Need Help Reassembling A Whale Vertebra

[bone digger]

I always dry fit the peices together before I do anything else. That way if they dont fit together well I can fix the problem before I stabalize them. Then if they fit together well I stabalize the two surfaces that are being joined plus any other cracks so it won't break again in the future. You want a very very thin glue so it will soak in and actually stabalize the whole bone and also so it won't affect the allignment of the peices. once stabalized (no need to wait any lenght of time) apply some super glue, hold for 30 seconds or so and your done. I don't worry if there are some voids in the interior of the joined peices, unless it is very large, the glue is plenty strong and if you start trying to fill those you could end up with to much stuff in there and then the peices wont join properly! It only needs to look good on the outside, you'll never see the inside again anyways. The only thing you need to stabalize and glue any bone is different viscosities of cyanoacrylates. I have been using paleobond, but it is very expensive, try starbond! If there is a gap on the outside that you want to fill, any epoxy putty or bondo will work, play with different ones till you find one you like. I like at least a 15 minute dry time, you want to be able to shape and texture the repair without feeling rushed cause you only have 5 minutes, it's much easier to get nice texture and shape with it wet then to try and carve and sand when it's dry. For authentic looking bone texture, try using a scrap pieces of broken bone, just push it lightly into the epoxy, works great! Needles work wonders for replicating very small holes that you find in bone! Try all kinds of different things and you'll find some that work great. Most epoxys are a little sticky so you may need to wet the object before you push it in or it will stick and make a mess of your work, always have a bowl of water handy. Once youv'e done that, if you want to paint it, use acrylics. Mixtures of various amounts of black, burnt umber, van dyck red, yellow ochre and white will replicate any bone colour you will ever find.

[Xiphactinus]

Another good filler/repairer is Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty. It comes in a powder and can be mixed to various consistencies....while still hardening you can shape/clean with water. When hardened, you can sand it or carve like soft stone.

[Harry Pristis]

FossilFreak, thanks for asking.

I went with Harry's suggestion to use Duco cement since I'd already tried to consolidate the pieces using a Duco-acetone mixture. The Duco worked well, staying on the surface of the edges being glued, with little absorption. The glue set fairly quickly.

As the pictures below show, the repair job left something to be desired. At least 2 reasons for the repair seams remaining pretty visible. First, my ineptitude got in the way. Second, even though I tried to consolidate the pieces, they continued to flake or "shed" with the result that, although the pieces fit well together, there were gaps along the edges. JB

Repair seam runs along the left third of the vertebra.

This was in 3 pieces -- at least they'll all be in one place.

Here's the complete epiphysis fitted onto the vertebra. I didn't glue on either epiphysis, though I was tempted because it would cover up some of the repair evidence.

I'd say, you're well on the way to a finished project.

Fill in the gap at the join with epoxy putty. You can color the epoxy putty with dry tempera pigment -- mix it in while kneading the two-part putty. Exact color matching is difficult, but you can get close with a little practice. (There is an argument to be made that repairs should not be invisible, though collectors seem to prefer invisible repairs in vertebrate fossils.)

Once you have the putty mixed and tinted, roll it into a string. Lay the string of putty along the join and press the putty bit-by-bit into the gap. Dental tools of various shapes are useful here (get 'em at a flea market for a dollar or two each).

Bone digger astutely points out that the epoxy putty is sticky. The putty is unaffected by water, so you can use water as a release agent to keep the dental tool from sticking. In my experience, nothing works better than spit as a release agent. You can tool the putty with your finger, a dental pick, a craft stick -- whatever's handy -- as long as you use plenty of spit. (Careful, you don't want to ingest the uncured epoxy.)

Once it's in place, you can texture the putty with anything you like. Pushing in (gently) with the tip of flux brush gives a stippled effect. The side of a flux brush can give a fibrous texture. (Don't forget the spit!)

Show us the finished product next!

----------Harry Pristis

[Auspex]

It must be very gratifying to effect repairs and restoration on nice fossils; some day, I'll have the time to enjoy those tasks.

[Maryland Mike]

Looks great. Definitely an interesting set.

[FossilFreak]

...the repair job left something to be desired.

Although I am in no means even close to the expert that the other posters are, I think you've made a good first attempt. You definitely learned which techniques you'd like to try next time. Additionally, as was mentioned there is more that can be done to minimize the cracks.

Even if you don't plan to mess with it, I think it's a pretty impressive piece.

[Guest bmorefossil]

Here's the complete epiphysis fitted onto the vertebra. I didn't glue on either epiphysis, though I was tempted because it would cover up some of the repair evidence.

i would have anyway, but it still looks nice

[jbstedman]

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement and advice.

I really appreciate the support from the forum as I try to move up the learning curve.

JB