Well, I received my Aubin microblaster last week and I'm really excited with the results I'm getting using this little micro "sandblaster".? Here's a couple of before-and-after shots showing what can be done with one of these little gizmos:
The first couple of pictures are of a rather insignificant fossil, some crinoid fragments from middle Pennsylvanian OK strat:
BEFORE
AFTER
Not a real exciting fossil but it shows what you can do with this fantastic little tool. Btw, the matrix was a shale/mudstone material so this only took me about 10 minutes to prep.
The second is a fossil I found Saturday in the middle Pennsylvanian Oologah (or Labette) limestone formation (I think anyway).? I chiseled this out of a huge limestone boulder then took it home for blast preparation.
BEFORE
I didn't know what this fossil was until after blasting.? At first I thought it might be a trilobite, but then realized what it was:
AFTER
This find became pretty exciting to me after using the micro-blaster because I realized it was a brachiopod internal mould showing the delicate spiral lophophore support structure.? This is something you could never resolve from the matrix using any other tool.
Btw, the one I bought is the Aubin 1400RC pictured here:
http://www.aeaubin.com/1400.htm
I bought the model that included the 1312 vacuum but if you're considering buying one I suggest not going this route.? Just buy the blaster and go to Lowe's and buy a cheap $30 shop vacuum.? The blaster plus the vacuum requires a MASSIVE supply of compressed air (about 12CFM) which is a pretty huge compressor.? My compressor only puts out around 6.5 cfm and it couldn't supply enough air for both the air pen and the vacuum, so I had to go the shop vac route.? A helpful addition to the shop vac is an auto-transformer (to control the vacuum speed) which I just happened to have laying around.
Richard
The first couple of pictures are of a rather insignificant fossil, some crinoid fragments from middle Pennsylvanian OK strat:
BEFORE
AFTER
Not a real exciting fossil but it shows what you can do with this fantastic little tool. Btw, the matrix was a shale/mudstone material so this only took me about 10 minutes to prep.
The second is a fossil I found Saturday in the middle Pennsylvanian Oologah (or Labette) limestone formation (I think anyway).? I chiseled this out of a huge limestone boulder then took it home for blast preparation.
BEFORE
I didn't know what this fossil was until after blasting.? At first I thought it might be a trilobite, but then realized what it was:
AFTER
This find became pretty exciting to me after using the micro-blaster because I realized it was a brachiopod internal mould showing the delicate spiral lophophore support structure.? This is something you could never resolve from the matrix using any other tool.
Btw, the one I bought is the Aubin 1400RC pictured here:
http://www.aeaubin.com/1400.htm
I bought the model that included the 1312 vacuum but if you're considering buying one I suggest not going this route.? Just buy the blaster and go to Lowe's and buy a cheap $30 shop vacuum.? The blaster plus the vacuum requires a MASSIVE supply of compressed air (about 12CFM) which is a pretty huge compressor.? My compressor only puts out around 6.5 cfm and it couldn't supply enough air for both the air pen and the vacuum, so I had to go the shop vac route.? A helpful addition to the shop vac is an auto-transformer (to control the vacuum speed) which I just happened to have laying around.
Richard
