Trilobite dilema

[Bringing Fossils to Life]

After many fossil hunts at Seven Stars, I finally found a large, prone, almost complete Dipleura dekayi! However, the way the shale split when I chiseled it open, all of the body fossil except the pygidium and a few adjacent segments are on one rock, visible ventrally , but with a thin covering of rock, and the imprint of this covering on the other rock. My original idea was to glue it all back together with field consolidant, then use my dremel tips to prep all the way through the one rock to reveal the trilobite dorsally. However, I am a beginner preparator, and have no assurance (I understand that one can never have assurance that preparation will go well) that everything will work out well, and also the cool textured doublure and the associated hypostome fragment would never be able to be seen again, covered by the rest of the cephalon. Another solution is simply to prep it ventrally, which was not what i was originally what I was going for. Is it possible to prep the cephalon off so that it is removable, so that the underside of it can be visible? Are there any suggestions from seasoned preparators about how I should go about preparing this Dipleura dekayi, which is undoubtedly one of the best specimens in my collection?

 

Thanks for any help in advance; if no clear-cut ideas are given, I may not do anything to it just yet.

 

The main rock, with the impression and the posterior segments:

 

The smaller rock that come off, with the ventrally preserved anterior body with some rock covering it.

 

A 20x magnified view of the doublure and hypostome, showing the striated texture similar to that of unrelated trilobites such as Isotelus, which have been suggested to have been for grading prey on.

Edited February 25 by Bringing Fossils to Life

[Bringing Fossils to Life]

@Kane@Fossildude19

[Kane]

Please do not go Dremel on this. It really needs a mix of air scribes and abrasion. As someone who says they are a beginner at prep, this is an intermediate level prep job, and if you go forward on your own, I see this ending in tears. 

 

But, yes, gluing together and preparing dorsally is the way to go, but only if you have both the right tools and the experience. If it were mine, I'd ensure both sides to be glued are meticulously brushed to remove every grain of dirt, every mote of dust. Even a nanometre of space between the two halves can mean the shell will blow off. I would glue it, clamp it, and let it cure for day. I would also go with a very thin superglue, and remember that less is more. One trick to make it spread is to blow on it. A too viscous glue, or too much, will cause a kind of bubble between the two sides to be adhered. 

 

This is a piece you might want to keep put aside for now until you get the experience and tools, or alternatively entrust it to someone who does.

[Bringing Fossils to Life]

Okay, I will not try to prep it and I will try to find someone who can.