Eopachydiscus clean up/prep?

[jonnyk90]

Hello everyone , this is my  first post on here so go easy on me lol. I just bought this Eopachydiscus and im waiting on it in the mail. Is there anything i can do to clean it up a little ? or do you think i sjhould just leave it as is? thanks for your time !

p.s -its 12 inches across if you needed an idea of size.

[-AnThOnY-]

I would say it come down to your comfort level. I usually use an air scribe and try to make it to the center but these duck creek ammonites have a tendency to 'fizzle out' and don't have the center whorls preserved very well. If you don't have a scribe, I have had decent luck with a flat head screw driver and a hammer/small sledge for bulk matrix removal, just play it safe and dont go crazy beating on it. 

 

The first picture you posted looks like that center chunk of matrix will separate pretty easily. I wouldnt fool around with the other side

[jonnyk90]

ok thats exactly what i was thinking ,i have a lot of small chisels and hammers but no airscribe... I will be getting one soon though . Thanks for your input Anthony!

[Ptychodus04]

You can do a pile of prep work without a scribe. Make sure you use cold chisels and not wood chisels. Also, you can use a drywall screw and a small hammer for detail matrix removal.

 

Most of the Duck Creek limestone is relatively soft (except for when it has a gray tinge to it, then, it is hard as concrete) and responds well to hand tools.

[jonnyk90]

6 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

You can do a pile of prep work without a scribe. Make sure you use cold chisels and not wood chisels. Also, you can use a drywall screw and a small hammer for detail matrix removal.

 

Most of the Duck Creek limestone is relatively soft (except for when it has a gray tinge to it, then, it is hard as concrete) and responds well to hand tools.

Thanks Ptychodus04 , yea they are masonry chisels which should work fine right>? I'm not going to go crazy on this piece cause these duck creek fossils tend to not be preserved with much detail. I just want to knock out that middle piece.

[Ptychodus04]

19 minutes ago, jonnyk90 said:

Thanks Ptychodus04 , yea they are masonry chisels which should work fine right>? I'm not going to go crazy on this piece cause these duck creek fossils tend to not be preserved with much detail. I just want to knock out that middle piece.

That should work. Often times, people try to use wood chisels and that can be dangerous.

[jonnyk90]

53 minutes ago, Ptychodus04 said:

That should work. Often times, people try to use wood chisels and that can be dangerous.

yea my dad was a woodworker and always told me never to use wood chisels on anything but wood .