What do you look for when starting a prep?

[DessaRose]

OK, So someone in the group is my new hero and sent me some Fox Hills concretions to practice on and I swear there are like a GAZILLION things to poke at and dig on, so my question is this, even though I am practicing, I want work on the "art" of it too... what do you do when examining a chunk o' rock? How do you start? Do you mark it up? What do you look for? What tips do you have for deciding what to save and what to keep? When do you decide to be cautious and slowly pick away or when do you know when the just give it a good WHACK...

No need to give away trade secrets, just the basic beginner tips that might seem obvious to those of you who are old hat at this... (like don't keep breathing on your magnifier lamp, it will fog up... OK just wanted to make you laugh, but I'm really struggling with that one haha)

So thanks in advance for any tips!

-Dessa

Just a close up of one of them with goodies.

(Scale Cat just for jpc)

[jpc]

concretions that are so thick with fossils can be a challenge. You will end up blasting through some things. You will discover others inside. Aim for the best ammonites (he says from an ammocentric viewpoint) and do your best to expose it. Also as you do this, keep in mind how you want to show it off in the end....maybe you want to keep a solid bas for example. Start with the least interesting concretions and work your way up to your favorite, so you will have some experience by the time you get there. We are getting into the artistic aspects of paleontology here...

I am sure others will have more comments. Good luck. Keep us posted.

[Ptychodus04]

On concretions like these, I mark what I see right away that I want to keep. I'm with JPC on my ammocentric viewing of the scenario. As you're removing matrix, go slowly so you can see hidden specimens. There's not much more heartbreaking than running your scribe through a beautiful ammonite just under the surface.

[RJB]

Do you have an airscribe? If so, what kind? I use the ME9100 almost exclusively. That rock is an easy prep even though the ammo is damaged. I would work around the smaller ammo and the gastropod that looks to be where the living chamber is and even work around what looks to be a small sphenodiscus? Then work around the edges of the ammo being careful of the damaged areas. Easy for to prep these, hard to explain how to prep. Here is a photo of how you should prep around the edges of the ammo and even all the above mentioned pieces. Good luck

RB

[DessaRose]

These are great suggestions, thank you. I have an engraver, it's doing the job well enough but I just saw some videos on air scribes.... I WANT!! NO NO, I NEED!!

I spent the afternoon working on an ammonite today and it's really very slow going. So far so good, I havent gotten much more un covered but I had a bunch of thick matrix I removed and had just gotten into the funner stuff when the engraver started to get too hot, so hopefully I will have better noticeable results when I work on it next. I love when, bit by bit, the ammonite keeps coming out, so its good to practice in patience HA! I just want to chisel the matrix off in a few big whacks and have it be amazing HAHA!

And some day I will be ready to tackle a show stopper (just not today)!

Here is the 'before" and "where I stopped for now"

[DessaRose]

RB, that ammonite is awesome and Ive been admiring your other stuff as well. Inspiring.

[Ptychodus04]

Dessa,

Slow and steady wins the race with fossil prep. Going fast always causes problems. Your prep is looking good.