Fossil Prep Blog

Hey everyone!! I just got my latest video up and going! Please watch it and see how I did working on my first Ammonoid!! Please feel free to offer advice! I need a new air pen. If you have one you know that works great I would love to check it out. And please make sure you follow my page so you can see everything I post!

Cleaning an Ammonoid Fossil Watch as I try to clean up an Ammonoid fossil! It has a much harder matrix then he trilobites that I have been working on so I have to use mechanical methods...

HOLLY COW!! Otters were huge!!

Terrifyingly Enormous Otter Fossils Discovered In China Researchers have uncovered the remains of a giant otter in China that when alive would have been comparable to the size of a wolf. The fossils belong to a

Check this out! The oldest known dinosaur trackway in North America has just been found!! Other cool info in here too, don't want to spoil all of it!! If you like this article, please like and follow my page for more paleontology stuff!!

First evidence of raptors discovered at Dinosaur Ridge

After taking a special class this semester on Mass Extinctions I can really understand how devastating this could be on a populous! Learning new things every day!

Study Reveals Dinosaurs Spent Way Longer in the Egg Than Previously Thought For a long time, scientists have thought that non-avian dinosaurs became extinct because of a massive asteroid that struck Earth some 66 million years ago – but a new study suggests that something less dramatic may have also played a role in their...

Hey everyone!
Sorry it has been so long since I last posted. I have been so busy with school, family life, and lots of technical problems. But I finally was able to finish my video and I am so excited to share my work with all of you!
This video is about my latest fossil cleaning, It is my favorite trilobite to date! It is actually a complete body fossil, not just a shell, or a piece of one. I did learn a few new things this time. I had some trouble with this one because the air scribe I have is not not suited for microscopic fossils, which is what I am cleaning up. Because of this I ended up damaging my fossil. A technique I am trying is to find the edges of the fossil and clean them out before I clean out the middle of the fossil. I am doing this because the air abrasive is basically a s sand paper in air form. The top of this trilobite is quite detailed, if I cleaned up the detailed section first it would leave it open to be hit by unintentional air abrasive and thus damaging it. So I left the top to be done last. This seemed to work well. Which is pleasing. Watch and see how it all turned out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b39A4Bz8V0o&feature=youtu.be

Episode 4: My favorite Trilobite Hello everyone! I would appreciate it if you would make sure to subscribe so you don't miss any new videos! And share this video with other people who are fo...

I have been talking about trilobite anatomy in my videos, I want to make sure that everyone knows what I am talking about. So please watch this and learn about Trilobite Anatomy!!
Please share this with your friends! And please Like my page! :)
Thanks!
https://youtu.be/VRH5ygl_wxA

Quickisode: Trilobite Anatomy Learn about Trilobite Anatomy, so you can follow right along with me while I work on trilobite fossils!

Hello everyone! Sorry that it has been a while since I posted. I have been so busy with school. Physics keeps me pretty busy lol! So I have been working on my trilobites. This time I found out that working with the air abrasive it can be good to point the air parallel with the grooves of the trilobite. This way I can maximize the removal of the matrix and minimize the removal of the actual fossil. Because the angle of the air abrasive is parallel the force vector has a minimal contact with the fossil and maximum effect. Check out my video and see what I was able to do! And a big thanks to the University of Utah for letting me work in their lab, and a big thanks to the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program for sponcering me to work on this project!
https://youtu.be/eNVu2_1NISw

Fossil prep blog episode 3 I learned that if you use air abrasive that it is a good idea to blow parallel to grooves and lines. This way the ridges don't take too much of a beating whi...

Hey guys I stared a new thing. I am going to use quick videos to explain one thing. This can be used to answer questions you all have or to explain something that I think needs a bit more explanation. This time I am explaining what the orange bucket is all about. Please watch and learn! Don't forget to follow the Fossil Prep Blog for more content! And as always please comment, like, and subscribe to my youtube channel! Thanks all have a good day!

Quickisode: The Bucket Ever wanted to know how to build a dust trap for $20 or less? Watch this and you will know how! Wanted to know how they work? Watch this and you will know ho...

Last time I damaged a couple of fossils because the PSI on the sandblasting machine was too high while I was working on removing matrix directly off the fossil. This time I learned that higher pressures like 20 or 40 PSI can be useful for removing large amounts of matrix. While lower pressures like 5 PSI are useful for removing small amounts of matrix to expose details of fossils. Please watch my video and learn more about it!

Fossil Prep Blog Episode 2: Different Pressures Help Expose the Fossil Watch as I use the sandblasting machine to carefully expose some trilobite fossils! I learn that different pressures on the sandblasting machine are helpful ...

Hey everyone! Glad to be here! I just started a new blog for Fossil Preparation! Here is my first video of many to come! Share this with others who are interested in learning about fossil preparation!!
Zach.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sS_wvF4v2VE

Fossil Preparation of Trilobites! Look at what I am doing for fossil prep! Come learn with me! I show you what rock I will be working on, the tools and set up I have access to, and how I work...