Fossil Preparation - Calymene breviceps Trilobite using air abrasion tools

A quick timelapse video of the preparation of a lovely 3D trilobite which dates back to the middle Silurian 430 million years ago. This is a great example of a Calymene breviceps trilobite and comes from the Waldron Shale of St Paul, Illinois, USA. This timelapse is sped up by about 20x normal speed and I’m using a Comco micro-sandblaster on low pressure with Aluminum oxide as the abrasive. Aluminium oxide is an incredibly aggressive medium so you have to be super careful with this stuff not to blast through the fossil. I would normally use Dolomite for most fossil prep but this needed a stronger cutting agent. Enjoy! #fossilprep #fossilpreparation #fossil #fossils #trilobite