6/18 dive trip report

[pond skipper]

Lee, I clean most of my fossil finds with a bench grinder mounted cotton buffing wheel and jeweler's rough. These things take time and the proper tools and techniques to accomplish. Here's a pic of a Gomp tooth that I found a few dives ago. Sorry that I have no pics of the cleaned version.. This is a 90% complete tooth.

 

[Lee Taylor]

WOW. I am going that route also for cleaning. Been planning it for some time now. Here is another tool I am looking at:

Paasche AECR Remote Air Eraser Tool

Paasche compressor with Regulator

Here is mine for a good side by side close up comparison:

Here is a photo I found on the internet. I am going to work towards this conclusion.

 

[pond skipper]

Here are some pics of before and after cleaning with just the buffing wheels on a mammoth tooth a little while back. If you need more details, let me know.

 

[Lee Taylor]

Oh I am definitely going to purchase a shop grinder, a 6-7 inch cotton buffing wheel, and of course the jewelers rouge. Yesterday I found out where I can get the rouge. May pick it up today. These items have been on my things to get list for too long. Nice tooth by the way. Do you have any viz at all in the areas you dive or is it feel through the mud type hunting? I have tentative arrangements for a dive in your area next month. What is the bottom like? Is it 6" of soft mud on top of hard pan?

Also have a Kayak on the list of things to get. It seems like the best way to work the edges. I met a hunter/collector, from Myrtle Beach, at the Cypress Gardens annual fossil show in Goose Creek this past February. He had some nice specimens. He said the way he likes to hunt is to work the edges with a kayak. Sounds like another tool for the hunter/collector to me.

 

[Lee Taylor]

Okay. Phill is on the Edisto river today. Mike, I hope you are with him. Please punish me and show me all the excellent, killer, fantastic fossils you happened upon. I hope you realize the further we go into the Ace Basin the heavier our collection bags will be. And I hope you also realize there are some knock dead red, pristine 6" Megs down river. I need a 6" pristine killer red for my collection. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I want a 5 foot Ivory tusk AND a saber toothed tiger skull. I need to get a grip. We need more weekends and more gasoline.

 

[pond skipper]

Lee, the vis around here is zero in the summer but picks up to sometimes 4 feet when the water is cold. Sometimes the bottoms have very deep pluff mud that you have to shove your arm down into and feel for the gravely bottom hiding the Megs. Usually these teeth from muddy areas are super high quality. Some spots that I frequent have a hard bottom with the fossils mostly exposed but you still have to "feel "the fossils for a sloppy ID underwater. After about 10 feet of depth the water is totally dark with no light at all. I usually dive between 25 and 50 feet of depth. If you dive often you will find many different types of bottoms that are all covered with mud or in very muddy water. This is something that you have to get used to and may take some specialized gear. Let me know if you are ever interested, I will have a spot for you on my boat and some big Megs waiting for us at the end of the anchor line!

 

[Lee Taylor]

Have plans for a covert op in your neck of the woods come late July and what you described is what I am expecting as far as conditions. Hoping to bag some large pristine killer Megs. I am interested in joining you. Would need to be August/September timeframe. Just prior to the cool weather sliding in. I have no problem traveling a bit for what I want. I am hoping to find a fossiler that works the Bone Valley Florida formation. I would not hesitate to make a trip there either for some fossiling on land. Would you have any interest in doing Fossil Ledge offshore Wilmington NC? They work it to death, but one never knows.

 

[pond skipper]

I might be interested in some ledge diving, but would have to wait for a while for a trip cause I am swamped right now in the shop. I am diving several days a week here locally for Megs. Aug/Sept would be a good time if you would like to go with me. I used to dive FL rivers and creeks a lot when I lived down there, many different fossils and lots of adventure, now the Megs are keeping my interest here in the Savannah area. Covert OPS, HMMMMMMMMMMMM?????????

 

[Lee Taylor]

Cleaning fossils and seashells

Pond Skipper,
I see the wire brush in the photo you posted. I have used them in metal working and I saw AeroMike had one on the boat last time I was out. Going to have to get me one of those. Currently I am using dental picks, power dremel, clorox, and apple cider vinegar. The cleaning is a chore but it is definitely part of the hobby for me. I collect fossilized seashells and current seashells also. I have some tritons, a queen helmet, a fossilized murex, a lightning albino welk, some fossilized scallops, and some really nice thorny oysters. I purchased some cleaning items the other day from Amazon and they are "on the way". Not sure what they will produce yet. I do not like extremely highly polished sharks teeth so I am going to have to go easy at first. I like the clean natural look with just a bit of shine.

Seashell and fossil cleaning supplies:

Paasche air eraser



Paasche air pump



Paasche cleaning compound



Power buffer


Polishing compounds including jewelers rouge

 

[pond skipper]

Lee, Experiment with your tools and buffing compounds on some broken teeth and see what you can achieve. You can polosh a tooth as little or as much as you want
I am more of a talker that a typer but I am sure that we will meet soon and I will be glad to share and discuss what I have to offer.