Affordable Trilobite Preparation Setup

[Malcolmt]

The one they sell in the grocery stores , in canada it comes in a 1 pound orange and blue colored box. It comes in a decent micron size , is very uniform in particle size and you can heat it in the oven at 225 to get rid of the water it absorbs.

 

The blast boxes that I am aware of on Amazon that are a decent size are very expensive. The dental units are small and meant for occasional use with aluminum oxide, not use for hour after hour. The dental units tend to have the glass at an angle which makes it harder to use a scope or a magnifying lens. Also the glass in them is really expensive to replace. The light inside gets covered in dust withing minutes of use. I have a $500 dental blast unit sitting in my crawl space with a total of about 10 hours on it. It was useless for fossil work.

 

All you need to make a blast box is a electric drill , a hand saw and a screw driver and a hammer. Can't believe you do not have that. Yes it is easier with electric tools but they are not required

 

If it does not specifically say hepa then it is likely not also they do not generally include a drywall dust bag. Tou need that type of bag to have any chance of catching the small particles that really get in the air and will screw your lungs up bad and burn the motor out.

[Fossil-Hound]

@Ptychodus04 and @Malcolmt all right I won't skimp on the respirator and will make sure to pick up hepa vac. As for a blast cabinet I do have most of the tools packed away. I suppose I'm just nervous about messing up the cabinet. I wonder if there are any cheap ones on craiglist. If I do build one it may take me some time to get it just right. Thanks for the pointers!

[Ptychodus04]

4 minutes ago, Fossil-Hound said:

@Ptychodus04 and @Malcolmt all right I won't skimp on the respirator and will make sure to pick up hepa vac. As for a blast cabinet I do have most of the tools packed away. I suppose I'm just nervous about messing up the cabinet. I wonder if there are any cheap ones on craiglist. If I do build one it may take me some time to get it just right. Thanks for the pointers!

 

Don't worry about getting it just right. The plans @Malcolmt has posted previously are very easy to follow (I'm inspired to make one now). All you really need is a box with 2 holes for your hands, a lid with a window in it, a light, and somewhere to connect your vac.

 

Don't overthink it. A prep lab is an ever evolving creature.

[Malcolmt]

You can't mess up a blast cabinet. I am a basic carpetry clutz and I built mine with no plans in an afternoon and have probably been using it 10 years....

[rew]

What's the best way to combine magnification with a blast box?

 

[Kane]

3 hours ago, rew said:

What's the best way to combine magnification with a blast box?

 

Perhaps the best type of blast box will have a flat top as opposed to one on an incline. That way you can position the lens of the microscope to sit atop the glass. A Barlow Lens is pretty much required to allow for enough working distance between the scope and the specimen.

[Sagebrush Steve]

3 hours ago, Kane said:

Perhaps the best type of blast box will have a flat top as opposed to one on an incline. That way you can position the lens of the microscope to sit atop the glass. A Barlow Lens is pretty much required to allow for enough working distance between the scope and the specimen.

Yeah, I’m surprised no one mentioned the Barlow lens earlier in this thread.  And they come in different powers.  Make sure you get the one labeled 0.5x.  It doubles the working distance and cuts the magnification in half.

[Ptychodus04]

12 hours ago, rew said:

What's the best way to combine magnification with a blast box?

 

I just got a box with a slanted window. I’m going to cut a fresnel lens from an old tv to fit and see how that does for lower magnification. I’m also going mount my microscope boom so it holds at the right angle. Will post pics once I have it worked out.

[Sagebrush Steve]

4 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

I just got a box with a slanted window. I’m going to cut a fresnel lens from an old tv to fit and see how that does for lower magnification. I’m also going mount my microscope boom so it holds at the right angle. Will post pics once I have it worked out.