Fossil Preservation Help Needed- Vinac Method

[fossiljunkie]

i am finding some invertebrate fossil in road cuts that are a little fragile. they seem to want to flake and i would like to stabilize them.

after some reading of some past posts here i've decided i want to stabilize them with vinac instead of butvar.

the fossils are in shale and i wanted to get some advise. after thinning the vinac with acetone i will have it thin enough to lightly brush the vinac solution onto the fossil. this should strengthen and stabilize the fossil.

should i also apply the vinac to the actual piece of slate also if i see some micro cracks or would that not be a good idea. any help would be appreciated thanks

[Harry Pristis]

i am finding some invertebrate fossil in road cuts that are a little fragile. they seem to want to flake and i would like to stabilize them.

after some reading of some past posts here i've decided i want to stabilize them with vinac instead of butvar.

the fossils are in shale and i wanted to get some advise. after thinning the vinac with acetone i will have it thin enough to lightly brush the vinac solution onto the fossil. this should strengthen and stabilize the fossil.

should i also apply the vinac to the actual piece of slate also if i see some micro cracks or would that not be a good idea. any help would be appreciated thanks

Experiment on some wasters.

Here's a suggestion: Place the chunk of matrix into a shallow container. Add a little consolidant to the container and allow the matrix to soak up the consolidant. Do not pour the consolidant onto the specimen. Do not move the specimen when wet.

Add and remove consolidant at any point in the process with a turkey baster (from the dollar store). Allow to air dry without moving the specimen.

[jpc]

My two cents: get a simple eyedropper and drop the vinac onto the specimens as they lie on a piece of wax papaer (vinac-proof). As Harry said, experiment on junkers. I see a problem with Harry's technique... how do you get the specimen out of the vinac bath without destroying it? I've done it by putting the specimen on a screen with some sort of string handles. Dunk the screen with fossil on it into the bath then lift it all up by the string handles. But a complete dunk always scares me. Keep this in mind as well: when using any acetone based consolidant, after you put some on said specimen and let it dry, if you need to put some more on, do so very slowly. The first thing that a second dose will do is the acetone in it will dissolve the first dose of actual vinac and the specimen could fall apart. yes, I know this to be a fact.

[Harry Pristis]

My two cents: get a simple eyedropper and drop the vinac onto the specimens as they lie on a piece of wax papaer (vinac-proof). As Harry said, experiment on junkers. I see a problem with Harry's technique... how do you get the specimen out of the vinac bath without destroying it? ...

Well, I see no problem with using an eye-dropper to apply the consolidant. I would prefer a beer-flat (rather than wax paper) as backer, since the cardboard will absorb dribbles yet won't stick to the specimen at the proper dilution of consolidant.

With regard to your problem, my suggestion was to put a little consolidant into the container to allow the specimen to soak up (capillary action, from the bottom) as much as it needed (judgement call after some practice). Rather than a bath, think of it as "a sponge" bath. I suggested not to move the specimen when wet, but to remove any excess consolidant from the container with a baster. In other words, the specimen would dry in an emptied container.