Acid Prep

[losblancos3]

hey guys,

I'm new to posting, I hope this is in the right place. So I got these sorts of fossils from the Richmond/Hughenden Queensland area and I was wondering if there is any way to acid prep so I could be left with the fossil shark teeth and belemnites. The rock is not limestone....so I'm not sure if it's even possible.

Any help would be great

Thanks

Roy

[Auspex]

If it is not limestone, acid will not help (though it would do a number on the belemnites!).

If it is sandstone, you probably won't find a chemical approach. If it is shale, you could try Hydrogen Peroxide on some scrap material; be patient with it

[jpc]

no matter what the rock is, acid will eat the belemnites and you will be sad.

[losblancos3]

Thank you for the help! I guess i will have to get them the long way.

[jpc]

good luck and feel free to show us the final product. We love to see pix of fossils of all kinds.

Edited April 28, 2015 by jpc

[Ptychodus04]

You can coat the belemnites with PVA or PVB and then soak in a VERY dilute acid bath. This is a standard approach for acid prep on delicate specimens. The plastic will turn cloudy from the acid, but once re-coated it clears up.

Subsequent applications of PVA are required as matrix is removed in order to keep from damaging the specimen.