ziggycardon said:

 

Those are some awesome specimen from the Sibber Quarry! I understand especially the Squalicorax is very rare, and to consider that size...!