JimB88 Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 Ive recently been collecting in a paper and really thin and crumbly shale. Any Ideas on how to strengthen it so it doesn't crumble. I thought of adhering it to a thin board - but would like to know what others do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 sounds kinda frustrating and ephemeral. i'd probably change locations but cirrusly, got pictures of what yer dealing with? some shale is just really fissile and born to fall apart. glueing it to a more stable substrate isn't a bad idea, but you would then still probably need to apply a consolidant to the shale itself in a manner so as not to put any pressure or stress on the material. depending on how big the pieces are and how important the fossils, i might try to use cyanoacrylate (super glue). if not, i'd prefer to use vinac if i could. if i had to, i'd consider punting and spraying the shale with a non-glossy acrylic. hard to tell what the game plan would be without having the material in front of me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blastoid Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Around these parts the average collector faced with something nice from the Arkona Formation, which is nothing but dried out clay, will apply several coats of highly diluted white glue, eg. Elmer's, to the sides and back. If you don't slop the stuff all over, it doesn't look all that bad, and will at least keep the thing together until you can prep and consolidate it properly. More advanced collectors will have access to proper consolidants, but Elmer's does the trick as far as I can see. Blastoid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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