Stingray Prep - Slow and Steady

[Ptychodus04]

I think I started a thread about this stingray last summer but I can’t find it. Perhaps it got lost in the technical shenanigans last year. Either way, I’ll start fresh.

 

Whilst digging in Kemmerer last summer (6 glorious days) I found a complete stingray in the Sandwich Beds. Since I share dig there, my finds are split with the quarry operators. I traded a nice Phareodus they I had found for being able to keep the ray. I think it was a win for both of us. He can sell a Phareodus faster than a ray and I didn’t have a ray yet.

 

Time spent on it to date is 15 hours over nearly a year. I only get to work on it between contract work and those have been really keeping me busy.

 

The matrix is really thin and flaky so, first order of business was to glue it to a 3/4” plywood backing. With that done, destroying the specimen becomes a lot harder.

 

Prep on this is really slow as I’m using my most delicate scribe (ZOIC Balaur with a 1mm needle point stylus). The specimen is VERY fragile and loads of Paraloid are applied regularly to keep it together.

 

To complicate the process further, a good portion of the specimen is delaminated directly below the bits you want to keep. This means I’m regularly dribbling large quantities of Paraloid into cracks to get it to lock down. It’s a painstaking process of using an eye dropper you apply a small amount and letting it suck into the crack. This is repeated until the crack does not draw and Paraloid in. Sometimes, this goes on for 10-15 minutes per crack.

 

The unfortunate side effect of this is that the nice, soft matrix on top of the specimen also becomes a we’ll consolidated block once the Paraloid is hard. 

This is the specimen as found.

 

 

 

 

After I had an idea of the extents of the specimen, I trimmed the backing and matrix to make it easier to move around. I’ll likely trim the bottom to even out that side at a later time. You can clearly see the Paraloid filled matrix on top of the specimen on the fins in this photo.

 

 

[aerogrower]

Can't even imagine the patience you must have!!

 

 

[trilobites_are_awesome]

Wow! I know full well the patience a project of this magnitude requires!

[Ptychodus04]

1 hour ago, aerogrower said:

Can't even imagine the patience you must have!!

 

 

 

1 hour ago, trilobites_are_awesome said:

Wow! I know full well the patience a project of this magnitude requires!

 

It's the difference between a piece going to the junk pile and one that will go on the wall.  It does drive one up the wall though. I couldn't imagine working on it without the right tools. 

[Randyw]

Beautiful! I’m so jealous of this piece! But I’m glad it’s you prepping it and not me! LOL!!

[Ptychodus04]

34 minutes ago, Randyw said:

Beautiful! I’m so jealous of this piece! But I’m glad it’s you prepping it and not me! LOL!!

 

Come on, where's your sense of adventure? 

[hadrosauridae]

Gorgeous ray!  One of those are still on my list to find.

[Randyw]

8 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

 

Come on, where's your sense of adventure? 

Got a great sense of adventure but I also know my limitations and that’s too gorgeous for me to ruin! I still got a rabbit skull I'm too nervous to prep!

[Ptychodus04]

13 hours ago, hadrosauridae said:

Gorgeous ray!  One of those are still on my list to find.

I was really lucky to find a complete specimen on my first. It almost wasn’t. The rock broke as I picked it up and I barely caught it. Also, a bit of the tail almost fell off but I was able to glue it down.

 

12 hours ago, Randyw said:

Got a great sense of adventure but I also know my limitations and that’s too gorgeous for me to ruin! I still got a rabbit skull I'm too nervous to prep!

You’re a wise man!

[AK hiker]

That is looking really good! I have just returned from 2 half days in GRF quarries and wish I had consolidated before shipping to AK. Can see the wisdom of binding as you prep as well.

[Ptychodus04]

15 hours ago, AK hiker said:

That is looking really good! I have just returned from 2 half days in GRF quarries and wish I had consolidated before shipping to AK. Can see the wisdom of binding as you prep as well.

 

Shipping GRF fossils can have disastrous consequences. I'm always nervous driving specimens the 1,200 miles to and from Texas, and that's me personally driving them. Put them in the hands of the postal service and you're almost guaranteed damage.

 

Consolidating as you prep is often a must, especially with the flakier Sandwich Bed material. 18" material is often ok throughout the prep unless you're working on specimens from a weathered pad.

 

Almost as soon as I got back on this prep, I have it back in the storage room. Paying prep work arrived and I'll likely be back at this thread this winter.