Freaky-Scribbles Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Here is the place near my home that i found to be a good site for trilobite. http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/001/6/b/shale_bed_by_freaky_scribbles-d367r9y.jpg Any tips on how to dig the shale out without destroying it? My wife and I went today, and found a bunch of stuff, but a lot of them broke while pulling the shale out. We couldn't get sheets out, so everything sort of snapped off. Just wondering about the tools or techniques. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Here is the place near my home that i found to be a good site for trilobite. http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/001/6/b/shale_bed_by_freaky_scribbles-d367r9y.jpg Any tips on how to dig the shale out without destroying it? My wife and I went today, and found a bunch of stuff, but a lot of them broke while pulling the shale out. We couldn't get sheets out, so everything sort of snapped off. Just wondering about the tools or techniques. A good pry bar will help with leverage. The techniques are variable to some degree. By trial and error you'll quickly discover what works best. Identify the layer(s) that are yielding the higher frequency of fossils and dedicate your effort there. Find a spot that you can remove a large amount of matrix from and then move left and right to come from the side and behind. I spend more time 'tunneling' in than I do anything else. More leverage equals bigger slabs. Eventually you'll be extracting larger sections of adjoining rock to split. Nothing beats the thrill of strip mining for fossils! Good Luck and please post the photos of any cool fossils! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freaky-Scribbles Posted January 2, 2011 Author Share Posted January 2, 2011 A good pry bar will help with leverage. The techniques are variable to some degree. By trial and error you'll quickly discover what works best. Identify the layer(s) that are yielding the higher frequency of fossils and dedicate your effort there. Find a spot that you can remove a large amount of matrix from and then move left and right to come from the side and behind. I spend more time 'tunneling' in than I do anything else. More leverage equals bigger slabs. Eventually you'll be extracting larger sections of adjoining rock to split. Nothing beats the thrill of strip mining for fossils! Good Luck and please post the photos of any cool fossils! Hmm, and idea has occurred...now i must wait till the morning. I have a few tools i can bring out, including an electric concrete saw, sort of like a recip but smaller. I foundafew areas where it was turning out every fossil i had found, so i'll go and cut out a foot wide section, maybe 6 inches tall and see if i can pull it out on it's own. I really thought i would have had to be more careful...but if it's just getting at the rock then i have enough tools to deface a mountain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 I really thought i would have had to be more careful...but if it's just getting at the rock then i have enough tools to deface a mountain Now I'm getting excited .... what time should I meet you? I'll bring the coffee and donuts! :Bananasaur: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freaky-Scribbles Posted January 2, 2011 Author Share Posted January 2, 2011 Now I'm getting excited .... what time should I meet you? I'll bring the coffee and donuts! :Bananasaur: Lol! I got all the time to go out and dig. So whenever is good! lol I went ahead andcalled a friend of mine so i'm going to try at it again in the morning. I think what i'm going to do is bring a power drill to pilot some holes around a perimeter, so i can keep the rock from slipping or trying to break in a section i didn't control. I'll make a box around it and run the saw through, and take some pliers to see if i can pull them slabs out slowly. I used needle nose to peel at them today, but i'm going to try a few things tomorrow on those heavier rocks. I had a good place to start today, that i unfortunately found atthe very end...i was grabbing things left and right! It's probably for the best though since i was just raking out the stone with the back of my hammer, and breaking things. I'll do it more controlled tomorrow morning, and hopefully post up some nice finds for you all to see! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Open up some wiggle room, but watch your head! Seriously! "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 k, leds do some surbible math - steep wall + fissile denseness = widowmaker if'n i were you, i'd get me a big ole truck full of butvar and spray that sucker till it's all good and stable and then hang a plaque on it sayin' "FS's In-Situ Fossil Collection". then go find yerself a sloped place to peck at where you got a fightin' chance of walkin' away laughin' from a migshap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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