New dig area, larger more complete trilobite, assuming Eldredgeops ?

[Rocky Stoner]

Hey folks, I'm exited ! #30 IS IN !

The first chunk of shale from the new dig at the outcrop mentioned earlier yielded this specimen.

It is much, MUCH larger than all the others and looks as if it would have been complete if it hadn't broke out at the edge of the chunk.

This shale is very unstable with fractures all over and throughout. It may fall apart at any moment so I photo'd it before doing anything else.

I assume it is an Eldredgeops? I think it would be well over 2" long if all of it was there. I never expected to see one this size, how large do they get ?

 

I may try to stabilize it with watered down elmers, or what would you suggest ?

 

Thanks folks, 30 might be my lucky number now.

More pics after I "dig in".

Kindest regards.

[Darktooth]

Nice find! While the trilo bares resemblance to Eldredgeops I don't know if that is in fact correct. I hope you have some yard left!

[Miocene_Mason]

I believe it is eldregeops, althoug others can confirm. This one looks complete! Great find! As for stabilizing it, others can give the best advice. Let's see what @Ptychodus04 has to say....

[Ptychodus04]

I would drop some stabilizing solution into the cracks. Depending on the severity of the cracking this could be vinac and acetone or superglue.

 

Try to let it wick into the cracks without letting it soak into the matrix in top on the fossil if possible. If not, then consolidate the whole thing with vinac and deal with the over bonding later with a scribe and abrasive.

[ynot]

Nice find!

Soon You should have Your complete one.

[Fossildude19]

Way to go, Rocky!

Some good advice offered here.

Regards,

[izak_]

Nice find! 

[Wrangellian]

1 hour ago, Ptychodus04 said:

I would drop some stabilizing solution into the cracks. Depending on the severity of the cracking this could be vinac and acetone or superglue.

 

Try to let it wick into the cracks without letting it soak into the matrix in top on the fossil if possible. If not, then consolidate the whole thing with vinac and deal with the over bonding later with a scribe and abrasive.

You don't think a scribe/abrasive would be too harsh to remove a thin layer of glue? I usually have no trouble removing Acryloid from a surface just with a q-tip dipped in acetone. I don't know if Vinac is different..?

[Sagebrush Steve]

What's that under the Eldridgeops?  Looks like maybe a brachiopod?  Was Eldy having lunch when he met his end?

[Ptychodus04]

7 hours ago, Wrangellian said:

You don't think a scribe/abrasive would be too harsh to remove a thin layer of glue? I usually have no trouble removing Acryloid from a surface just with a q-tip dipped in acetone. I don't know if Vinac is different..?

 

It all depends on how much you consolidate the piece. If you have to do so much that the matrix becomes well bonded with the specimen, then it usually requires more aggressive measures to get it off. 

 

I usually scribe down close to the specimen and then use abrasive to finish it off. If the specimen required substantial consolidation to keep it from falling apart you take a big chance going after it with acetone (like @JohnBrewer's ichthyosaur paddle) since it will try to start falling apart again.

[Rocky Stoner]

10 hours ago, Darktooth said:

Nice find! While the trilo bares resemblance to Eldredgeops I don't know if that is in fact correct. I hope you have some yard left!

  I read where the eldridgeops are up to 4" long. Maybe we can determine for sure after further exposure. This was in a small outcrop beside the road, the yard is safe .... for now.

10 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

I would drop some stabilizing solution into the cracks. Depending on the severity of the cracking this could be vinac and acetone or superglue.

 

Try to let it wick into the cracks without letting it soak into the matrix in top on the fossil if possible. If not, then consolidate the whole thing with vinac and deal with the over bonding later with a scribe and abrasive.

Treating the individual cracks seems to have done the trick. The shale itself is very stable and of "mid" hardness, just fractured into several block like pieces. Turns out that this first harvest of the outcrop is the shale that has been exposed to the elements over the years, just a bit further in, the shale is much more stable.

Hope to scratch him out soon, will post more pics for ID confirmation later.

Thanks to all.

Regards.

[Plax]

the Mahantango is prone to having concretions also which are harder and sometimes likely to have trilobites in them. I recall some purplish ones along rt 61 north of Deer Lake (across from a flea market) that had trilos and crinoid calyces. Not common though and you had to break a lot of concretions.

[Rocky Stoner]

I tried to clean this up and have a few questions.

I don't see the eyes, have I dug deep enough ? or are they gone ?

The right eye area, is that a piece of the cephalon that has separated and slid down out of position ?

It looks like it would fit in the eye area but is smooth, not textured.

When prepping something like this, do you remove all of the flaky remnants of the actual "shell" material ?

Thanks, kind regards.

[Miocene_Mason]

First of all nice prepwork! Secondly, looks like the eye has broken off and only the cast remains. I'd leave the shell pieces, and maybe coat it  with something at the end if it's too flaky. Just missing the eye and the pygidium though, very close to the full one!

[Rocky Stoner]

So that slid down chip is the "cheek" piece that was underneath the actual eye ?

Thanks WhodamanHD.

[Miocene_Mason]

4 minutes ago, Rocky Stoner said:

So that slid down chip is the "cheek" piece that was underneath the actual eye ?

Thanks WhodamanHD.

I believe so. No problem happy to help! Looks like a spiriferid (Mucrospirifer?) under it too.

[JohnBrewer]

8 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

 

It all depends on how much you consolidate the piece. If you have to do so much that the matrix becomes well bonded with the specimen, then it usually requires more aggressive measures to get it off. 

 

I usually scribe down close to the specimen and then use abrasive to finish it off. If the specimen required substantial consolidation to keep it from falling apart you take a big chance going after it with acetone (like @JohnBrewer's ichthyosaur paddle) since it will try to start falling apart again.

Am I being told of here Kris?! @Ptychodus04

[Ptychodus04]

13 minutes ago, JohnBrewer said:

Am I being told of here Kris?! @Ptychodus04

 

Never! Just providing a real life example of the joys of dealing with extremely friable matrix. One thing that I always go back to is a comment that Dr. Tykoski ant the Perot made about prepping extremely over-consolidated specimens... "It's better to have a specimen to prep that has been soaked in superglue than nothing to prep at all."

 

Without your very generous gift of applied Paraloid, the paddle would not have survived long. Heavily consolidated shale is nothing for the Micro Jack. It just takes a long time with a tiny scribe. Just wait, you won't recognize it in a couple weeks.

[JohnBrewer]

Yay! And 

[Wrangellian]

20 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

 

It all depends on how much you consolidate the piece. If you have to do so much that the matrix becomes well bonded with the specimen, then it usually requires more aggressive measures to get it off. 

 

I usually scribe down close to the specimen and then use abrasive to finish it off. If the specimen required substantial consolidation to keep it from falling apart you take a big chance going after it with acetone (like @JohnBrewer's ichthyosaur paddle) since it will try to start falling apart again.

Maybe I misunderstood but it sounded like you were talking about removing vinac from an already-exposed fossil surface (without matrix covering it) using scribe/abrasive..

[Ptychodus04]

6 hours ago, Wrangellian said:

Maybe I misunderstood but it sounded like you were talking about removing vinac from an already-exposed fossil surface (without matrix covering it) using scribe/abrasive..

 

I was talking about removing overly consolidated matrix from a specimen. 

 

[Wrangellian]

11 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

 

I was talking about removing overly consolidated matrix from a specimen. 

 

Got it.

Does scribing/abrasive work pretty well in removing matrix that is bonded to the fossil with consolidant - does vinac/butvar or superglue not cause it to stick too firmly that you risk abrading the fossil away?

I take it you would use acetone with a q-tip to remove vinac on top of an already-exposed fossil, like I mentioned?

[Ptychodus04]

On 8/1/2017 at 5:03 PM, Wrangellian said:

Got it.

Does scribing/abrasive work pretty well in removing matrix that is bonded to the fossil with consolidant - does vinac/butvar or superglue not cause it to stick too firmly that you risk abrading the fossil away?

I take it you would use acetone with a q-tip to remove vinac on top of an already-exposed fossil, like I mentioned?

 

Matrix that has been glued to the specimen with Vinac/Butvar/Paraloid is a pain to remove but can be done. You have to be very careful not to wreck the fossil but under a microscope it's usually ok. It's a slow process. I use my Micro Jack when I get close to the specimen and then abrasive to finish it up.

 

Superglue is much worse. It builds up a hard nasty glob that has to be scribed off more than abraided off. I only use it when I can't employ Vinac to get the job done or the piece requires a fast setting bond. If I can use Vinac as the adhesive and clamp the pieces together I do that.

 

I use straight acetone on a q-tip or lint free cloth to remove surface Vinac. That works very well without compromising the consolidation of the piece.

[Wrangellian]

Thanks... That's kind of what I thought.