Terry Dactyll Posted July 14, 2009 Author Share Posted July 14, 2009 N.AL.hunter.... Ive penciled you in geeza..... early spring tides next year? Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted July 16, 2009 Author Share Posted July 16, 2009 On my latest trip the weekend before last, (and after a little moan to myself thinking no way will i find another Somerset Coast ammonite this year, it works sometimes this strategy lol) I found a 15 incher... It was so disguised in its limestone tomb, i decided to leave it where it was, not wanting to draw attention to the rock by working on it to trim it so it could be lifted, or have to carry it around after I had..... and went for a wander for 3 hours or so, to try and find something else which was unsuccessful.... on returning only to find someone sat near it.....but they were just walking a dog thankfully and not fossil hunting.... Its looking very tasty at the moment although theres plenty work to do on it, maybe 35-40 hours in total.... I know they say '' dont count your chickens before they hatch''.... but I once saw a boy in a photo on an organised fossil trip with one about this size, and I always wanted to find one....3d ammonites from this coast are quite rare, big ones even rarer so its kind of an ambition achieved too which makes it all the more special to me....the rock is like iron.... with the matrix adhered to the calcite so hard, you have to shave it off mm by mm, if you apply any leverage close to the ammonite it just snaps the off the calcite below.... so it really is a labour of love, but its getting ... 'the full treatment'....it no special colour, quite distorted through compaction, quite a rare ammonite although ive found 4 this year lol.... and I'll post some photos when its done... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted July 22, 2009 Author Share Posted July 22, 2009 Job Done..... I'll post it as I said I would... It nearly didnt get finished as the second whorl is almost crushed flat from 6 oclock, so it was touch and go for a few hours deciding if it was worth comitting anymore time on it......and Im glad I did now.... The group shot is the four that I have found this year of this species after wanting a decent one for so long and they are the lowest of the coroniceras....... Ive seen them crushed flat in shale as well on the coast, as this section of Blue Lias consists of alternating mudstones, shales and limestones.... The lower lias sediments were formed in fully marine conditions and many of the beds contain fossil shells, ammonites and the occasional bones of marine reptiles...These to be preserved three dimesionally from a limestone that fluctuates from high in the cliffs to beach level along the section of coast...and its the toughest lias rock I have ever come across.....It has a mind of its own and fractures like glass sometimes..... so every fossil you get out successfully is 'hard earned'.... Hope you like them....Metophioceras conybeari(Lower Sinemurian) North Somerset Coast.... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hemipitchis Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 ..... so every fossil you get out successfully is 'hard earned'.... You definitely earned em... Outstanding, just plain outstanding! :thumbsup: Sincerely, Riley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted July 22, 2009 Author Share Posted July 22, 2009 Hemipitchis.... Thanks for your kind words..... I do try my best to do them justice..... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Absolutely superb! The Queen should charter The Order of the Ammonite, just for you! "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...
fig rocks Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 :wub: !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted July 23, 2009 Author Share Posted July 23, 2009 Auspex & fig rocks.... Thanks guys...youve spurred me on to do another one..lol.... ... although I dont need spurring on to be honest, I get great pleasure from bringing them back to life and my favourate is always the new one Im doing....lol.... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members rooniehopperbob Posted July 23, 2009 New Members Share Posted July 23, 2009 hi terry some real nice ammos you have regards roonie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted July 23, 2009 Author Share Posted July 23, 2009 Bruce..... Thanks.....Nice to see you on here.... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick hendriks Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Hi Terry I have to say, your ammonites are really breath taking. I'm a shark tooth collector but i've been watching your pictures and just love them. I also know how much work it is to prep these. I've done some of them to and now have still 5 in my garage which are waiting for a prep. Also the restaration of the center is a great job. It's a shame that you find some very nice specimens and when you have prepped them for several hours coming to the conclusion that the center is gone. Great job and keep sending in those pictures. Greetings Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted July 26, 2009 Author Share Posted July 26, 2009 patrick..... Thanks for your kind words and compliments and sorry for the late reply I have been busy..... I presume you are refering to the Lyme Regis Coroniceras regarding having 5 in your garage..... as the Somerset ones are very few and far between, if youve got 5 of those youve done very well........ I would love to see how yours come out, as they are all very different and beautiful fossils.... The Somerset material is quite different to the Lyme Regis, the whorls are usually there in the centre although sometimes crushed, which was the case on the last one I prepped, where the lyme regis ones have broken away and are not there.... although I have had a couple that were nearly there to the centre.... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted August 3, 2009 Author Share Posted August 3, 2009 Job Done....Cenoceras obesum Sinemurian (Lyme Regis) Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted September 1, 2009 Author Share Posted September 1, 2009 Finished at last, the big somerset....I said it would take me a month and what a tester..... I nearly threw the towel in on it a couple of times, the calcite was already fractured inside the rock, so no sideways pressure could be applied with the airpen without causing serious problems, so it was a grinding a skimming operation .... with an angle grinder and airpen, tickling the rock away and piling superglue in the fractures.... inch by inch..... Total Nightmare!... but its nearly there, apart from a little bit of tidying up..... I'm pretty sure there will not be another like it... so its a one off....My friend AndyS from another fossil forum.... has said it looks like a large crab has 'surgically removed' the carcass of the ammonite from its shell maybe whilst it was on the sea bed.... the shape of cut around the mouth border of the ammonite is to uniform to be 'chance'... or something attacked it whilst it was swimming, although there didnt seem to be teeth marks, it was a clean break....... It does look well executed the incission, rarther like say a bird that has adapted to removing snails from shells, they have it down to a 'fine art'.... I would welcome any thoughts on this.... We Think Its Vermiceras quantoxense... Conybeari Subzone, Bucklandi Zone.... Sinemurian..North Somerset Coast.. 22" Diameter Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicranurus Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Beautiful ammonite again and marvellous prep. You are Michelangelo of ammonites. "It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living." -Sir David Attenborough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Steve, your patience and workmanship are admirable. Great find and prep. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted September 1, 2009 Author Share Posted September 1, 2009 Dicranurus & JohnJ.... Thanks for your interest guys.. .. It's nice to share my fossils with people who can understand and appreciate whats gone into them and this represents a significant ammount of time and effort on my part...and thanks for the positive feedback....... Im glad you like it.... There's already another rock landed on the bench..... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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