Perfect Castaway Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 Hello all, I'm in the process of prepping a Moroccan phacops trilobite and I have to take off at least an inch of matrix sitting above the fossil. I've been slowly chipping away at it with my air scribe but it is taking FOREVER. I understand that this work is slow and meticulous but are there any techniques that can help speed it up just a tad? This is hard Moroccan limestone and seriously, it is taking a long, long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 What kind of scribe are you using? RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perfect Castaway Posted April 27, 2009 Author Share Posted April 27, 2009 What kind of scribe are you using? RB It's a chicago pneumatic 9361 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 It's a chicago pneumatic 9361 Hmmm,, Something is wrong. Im wondering how sharp your tip is? And for very hard rock, it cant be too sharp or it will break the tip off. I use a double angle on my tips. Check out this photo. The tip on the right is what Im assuming you have, but if you look realy closley at it, you can see how I just barely changed the angle right near the tip of the tip so it wont break but is still sharp. I hope this makes sence? RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perfect Castaway Posted April 28, 2009 Author Share Posted April 28, 2009 Ahhh, i see. I'll give that a try. I never considered trying to sharpen the tip but it makes sense. Thanks for the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 Ahhh, i see. I'll give that a try. I never considered trying to sharpen the tip but it makes sense. Thanks for the help! I took my CP air scribe and sent it to PaleoTools for refurb. Bill upgraded it to a heavier duty scribe and added a chisel tip instead of a point. I really like it. It would really work on that hard limestone. Paleotools does excellent work and often if you're having a problem, they'll try to troubleshoot it on the phone to save you a buck. You can Yahoo search or Google - Paleotools to get them. I recommend them - Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 You could always try using say disc grinder fitted with a stone cutting disc.... to carefully take the bulk of the rock off from above the Trilobite.... Obviously be careful not to go too near the fossil.... you can go gentle with the pen afterwards removing thiner pieces...... If I have a lot of rock to cut off something I usually cut the rock with a petrol stil saw, into a chess board shape of 1" cubes, the depth im taking off..... these then tap off very easily with a hammer & chisel afterwards....... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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