Learning To Prepare Fossils

[wyatte]

Anyone know of any good books to learn how to prepare fossils? I am familiar with stone working - but I would love to learn how to prepare fossils.

Also, and the big one is where is the best place to purchase an air pen from? Does anyone know? Work and money are a little tight right now so even a used one would be great - if I know I can get parts for it easily - I scanned ebay and there are none on there for a few weeks now.

Thanks

[ashcraft]

Prepping on low budget

Buy a Sears engraver, it reciprocates like the pneumatic hammers, but doesn't remove as much material, upside is it is only $20.

Dental tools, light, and magnification are a must. Acids can help greatly, if matrix allows, play with vinegar, it is cheap and not too concentrated, so is more forgiving.

Put your good specimens away, pick up less valuable pieces and play with them. Breaking a pygidium doesn't hurt near as much as fracturing a whole trilobite.

Different matrices require different techniques. Easiest prepping is silicified specimens in soft sandy limestone. Hardest prepping that I have done is where the specimen and the matrix are the same hardness.

Blasting is the ultimate prepping equipment for many fossils, but they are not cheap, try prepping and see if it gets in your blood, then get the more expensive equipment. If you haven't done much prepping, you probably don't know what you really need. Experiment, and enjoy, add equipment as you can afford. The oldtimers didn't have much more then dental picks, and they turned out some masterpieces.

Brent Ashcraft

[32fordboy]

Anyone know of any good books to learn how to prepare fossils? I am familiar with stone working - but I would love to learn how to prepare fossils.

Also, and the big one is where is the best place to purchase an air pen from? Does anyone know? Work and money are a little tight right now so even a used one would be great - if I know I can get parts for it easily - I scanned ebay and there are none on there for a few weeks now.

Thanks

I was looking for a book as well, but this site is the only reference I could find-and it's a great reference! Out of all the forums I have joined, this one is BY FAR the most supportive and has the least member-bashing.

[Ron E.]

Prepping on low budget

Buy a Sears engraver, it reciprocates like the pneumatic hammers, but doesn't remove as much material, upside is it is only $20.

Dental tools, light, and magnification are a must. Acids can help greatly, if matrix allows, play with vinegar, it is cheap and not too concentrated, so is more forgiving.

Put your good specimens away, pick up less valuable pieces and play with them. Breaking a pygidium doesn't hurt near as much as fracturing a whole trilobite.

Different matrices require different techniques. Easiest prepping is silicified specimens in soft sandy limestone. Hardest prepping that I have done is where the specimen and the matrix are the same hardness.

Blasting is the ultimate prepping equipment for many fossils, but they are not cheap, try prepping and see if it gets in your blood, then get the more expensive equipment. If you haven't done much prepping, you probably don't know what you really need. Experiment, and enjoy, add equipment as you can afford. The oldtimers didn't have much more then dental picks, and they turned out some masterpieces.

Brent Ashcraft

Brent, it's advice like that that makes this forum the great asset that it is. Thanks. I'm printing this off and sticking it on my bulletin board above my desk. I hope to spend some cold winter days prepping stuff with a minimal investment in equipment.