Tr-J-K Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 I know that some if not most people on here also do some prep work on their specimens. I'm just curious to see what everyone is working on. What do you spend the most time prepping? What do you all use for stabilizers? What are your favorite prep tools? I'm just a naturally curious fellow, I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tr-J-K Posted July 12, 2009 Author Share Posted July 12, 2009 I guess I can start then... Currently I'm prepping out a Poebrotherium lower jaw and skull. The skull is really just the braincase, but the lower jaw is basically all there except for at the symphysis. I'm just using my trusty old dental tools...can't spring for a air scribe at the moment. I like this White River stuff because the bone tends to be nice and hard compared to the shale matrix. I'll post some pics in a little while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Did you find it yourself? The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 man, i had to get rid of the "round tuit" i had here. too big and too bright (or not bright enough, depending on one's perspective). well, i have a semi-huge chunk of matrix from the dolese quarry that has permian reptile bones in it that i'll probably never prep due to permianently laziness. but with larger stuff, i don't think there's any substitute for a mini-jackhammer and and air-abrasive machine. i've used that stuff, and i've also tried to do things by hand, and there's just absolutely no comparison. over time in the course of preparation of different things, i've also used brushes, picks, dremel tools, vinegar, bleach, water, baking soda, cyanoacrylate glue, pva glue, pva beads, acetone, denatured ethyl alcohol, and beer. the common indispensbialityness for all prep of all fossils would be probably the beer. functionally, it can either assist in steadiness and hand-eye coordination, or, alternatively, it can assist in ignoring the results of a lack of steadiness and hand-eye coordination. all prep work should be done either in jamaica or australia. no worries, mon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tr-J-K Posted July 12, 2009 Author Share Posted July 12, 2009 Did you find it yourself? I wish. I'd love to be able to head out and collect White River stuff, but this was collected by someone else. I've actually got a whole box full of White River herbivore skulls awaiting prep work, in varying states of preservation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiphactinus Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 I've got a complete pleistocene buffalo skull that needs a little cleanup and stabilization (Vinac) and I've been working on an exploded Cretaceous turtle from Kansas off and on for awhile. Very frustrating fossil!!! Getting ready to start on an 8' complete Pachyrhizodus fish from Kansas that's intimidated me for a few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tr-J-K Posted July 12, 2009 Author Share Posted July 12, 2009 Getting ready to start on an 8' complete Pachyrhizodus fish from Kansas that's intimidated me for a few years. After seeing that complete Xiphactinus you did, I find it hard to believe that you are intimidated by any fossil! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest solius symbiosus Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Among the many tools that I own, my favorites are an old pin vice, 2 oz hammer, and a Ramsden lens. I should add that I probably spend more time with those than anything else that I own(Comco, Chicago Neumatics, Sears, Belomo ... ect). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 ...Getting ready to start on an 8' complete Pachyrhizodus fish from Kansas that's intimidated me for a few years. See you in 2015 (I'll set a GDB aside, hopefully where I can find it later...). "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archimedes Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 My favorite tools are my stainless steel dental picks I have made into a wide variety small tools and chisels, my engraving tools electric and pneumatic, and of coarse a box cutter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramo Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 I'm starting to get a pretty big pile of stuff to prep, considering how much work I've had lately, compounded by how much I have to do on my new house. I kind of like the idea of taking a vacation to Jamaica and doing all my prep work. That remindes me of the time I met Allen Deitrick (sp). He used to live in Great Bend Kansas and had a big T-rex he was in the process of selling. But he was getting ready to sell his "antique" store, and he said he was moving to florida, where he could relax and put all his fossils together in the sand and sun. For one species to mourn the death of another is a new thing under the sun. -Aldo Leopold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Ive usually got an ammonite on the go, maybe sorting some plant bits out of old shale, triming it down.... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tr-J-K Posted July 13, 2009 Author Share Posted July 13, 2009 So, here are some pictures of the work so far. To clarify, this didn't come from my box o skulls, which is still somewhere out in California, but from ePay. Saw it had some potential, as it already had some preliminary prep work done. I've just started to scratch the surface, so to speak. Looks like a juvenile, compared to some other specimens I've seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Playing with this in my spare time, which I seem to have very little of. At this rate, I might be done by the end of the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tr-J-K Posted July 14, 2009 Author Share Posted July 14, 2009 Playing with this in my spare time, which I seem to have very little of. At this rate, I might be done by the end of the year. Looking nice! Are you going to leave the matrix on the right of the specimen as a "mount" or clean the entire thing up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 Looking nice! Are you going to leave the matrix on the right of the specimen as a "mount" or clean the entire thing up? Yes, leaving the matrix to the right. There is also some on the backside that you can't see in the picture. It took me quite a while to decide which side to clean. The matrix is cracked on the back side. Hopefully it won't pop out. I can always glue it back in I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiphactinus Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 After seeing that complete Xiphactinus you did, I find it hard to believe that you are intimidated by any fossil! My intimidation is that it isn't as well preserved....no ribs, and the fish folded over on itself. But it has a great skull and all the verts and tail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tr-J-K Posted July 16, 2009 Author Share Posted July 16, 2009 and the fish folded over on itself Mmm, yes, I can see how that would be difficult! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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