Ken Mannion
   Fossil Preparation Tools & Equipment     
Fossil Preparation Services
Since 1980

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Fossil Preparation Blaster

Uses your compressor to carry abrasive particles in a stream of air through a very fine nozzle. No electricity required. Simple to use and maintain.

Used in conjunction with a cabinet and dust extractor

These units are supplied by us complete with 5kg of Aluminium 45 micron powder, an extension lead with plug fitting a sieve mat for recycling powder and detailed instructions for use

Powders available separately .......Complete spares backup........Assembled and tested ready to use..........Ongoing telephone support

These units fill the need for an inexpensive and easy to use abrasive blaster for fossil preparation. The use of abrasives in an air stream in fossil preparation is well established and extremely effective. The refinement blasting can add to a specimen can be impressive especially during the final finishing stages.

At a fraction of the price of the industrial production level pressurised units they are considerably less complex to both use and maintain while remaining an effective addition to the fossil preparation workshop. Despite their outward practical simplicity these units are of a very high build. Produced in the United States.

In our experience many fossil preparers, especially those 'going it alone somewhat ' and responsible for the purchase and maintenance of their equipment as well as its use, tell us they prefer these units to the expensive complex though highly versatile pressurised types. We have sold many dozens over the years and find them exceptionally reliable. Unusually for small inexpensive abrasive blasters these have an independent powder flow adjustment separate from the air pressure. An important feature for fossil preparation

Powder flow is adjusted by a manual valve at the top of the unit, air flow by the regulator. The powder container is a whopping 1 gallon size . The container is not under pressure, powder being drawn into the flow pipe by vacuum. It can be removed and refilled easily,. Nozzle size is a standard 0.062 inches. On off air flow switch is by foot pedal.

Despite the fact that the use of a blaster on a specimen may represent just a small percentage of the total preparation time the end result can really set it apart. These units are especially effective for removing bruising from both fossil and matrix left by other means of preparation, for the removal of deposits from intricate and complex fossils that are otherwise tedious if not practically near impossible to remove by other means, and the swift removal of very soft rocks such as chalk and clays. An essential aid for many types of chemical preparation and restoration techniques,

Some fossils are done most effectively with air abrasive techniques.
Images show a before and after Triassic Crinoid slab ( Traumatocrinus hsuixi) from China done with our fossil blaster by Trevor Sands of North Lincolnshire.
Slab is well over 12 inches square and was purchased unprepared for a fraction of its undoubted finished value.