mibeachrocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since September 2013
Posts: 198
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Post by mibeachrocks on May 8, 2014 13:29:43 GMT -5
Spring has finally arrived in SE MI. It is nice to get back out and hunting for rocks and fossils. The family and I recently had a chance to get down to Sylvania, Ohio. They have a fossil park down there with spoils from the local quarry. It is great places for kids. Who am I kidding, it is great for adults as well. We found a ton of fossils including horn corals, bryozoans, aulopora, brachiopods, crinoids and of course trilobites. In fact, my daughter was so excited with the trilobite finds that she decided to make trilobite cookies for her school birthday party. We found instructions for the cookies on the internet. Students usually get a change to pick a game of their choice during snacks. Rather she decided to make a poster of her finds and pass around some of the fossils. She decided that she wanted to teach her class about fossils because as she said, it is sad that they do not know much about rocks and fossils. Impressive for a 9 year old.  we did not take this one home, but is was a nice trilobite located in one of the rocks that lines the park   the kind that you can eat.  |
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on May 8, 2014 13:50:40 GMT -5
Nice finds and the cookies were a great idea. Our pebble pups at the rock club went there last summer for a field trip. Pretty easy pickings. Before it was a park you could actually go into the quarry and hunt. Its better for the kids the way they do it now though. Nice way to spend a day with the family.
Chuck
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mibeachrocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since September 2013
Posts: 198
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Post by mibeachrocks on May 8, 2014 13:55:44 GMT -5
Thanks. Our plan is to head over to Arkona Canada this summer to see what we can find over there. It is hard to find places within a few hour drive of SE MI
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on May 8, 2014 14:26:51 GMT -5
Thanks. Our plan is to head over to Arkona Canada this summer to see what we can find over there. It is hard to find places within a few hour drive of SE MI I hear ya. Our Macomb County club does do field trips and there is one coming up for the Alpena area for fossils and Petoskey stones over Memorial Day weekend. We had a field trip to a local quarry a couple years ago that was in SE Michigan and that was great but it has switched owners so we cant get back in there now. Flint ridge was about 5 hours but that was worth the drive. We did that round trip in a single day with about 4 hours of collecting in the pits. Chuck |
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mibeachrocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since September 2013
Posts: 198
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Post by mibeachrocks on May 8, 2014 14:31:09 GMT -5
Good luck in Alpena! I'll be heading up there this summer. Let me know how it goes.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on May 8, 2014 14:53:39 GMT -5
I won't be going on that trip. I hope to be rock hounding the shores of Drummond Island that weekend. I am not real big into fossils so I don't usually go out of my way for them. I'll pick them up once in a while if I happen across them but that's about it.
Chuck
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,718 
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Post by Fossilman on May 8, 2014 16:25:59 GMT -5
Trilobites sure were ugly things weren't they...LOL Nice finds...
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mibeachrocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since September 2013
Posts: 198
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Post by mibeachrocks on May 8, 2014 16:28:36 GMT -5
Fossilman, I would have sure hated to see one while it was living.
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Post by rockpickerforever on May 8, 2014 20:01:12 GMT -5
Nice, and I really like those cookies, so fun! So cool what your daughter did.
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Post by jakesrocks on May 8, 2014 21:28:05 GMT -5
Trilobites sure were ugly things weren't they...LOL Nice finds... Ah man Mike, Trilobites were beautiful little water bugs. Post by mibeachrocks on 5 hours ago Fossilman, I would have sure hated to see one while it was living. Read more: forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/65612/trilobites?page=1&scrollTo=742131#ixzz31BJzwGrNThey were scavengers, living on decaying things and small critters. They wouldn't hurt you. If you picked one up,he'd role up in a ball just like our modern sow bugs, (Which the Trilobites are related to). |
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Post by nowyo on May 9, 2014 8:26:23 GMT -5
Cool finds and good on you for getting the kids involved.
Russ
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Post by pghram on Jun 3, 2014 14:58:08 GMT -5
Nice finds & great family memories.
Rich
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,718
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Post by Fossilman on Jun 12, 2014 9:04:44 GMT -5
Trilobites sure were ugly things weren't they...LOL Nice finds... Ah man Mike, Trilobites were beautiful little water bugs. Post by mibeachrocks on 5 hours ago Fossilman, I would have sure hated to see one while it was living. Read more: forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/65612/trilobites?page=1&scrollTo=742131#ixzz31BJzwGrNThey were scavengers, living on decaying things and small critters. They wouldn't hurt you. If you picked one up,he'd role up in a ball just like our modern sow bugs, (Which the Trilobites are related to). So did my 1st wife,but I still don't like em'...LMAO!!! |
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Post by jakesrocks on Jun 12, 2014 9:15:21 GMT -5
"So did my 1st wife,but I still don't like em'...LMAO!!!"
I had 2 wives like that Mike. Both scavengers who scavenged everything they could from me. I outlived both of them, and I'd prefer a Trilobite over either of them.
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Post by jakesrocks on Jun 12, 2014 10:15:00 GMT -5
Hey Mike, what's not to love about these critters ?  |
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Post by jakesrocks on Jun 12, 2014 10:20:49 GMT -5
mibeachrocks, that first trilobite is a great find. Looks like both eyes are still intact. Usually they are found with one or both eyes missing. Too bad you don't live near me. I'd soda blast it for you, and clean it up real good. That one's a keeper for sure.
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mibeachrocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since September 2013
Posts: 198
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Post by mibeachrocks on Jun 13, 2014 6:51:36 GMT -5
mibeachrocks, that first trilobite is a great find. Looks like both eyes are still intact. Usually they are found with one or both eyes missing. Too bad you don't live near me. I'd soda blast it for you, and clean it up real good. That one's a keeper for sure. Thanks jakesrocks. I have it on my to do list over the summer. I currently have an air eraser kit from harbor freight www.harborfreight.com/air-eraser-kit-69277.html that I've used with aluminum oxide to clean up other less delicate fossils. I've heard that you can load the same tool with baking soda to clean more delicate fossils. Would you recommend this? |
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Post by jakesrocks on Jun 13, 2014 10:01:43 GMT -5
Baking soda is much less abrasive than aluminum oxide, making it ideal for cleaning fossils. It's also not bad for the environment. Just wash the dust away with water. I have the Pasche air eraser. I contacted them about using soda in it. They say it can be used, but at no more than 30 PSI. You have to keep soda super dry, or else it will cake up in your tool. Be sure to use a dust mask and goggles.
I also have a larger soda blaster that will hold 10 lbs of soda, and can be operated at up to 90 PSI.
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mibeachrocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since September 2013
Posts: 198
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Post by mibeachrocks on Jun 13, 2014 11:45:28 GMT -5
Baking soda is much less abrasive than aluminum oxide, making it ideal for cleaning fossils. It's also not bad for the environment. Just wash the dust away with water. I have the Pasche air eraser. I contacted them about using soda in it. They say it can be used, but at no more than 30 PSI. You have to keep soda super dry, or else it will cake up in your tool. Be sure to use a dust mask and goggles. I also have a larger soda blaster that will hold 10 lbs of soda, and can be operated at up to 90 PSI. Thanks. I will be sure to give it a try. |
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Post by jakesrocks on Jun 13, 2014 12:44:25 GMT -5
Just go slowly with the cleaning. Try to take a thin layer of matrix off. Then go back and take another thin layer. If you're real careful, the soda will actually polish your specimen. If you have pieces with just shells, practice by cleaning them first.
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