Prepping out crab concretions that are in two or more pieces

[RJB]

Ok, today I did a bunch of work on getting some crab concretions ready for prep.  Took me most of the day, but got 7 of them glued up and ready for prep once the glues sets up.  Im going to do a step by step for only one crab though.  Hope it turns out to be a good one?   here are some pics of my work today.  The first two pics are of the same crab that I will show the prep process of. 

 

RB

[Ptychodus04]

@RJB, what’s your preferred glue for putting these back together. I’ve used thin Paleobond in the past with less than satisfactory results. Maybe I need something thicker?

[RJB]

Hey @Ptychodus04, I use the thicker viscosity super glue when I do this.  Ive never had a problem with this glue. 

 

RB

[RJB]

@Ptychodus04,  I will say this:   I had just finished gluing and clamping up one of these concs and the misses called me.  When I went to hang up the phone,, one of my fingers was stuck to the phoone!!!  Ha!!!  I almost always get this dang glue onto my fngers!!!    

 

RB

[Ptychodus04]

1 hour ago, RJB said:

@Ptychodus04,  I will say this:   I had just finished gluing and clamping up one of these concs and the misses called me.  When I went to hang up the phone,, one of my fingers was stuck to the phoone!!!  Ha!!!  I almost always get this dang glue onto my fngers!!!    

 

RB

 

 I do that pretty often. I glued myself to a fish slab I was putting together the other day.

 

Thanks for the tip. I was wondering if the thicker glue was what I needed.

[ynot]

Again with the popcorn!?!!!

OH well....

[old bones]

11 hours ago, ynot said:

Again with the popcorn!?!!!

OH well....

Count me in...

[Ludwigia]

Yup, I'm developing a taste for popcorn as well, but I don't think I'll be eating as much as Tony You won't believe this and I still don't know how I managed it, but I once glued my lips together. Good thing I'm not much of a talker

[Ptychodus04]

9 minutes ago, Ludwigia said:

You won't believe this and I still don't know how I managed it, but I once glued my lips together. Good thing I'm not much of a talker

 

That's great!

 

My personal worst was 3 fingers and a thumb on one hand and fingers 2 on the other glued to a small concretion that was in several pieces. I felt like I was a fortune teller with a crystal ball. Oh, and 2 of the fingers had almost 1" of their length glued to their neighbor!

[Ludwigia]

1 minute ago, Ptychodus04 said:

 

That's great!

 

My personal worst was 3 fingers and a thumb on one hand and fingers 2 on the other glued to a small concretion that was in several pieces. I felt like I was a fortune teller with a crystal ball. Oh, and 2 of the fingers had almost 1" of their length glued to their neighbor!

I've had similar situations, but not quite that extreme.

[Ptychodus04]

35 minutes ago, Ludwigia said:

I've had similar situations, but not quite that extreme.

 

It was one of those times where you are amazed at how much glue the concretion is soaking up only to find it pouring onto your support hand through the concretion and then stupidly trying to wipe it off the bottom of the concretion with your other hand. (Insert Homer Simpson emoji). It was not a proud moment.

[JohnBrewer]

20 hours ago, RJB said:

Im going to do a step by step for only one crab though

Great @RJB  Ron. Always useful for those of us new to prep. Looking forward to this!

[RJB]

Nice to know that im not the only one who does stupid stuff!!!  Maybe we can start a 'stupid' club?  Who wants to be king of this club?  Ha!!! 

 

RB

[Miocene_Mason]

3 hours ago, RJB said:

Who wants to be king of this club?

*raises hand*

I’m also watching to see the magic worked on these guys.

[Ptychodus04]

14 hours ago, RJB said:

Nice to know that im not the only one who does stupid stuff!!!  Maybe we can start a 'stupid' club?  Who wants to be king of this club?  Ha!!! 

 

RB

 

I would rather be the royal fool. That’s all fun and dancing with really snappy outfits!

[JohnBrewer]

9 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

 

I would rather be the royal fool. That’s all fun and dancing with really snappy outfits!

[Ptychodus04]

Without the clarinet though @JohnBrewer. We are a brass instrument family. 

[RJB]

Alright you silly guys, I have done a bunch of rock removal to get some of these ready for the ME9100.  I had to do lots of rock removal with the Super Jack and take some tiime off.  The misses says i may be getting 'Carpal Tunel'?  i was hurting for sure and took a few days off to let my hand rest.  Sucks really.  Anyways, Ive got  of these 5 little babies ready to go and also did some work on #1.    It looks as ugly as can be with lots and lots of calcite.  No prepper likes calcite, but its one of those mother nature things you have to deal with from time to time. Im purty sure all these will be what i call B-Grades, but time will tell.  Once in awhile i do end up with an A-Grade thinking it is a B-grade.  Happens, but not very often.   Here are some pics of what ive dont so far.  Oh, the crab conc on the far left is #1.  Its turning out to be a very tuff prep job!!! 

 

RB

[Ptychodus04]

That’s a lot of scribe work. You might try wearing a wrist brace while you work if it is starting to bother you. It will support your wrist so you don’t get the internal swelling.

[crabfossilsteve]

Yeah Ron, I'm going through the same thing.  After a day of prep work my hand was giving me a good deal of pain, especially at night.  My problem has turned out to be arthritis.  Recommend you look on line for braces and check out exercises.  The carpal tunnel operation is not too bad from what I understand.  Do get it checked out soon than later before it gets too damaged.

[RJB]

Thank you Kris and Steve. 

 

RB

[RJB]

Man o man!  This is turning into a nightmare!  These last two batchs are driving me nuts!  No rear ends.  no legs.  Missing pincers.  Some extra sticky!  Just sooooooooooo many problems with this batch!  uuuuuuugh!!!

 

RB

[Ptychodus04]

Look on the bright side @RJB, at least you're learning how to prep finally.

 

BTW, that's a really nice ammonite on the left.

[Ludwigia]

Ya win some, ya lose some, I guess. I like that ammo too!

[RJB]

You funny dude @Ptychodus04    That ammo has been in more pictures than I can count!  Im gunna hafta get that dang thing finished so i can get it off my prep bench.

 

RB