Using Acid to Treat a Chain Coral Fossil
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- In this video, I experiment with acid to make a fossilized chain coral specimen. I think it was a big success.
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![[UNCUT] “บอสณวัฒน์” ลากไส้!! ใครหนุนหลัง "แม่ตั๊ก ป๋าเบียร์" I คนดังนั่งเคลียร์ I 30 ก.ย. 67](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QlD7mU2KKRk/mqdefault.jpg)
Brilliant to put the polyurethane coating on the bottom. The scientific method of trial and error sure works. Great safety measures. Thank you!
I wish I could take credit for that. I got the idea from a book. I think it was the Lake Huron Rock Picker's Guide.
I’d like to send you my entire collection to work on if that’s okay! Lol nice work!
I’m glad you like it. It’s not hard to do yourself, just be careful with the acid.
Love it! Chain coral is beautiful. Great video. Is that something you find around there? I like your DIY style. I'm hoping next summer to go to our state and do some rock hunting with my mom. She lives in north west Iowa. We are going hunting in September in Wyoming.
They’re pretty rare around here, but this is where I found all of them. I’m pretty excited whenever I find one.
WOW !! Came out beautifully !!
It did, didn't it? I'm really happy with it.
You crack me up sometimes! But that was probably the reaction you were looking for!!!🤣
Sometimes I'm funny without meaning to be. Other times it's intentional.
So, what does one do with it now, if it's so fragile? Mount it on a piece of drift wood? Resin it maybe?
I've tried vinegar on my rocks a time or two, takes forever for results. I like your acid approach but I'm guessing you wouldn't want to do it inside the house.
Definitely not an indoor project. What do I do with it? So far is setting where I took the picture of it. I’m afraid to move it. It should probably be mounted on a board and out under glass.
Amazing! So fascinating! Beautiful! Thanks for sharing. I never would have suspected that fossil rock could end up just fossil. Awesome!
Enjoying your videos. You make it very interesting.
AHHHH...I'd hate to see how you would torture stones from the moon!
Actually, that was an interesting reveal.
Don’t worry, I don’t have any moon rocks.
2:41 🤯 Magic! Lol 😆 that was funny! Enjoying all your videos!
Amazing. I would have never thought to try that only because I would have guessed the Muriatic acid would dissolve the coral as well. Nice job!
I'm not sure why it doesn't. It's a fun thing to try.
Yeah I would have thought it would just disintegrate too. Or I'd walk about five steps and I'd drop it 🤣
Coral is calcium. I always thought that the acid would dissolve it even before the matrix.
G Libby this is fossilized coral from about 350 million years ago. I’m not sure what it’s made of at this point, but it’s not calcium. As you said, the acid would have reacted with that right away.
Isn’t the chain coral a silica replacement? That is why it is harder and impervious to the muratic acid.
@@rebeccagoldberg8333 That sure makes sense. I suspected that was the case, but I've never actually studied up on it. Thanks!
This is so cool!
Thank you so much for sharing that! I love your protective gear! I'm usually still in my pyjamas when I'm etching my fossils! LOL!
I’m much less careful when I’m not on camera. I thought I should set a good example.
@@MichiganRocks I think it's a good idea too. One tiny, tiny splash of that muriatic acid would destroy someone's sight, wouldn't it?
@@nancygaxiola5412 I wear goggles when I use it. I just don't wear most of the other stuff.
Still an awesome video, I enjoyed it! Thank you!
Wow. So amazing. Adding this to My Rocks and Minerals playlist. thanks again
You're welcome. That rock is still setting out on the counter in my shop.
Dropping this would be horrible. Imagine accidentally destroying something that millions and millions of years old
Yeah, that was a bummer. This one is still in one piece though.
Thank you so much for your reply to my question and sharing your video. One mire question. Will muriatic acid eat all the matrix on all rocks?
No, it works on calcite based rocks. It might work on some other minerals, but that's one I know for sure. I have done it one time on some mine rock from the U.P. to remove calcite from a piece of copper ore. More copper was exposed, but there was another type of matrix that it didn't remove.
Pretty cool idea. Looks like honey comb. Got a bunch of it I collected last couple years. Came out real nice. Was fun to watch. Great video
I know this video is older but it turned out pretty cool. We tried vinegar but it was really slow. I have to try this next time.
I think I could have dumped the acid in much quicker with no problem.
Very cool! As fragile as it looks, maybe you could cast it a clear resin to prevent breakage. Make a heck of a paperweight!
So crafty you can get, so much more difficult to craft the basket than to polish and cut stones🤪🤣❤️
I just learned what type of rock I found lake Michigan last year. Rock looks like a chain wrapped around it.... did not know it was called chain coral. Thank you for the educational videos. You done an awesome job.
I have one mostly quartz I think, can I do same thing?
Quartz doesn’t dissolve in acid, so it depends if the matrix is quartz.
So cool, that turned out really well. Thanks for sharing!
That last image looks like a piece of Post Honeycomb Cereal.
I never thought about serving it with milk. Crunchy!
Man . you have all the rock equipment one would need ! Lol
assuming to be expensive asf ..... :\
Great video ! Thanks
I don't have much expensive equipment. I started this hobby about 7 years ago, and I have been slowly accumulating mostly used equipment since then. The flat lap in this video cost me $45. Of course the discs and things that go with it wear out and cost money too. I have four saws, the most expensive one cost $400, but those don't come along very often. My most expensive thing is my homemade tumbler. If you're patient and watch Craig's list and talk to people, you'll run into some deals eventually. My favorite trim saw was given to me when we bought some furniture. The store owner was delivering a chair to our house and heard my rock saw in the garage. He offered me a saw that he hadn't used in years. I spent $150 getting it running.
That's killer!!!
I love that rock ♥️
I do too!
Very, very cool. You’re giving me ideas.
That's what I'm here for!
Hello Rob, what type of acid did you use on the chain coral
I watched the video but I didn't catch what type is was
Thank you
Carl Zatsick
Farmington Michigan
Muriatic acid. You can buy it at someplace like Home Depot for about $8 a gallon.
@@MichiganRocks Thank you Rob and Happy thanksgiving to you and your family
Carl Zatsick
That is SO cool!
From Otsego, live I Missouri now but planning rock hunting trip in Sept. Suggestions on the best beaches to rock hunt. Would love to find my first agates, Petoskey stones and pudding stones. Love your videos by the way.
You'll need to go to at least two different lakes to find those. Superior is best for agates and Michigan and Huron on good for Petoskey Stones and puddingstones. I know of a lot of beaches that I could recommend, but could you narrow down the area you're thinking about visiting?
@@MichiganRocks
I am staying in Mackinaw City, but am thinking about Munising, Leland, I will drive anywhere within 2.5 to 3 hours from mackinaw city. I have family in Newberry so will be going there as well.
I think I'm going to try this with some of my specimens, for better or for worse!
Wow mantap
Have you tried this with other kinds of fossils?
Yes, I tried to make a video last summer of some others that I thought might work. They dissolved more or less uniformly so there wasn't anything to see in the end. I had a really good intro to that video too.
I just found one o$theses up in Newport State Park in Wisconsin. I had no idea what I was looking at and found my way here. I knew it was something pretty neat and I tend to collect rocks anyhow so I brought it home. I don't want to keep it if it's rare because I will surely lose it. If it's only value belong to collectors I'll gladly send it to anyone who will take good care of it.
They're not all that rare. I don't find many, but I'm sure on some other beaches they're more common.
@@MichiganRocks Oh, You're in Michigan. Then you will understand. I was in Wisconsin up by Washington Island. They must just be in that area.
That's very cool ! Thanks for sharing 😁
Very cool. What a great idea for establishing a base!
Another awesome video - thanks Rob
You're welcome, Marilyn.
Super cool!
Very cool.
Hi Professor! I know this vid is two years old but still aprapos. I have some chain coral I collected years ago, but cannot remember which of the Great Lakes I collected them. Any hints on where to look for future rock hunts? Michigan? Huron?
I don't feel that the subjects of my videos really go out of style too quickly, so feel free to watch as many older ones as you would like to.
I hunt Lake Huron a lot more than Lake Michigan, so most of my chain corals are from Huron. I only find a couple per summer, so they're pretty rare here. I believe Lake Michigan has more of them them, but I couldn't tell you which beaches have the most. As with most rock hunting, the more remote beaches will probably be better to hunt just because they're so much less picked over. The last one I found was a small one at Point Betsie Lighthouse, although that spot is heavily hunted.
Beautiful- thanks for sharing. Love the diy dipping basket. So this prob wouldn’t work on honeycomb coral, being calcitic?
This is the only coral I’ve tried it on. I would think that most would completely dissolve, but it would be interesting to try it on some others.
Oh youre from michigan... nice, where do you find chain coral fossils
I find a few in Lake Huron, but they're pretty rare. I think there are more in Lake Michigan, but I'm not sure which beach to recommend.
@@MichiganRocks Oh nice, i live very near lake michigan, havent seen much aside from crinoids though haha. I'll keep my eyes out
Loved this! Going home to do mine!!
Be careful!
Ive used white vinegar...but sure didnt get your results. Wasnt sure really what I was doing. Your results are beautiful.
I know that some people use vinegar, but it takes a lot longer. Given enough time and vinegar, I think you might possibly achieve the same results. I saw no downside to getting it done quickly, other than the possibility of severely burning yourself with acid, that is.
Recently I was lucky enough to find a chain coral fossil rock that had broken along one of the coral walls so you can see the ridges. That makes me curious what it might be like to only soak them in acid part of the way, hopefully preserving some structural integrity.
I soaked another one part way, so that the coral sticks out the top an eighth inch or so and is still solid below that. It's much more durable, but still looks cool.
Hi it’s Landon from robotics just saying hi. Also great video
Hi Landon!
Listening to the birds sounds like Pure Michigan
I get a lot of comments about the sound of the waves in my beach videos. I don’t get many bird sound comments, but I agree, they are great too. I can hear loons flying to and from a small lake near here. I also love the sound of geese and sandhill cranes flying over. We have turkeys in the yard, and of course all the little tweety birds.
Michigan Rocks I’m from Kalamazoo Michigan lower south west and I recognize the sounds of the birds is similar lol #puremichigan The Best state in America minerals climate all season Breath of Fresh Air not to mention Fresh water #rockhound for life 💯
Even when your not out by the lakes I just watch to see your cool.finds and listen to your voice
I hate when my wife watches my videos when I’m in the room because I have to listen to my voice.
Awesome! Thank You!! 😊
You’re welcome!
I've had both forms and never knew what they were! Thanks for this.
You're welcome!
Rob! Love your toys! And humor! You rock in Argentina🤗
Thanks!
Nice I will have to do that. I was wondering what I was going to do with those.
I used to much on Petoskey and it ate the whole stone.
I've heard of people using it on Petoskey Stones, but I have never understood why. It's just going to eat away everything like you said. I've polished a lot of Petoskeys and have never used acid in the process.
ooooo that was nice looking :) Have you ever used white vinegar on any of your rocks?
I haven't used vinegar. I think it works like muriatic acid, but a lot slower (and safer).
👍🏼👍🏼🙏🏼
Type of acid used?
Muriatic. You can buy it cheap at a hardware store. It's used for cleaning mortar off of bricks, among other things.
What acid you used?
Muriatic.
that is VERY cool!
I think so. I tried it with a couple other fossils, but they just dissolved uniformly.
Amazing process, awesome coral
could you do this to a charlevoix stone?
No, I think the whole thing would dissolve.
@@MichiganRocks i figured as much. i was unable to find a single even remotely successful attempt online. hoping to get back up north in the fall for some chain coral to try it on. revealing the actual fossil sounds like a lot of fun to me.
Very nice specimen! And I think of intricate lacy pendant you can get the same way - slice a rock on for example about 5 mm slabs, process them with acid and simply hang on a string. Wild and fancy fossil jewelry :)
Cool idea, but it wouldn’t be strong enough. You could do that if you left out the acid and polished it instead.
@@MichiganRocks oh! there should be the way to stabilize coral somehow. I agree that polished slab would look great but I was captured with the idea to get rid of calcite and get that mystic labyrinth
Yep, that is cool.
This is so exciting! Thanks for the video.
I thought it was really cool. I want to try it with some other types of coral. I know there's at least one other one that this works for. I can't remember the name of the coral though.
Thanks Rob - great video. I've been wanting to do this for some time now but didn't want to spend $$$ on a gallon of Muriatic Acid that I would only use a portion of. A couple of weeks ago we happened across an "everything free" garage sale and I said to my wife, "wouldn't it be great if they had some Muriatic Acid" and wouldn't you know it....they had a jug with enough in it to fill up a medium Gatorade bottle - perfect for the first experiments. So before I start I have a few questions for you if you don't mind? You didn't demonstrate the polyurethane base coat procedure. Was that a dip and dry? Or set in a puddle, dry and trim? Did you do that to give stability to the Chain Coral? Would the Coral have fallen apart without it? And have you ever thought of doing a complete stone once the matrix has dissolved soaked and coated in polyurethane - kind of like a paper weight? After this experiment and if it goes well I'd like to dip some of the botryoidal chalcedony we find in acid. They are usually pretty cool looking stone that should be able to withstand the acid with the matrix melting away - I'm anxious to see how that works. If well, I let you know the results.
I think I read about coating with polyurethane in a book or on the internet. I'm not so sure that it's necessary. I do like that I ground the bottom flat first because that gives it something to rest on without being wobbly. I just used a tiny hobby paint brush and painted on a coat or maybe two of polyurethane.
The resulting fossil is very, very fragile. Soaking it in polyurethane sounds like a good idea to me.
@@MichiganRocks What made you decide on a 10:1 ration of water to acid.....would a 4:1 ratio speed up the process or more likely destroy the coral? Or is that just a standard used when mixing Muriatic Acid and water? Just a safety tip reminder for anyone reading this - make yourself aware through the many internet sources on the safe handling of Muriatic Acid. Wear appropriate gloves (not the ones your grandmother knit you), where a proper face mask - like a respirator (you don't want the fumes getting into your lungs) and when mixing add the acid to water and not the other way around (Never add water to acid, as an exothermic reaction will occur, propelling the acid out of the container and onto you.). One other question - seeing that you weren't jostling the chain coral piece you had around - is there any reason why you couldn't do 2, 3 or 4 pieces at a time if you had enough room for all of them? Thanks again Rob - you've spurred my interest in giving this a shot in the next week or so.
@@scrand6 I didn't measure anything. I ended up adding acid faster as things progressed. I'd just check for bubbles every now and then and when the bubbles stopped, I'd pour in a more acid. You'll get the feel for it as you go. I get the feeling that adding acid a little at a time or a lot at a time didn't matter much, it just lasted longer if I added more.
I don't see any reason why you couldn't do several at once, but I'd suggest doing one at a time until you get the hang of it.
Was this chain coral from local rock mineral?
I found it in the northeast part of the lower peninsula of Michigan. The matrix rock is limestone or calcite, I think. Most of the fossils here are limestone, which is why acid dissolves it. I'm not sure what the coral part is.
Great idea
Very cool!
What do you do with the waste? I was thinking poaring it in a unused or unwanted rock when I start my lapidary. Glad you mentioned neutralization that was one of my concerns about lapidary, there is no point in starting a lapidary shop unless we learn the science.
It sounds like you're talking about waste water in general, not about water I used to dissolve the matrix rock with acid in this video.
I have a three bucket system dealing with waste water. All water from my tumblers goes into a bucket. Don't pour it down the drain, or it will harden like concrete and block your pipes. I let the bucket settle as much as it will, leaving still cloudy water on top. I siphon the top part with the most clear water into another bucket and then either dump it in the gravel at the side of the road or into a hole in the woods behind my house. The "hole" is actually a pretty nice hole. I built a wooden box out of some old treated lumber that goes down about two feet. There's a trap door on top to keep someone from accidentally falling in. Where I live the soil is mostly sand, so the water drains out pretty well. It rarely gets much ice down in the hole even in the middle of winter. The only problem is that eventually the small rock particles in the dirty water clog the sand and it doesn't drain anymore. I can dig out the bottom for a while, but eventually I have to move the box to a new hole. I have only moved it once in about 8 years though, so it's not too bad.
My water often contains borax which I use in the Lot-O tumbler. Borax acts as a herbicide, so you don't want to dump it on your lawn.
What's left in the buckets after siphoning off the top is left to dry out and then it goes in the trash.
@@MichiganRocks thanks for the info. Protecting the environment here in Traverse city and anywhere I choose to move in my lifetime is important especially with the chemicals, elements, materials.. Lapidary uses. There's a Lapidary class here in TC that I should check out and get involved with to make sure I'm disposing of the waste properly.
@@happyisthealero I don't think that rock dust is bad for the environment. Borax is the only thing you have to be a little careful with just because it can kill plants if you put it right on them. Borax is used as a laundry additive, so it goes out into septic drained fields all the time. It's fine if it's under grass for example, you just don't want to put it on top.
Amazing!
Science! 😍
She blinded me with science!
Great flat lap, Rob! Could you show us how you made it?
Oh, I heard you should neutralize as long as you used the acid, to stop it from continuing to dry it out.
I think my flat lap is homemade, but I didn’t make it. Sorry I can’t help you out.
Very cool!
That turned out so awesome!
I've got some more ready to go in, possibly later today if the weather clears up.
best july 4th video!
Nothing says “Happy Indepenence Day” like soaking a rock in acid!
Can't you use pool grade muratic acid?
I didn't read the concentrations on the bottles. The first jug was from a hot tub store, but had been in my garage for about ten years. I don't think it would get old, but I don't really know. Anyhow, I ran out and went to Home Depot to get another gallon of it. I think this one was marketed for cleaning up grout from brick. I'm not sure if it's more concentrated or not. It worked well whatever it was.
@@MichiganRocks ah ok
Thanks for the demo!
No problem. I need to go play with acid again one of these days. I have some other fossils I want to try.
Can you reuse the same batch of acid for more rocks? And did you use polyurethane spray or the brush-on kind?
I used the brush on kind of polyurethane. I would be worried about overspray if I used the spray stuff.
As the acid and limestone react, they both get used up. If you had a lot of acid and a small amount of limestone, you could dissolve more limestone. If you had a lot of limestone and just a little acid, you wouldn't dissolve all of the limestone. All of this is irrelevant though, because a gallon of muriatic acid costs about $8 at Home Depot.
Ok, thanks! I love watching your videos! Keep up the good work!!
Oh, one more thing... what was the baking soda/water ratio you used?
😊
@@brendalittle528 I didn’t measure anything. It’s like the acid ratio. As long as you have enough baking soda, the small amount of acid left on the wet stone will be used up in the reaction before the baking soda. Just use more that you think you’ll need and it will neutralize the acid.