Fossil Hunt South Dakota 2017

[RJB]

Hey @Ptychodus04:     Yay! Off boring crabs and back onto the beautiful ammonites!! Man, that was a successful trip.

 

  I was going to say, "you dont know the half of it", but id better say, "you dont know 90% of it".   Ive got some huge rocks outside that I still dont know how im going to attack? 

 

RB

[Ptychodus04]

2 hours ago, RJB said:

Hey @Ptychodus04:     Yay! Off boring crabs and back onto the beautiful ammonites!! Man, that was a successful trip.

 

  I was going to say, "you dont know the half of it", but id better say, "you dont know 90% of it".   Ive got some huge rocks outside that I still dont know how im going to attack? 

 

RB

 

I'm so very jealous!!!

[Shellseeker]

4 hours ago, RJB said:

Hey @crabfossilsteve, I found out that crab is known as Homolopsis punctata, late Cretaceous.  Very rare.

 

RB

  I am desperately trying to avoid becoming addicted to lots of additional fossils. This will be a greaat thread to watch over time.

[MB]

On 3/6/2017 at 1:12 AM, fossisle said:

Could possibly be a Homolid crab, likely Zygastrocarcinus tricki

Take care because the fourth and the fifth legs are reduced and slender in homolids !

Go !

 

[RJB]

Thank you @MB

 

RB

  A freind of mine came over today and I asked him if he would carry in a big rock for me.  Get a load of this beauty!  If I can get this critter out of the rock, the other side may be BEAUTIFUL!!!  The scary thing is that big crack that you can see. 

 

RB

[Ptychodus04]

Nice! Remember, don't try to remove the ammonite. Remove the matrix and it will be fine. Although, you're looking at some serious time!

 

I would grind or cut through the matrix to get the ammonite on a pedestal then take the whole chuck off the main block.

[RJB]

Hey @Ptychodus04, being that this rock wieghs in at about 80 lbs, there is no way Im going to use about $1000 to $2000 worth of time to remove a 2 or 3 hundred dollar ammo.   Fact is, yesterday I went on the attack, and even though I was as nervous as could be, it worked out wonderfully.  One ammo in a huge rock surrounded by about 50,000 small clams. 

 

RB

[Fossil-Hound]

@RJB looking really good. Keep it up! 

[Ptychodus04]

50 minutes ago, RJB said:

Hey @Ptychodus04, being that this rock wieghs in at about 80 lbs, there is no way Im going to use about $1000 to $2000 worth of time to remove a 2 or 3 hundred dollar ammo.   Fact is, yesterday I went on the attack, and even though I was as nervous as could be, it worked out wonderfully.  One ammo in a huge rock surrounded by about 50,000 small clams. 

 

RB

 

I was thinking along the lines of attacking it as if it were a field excavation. 2 deep parallel cuts about 2" apart in all 4 sides, chip out the section in the middle to form a pedestal with the ammonite. Then give the base of the pedestal a whack with a large chisel.

 

That shouldn't take more than an hour or so. Then prep the matrix off as usual. I probably wasn't very clear previously. can we see a pic of the beauty?

[RJB]

Hey @Ptychodus04, the only problem with that is,,,  if there were to be more ammos in that rock, cutting would destroy them.   I was most certainly hoping there were more inthe rock, but only the one showing was there.  In any case, it worked out purty good.  Im going to try and finish it today?

 

RB

[Ptychodus04]

@RJB, I'm following your line of thinking now. Can't wait to see it.

[RJB]

Ok, been prepping up a storm.  I have to go back and forth with several of these specimens.  They all have problems, but most problems not too bad but does take some glue here and there and then some drying time.   Anyways, get a load of this little BEAUTY!!!   This, I think is Discoscaphities gulosum?   Just a freakin little BEAUTY!!!  

 

RB

[Ptychodus04]

That's beautiful!!!!!!! Well done sir.

[RJB]

Thank you Mr. @Ptychodus04.

 

  Yesterday whilst my youngest son was 'whackin' rocks, there was this one rock that had a worn ammonite sittin on the outside of this rock.  We didnt pay too much attention to it and when he whacked the rock, this thing litteraly fell off the rock.  Then,,,,,,    FREAKIN WOW!!!!   and only took about 5 minutes to prep!  Ha!!!  Mother Nature sometimes throws a really good curve ball.  This is a true jem.  And like always, the picture does no justice to the color.   My son also had two of his freinds over and when this little jem fell out they all came into the garage and we took it under the light and everyone was absolutely amazed!!!  To say the least.  Quite happy with this little critter.  I think its known as Scaphities nicoletti?

 

RB

[ynot]

That came out very nice. Love the other shells in the matrix.

 

Posted a new one while I was typing.

That is gorgeous!

[RJB]

Thank you @ynot. 

 

RB

[RJB]

Just to show you folks, this is a picture of all the stuff that didnt 'make the cut'.   You have to go through a lot of rock to get just a few good specimens.  We've still got quite a bit of B-Grade stuff, but im going to sell most of that at some later date.   Oh, there is also another 5 gallon bucket full of junk just around the corner of the garage and another inside the garage.   Takes a heck of alot of rock.

 

RB

[JohnBrewer]

51 minutes ago, RJB said:

Ok, been prepping up a storm.  I have to go back and forth with several of these specimens.  They all have problems, but most problems not too bad but does take some glue here and there and then some drying time.   Anyways, get a load of this little BEAUTY!!!   This, I think is Discoscaphities gulosum?   Just a freakin little BEAUTY!!!  

 

RB

[Shellseeker]

5 hours ago, RJB said:

Ok, been prepping up a storm.  I have to go back and forth with several of these specimens.  They all have problems, but most problems not too bad but does take some glue here and there and then some drying time.   Anyways, get a load of this little BEAUTY!!!   This, I think is Discoscaphities gulosum?   Just a freakin little BEAUTY!!!  

 

RB

Lovely.  Makes me drool.  Above you seemed to indicate that you might go after the other side.  Did I miss represent or are you planning to remove some or all of the rock? Looks to be 3+ inches across. Not all that little....  Jack

[Phevo]

Extremely nicely prepped, some of the nicest ammonites I have seen

[RJB]

Thank you @Phevo and @Shellseeker.     But no, this little guy is done.  You may be thinkin about a diferent one.  I also see now that I didnt use the 'cube' for scale.  This measures about 2 inches.

 

RB

[RJB]

  Here are some pictures of the ammonite that is sittin n the middle of the big rock up above.   It was nerve wracking, but got it out.  Had to glue on a small piece and let dry for a couple of days and then went on the prep attack.  Not the color I was hoping for but came out purty dang good!!!    The kid gets this one. 

 

RB

[Wrangellian]

Those are all gems for sure. Pretty lucky kid...

I was going to ask earlier (maybe I did already somewhere, but I forget), how much of the outermost layer of shell do you lose when prepping, if any? I see little glittery flakes on your hand holding that small one that took 5 mins.. maybe it varies depending on the fossil?

I ask because I've got some baculites from Hornby I. and when you break them open, there is typically a thin layer of the outer shell that comes off on the rock that is split off. (sometimes thicker chunks of shell too). Maybe regluing and prepping will reunite that, but then again, maybe it's impossible. It is just the outermost thin layer I'm talking about - decorticated if you will.

[RJB]

Hey @Wrangellian, almost always lose shell material.  Sometimes lots, sometimes less.   Also, one side of this was exposed whilst sittin in a creek for who knows how many years, so lots of shell lost on that side.

 

RB

[Wrangellian]

I thought so. I guess some would be reunited if you split the rock apart from the shell and then glued it back on then prepped it? The glue should reattach some, if not all?