Prototype DIY Armatures for Larger Fossils

[Opabinia Blues]

I have some larger fossil bones which I have been struggling to figure out how to display besides just setting them on the shelf. I’ve seen some welded “spider arm” armatures on the web for sale, but they tend to retail around $25 each, which is more than I would want to spend. So, I decided to try my hand at DIY.

 

I went down to the local Ace Hardware and bought about $50 worth of materials: a 2X4, a coil of 25 pound galvanized steel wire, 18th” diameter copper pipe, silver/zinc solder and flux, and a soldering iron. I don’t consider myself to be a very handy person and my last experience with a soldering iron involved giving myself a horrific burn as a child, so needless to say this was quite out of my comfort zone.

 

I started by soldering together two lengths of steel wire in a cross shape, and then soldering a cut length of copper pipe at a 90 degree angle to the pipe to form the armature. It took me a while to figure out how to effectively solder the joints given that my only education came from YouTube Academy, but I managed to solder a few strong joints, even if they aren’t the prettiest.

 

I cut a wooden base off the 2X4 with a hand saw, since I don’t own a table saw, and then sanded. I drilled a 1/8th inch hole in the base and inserted the armature into the base before bending the wire into a shape to accommodate the fossil. I made two stands to start as proof of concept.

 

And what do you know, it works! The bases definitely look rough, but the pipe isn’t glued into them so it should be easy to replace the bases with something nicer in the future. I decided to make stands for the end of a rex toe bone I found at Hell Creek a few years back and an archaeocete whale vertebra from Morocco.

 

Granted, I could’ve spent the same amount of money and just bought two professionally made stands, but I have the materials to make several more of these so after this it’s just cost averaging down.

 

[JamieLynn]

Don't forget to include your time and labor in your cost analysis! hahhaha!!  But seriously - well done on DIY - it's very satisfying to know you have created it yourself, isn't it? And you have learned a valuable skill!