Snarking On A Tropical Becker Island

Status
Not open for further replies.
Washed some 200kg of clay and silt today. Found some good teeth. Totalled 7 bags of some 20-30kg of clay that I gathered a lot of years ago, finally getting around to washing them and drying the residue. The largest mesh had these in it. 50 more bags to go.
The two lower ones are teeth of Cretolamna appendiculata. The button-like teeth are Ptychodus. The small top one is definitely Ptychodus mammilaris but I'm not sure yet on the other species. It's definitely the largest of the genus I've found to date. This extinct genus didn't generally actively hunt for fish so they did not need pointy, dagger like teeth like you can see in the examples of Cretolamna in order to grasp slippery food and never let go. Instead they were more passively on the seafloor waiting for prey to pass by so they could snatch and crush it. Hence, mostly shellfish and clams were on their menu. They'd use these hard, ribbed flat teeth to crush the shell and eat the meat.
Spyderco dragonfly for comparison since it was in my pocket.

VKsuzg9.jpg
 
Put the cart together tonight. Not too bad, but the poly tub was thinner than I expected it to be. It said in the info that came with it, that it will handle 600lb distributed evenly, but 300lbs if you use the dump feature. Should still work out okay.
 
Can you have that poly tub bronzed? :D
Daizee, I tried a ball bearing drop test last night to test rebound. I was quite disappointed with the result. My ball bearing left marks in the surface and rebounded a paltry 6 inches when dropped from 10 inches. 60% = F
Gonna need another go-round. Besides, I got another anvil. :p
 
Dang, how high do you think you can get it?
Want to move my anvil to my shop and grind the surface clean while you're at it. :-D
 
Oh I sure do! :D Except, grinding anvils is not to be taken lightly. Like killing a Mocking bird....
I guess if it rebounded 70%, I'ld leave well enough alone. I've seen 90%.
I've had the Russian for 25 years. The first thing I did years ago was smack it with a hammer. That left a dent in the surface just like it was made of wood. :(
 
Last edited:
I used Stoody rod on it, and I will probably lay it on thicker and grind it flat once more before I try to quench harden it. Quenching takes A LOT of water! I was reading in my copy of "The Mousehole Forge", that the source of Mousehole anvils for centuries was their forge built on the River Rivelin, near Sheffield. River water is what quenched their anvils, fascinating history. I have a 99 pound Mousehole that rebounds 90%. As it is, I am not yet worthy to pound steel on a masterpiece like that, I've got chunks of rail, or my farriers JHM basic to work on if I need it.
~~
 
Last edited:
80% on a dirty surface is excellent!!
~~
In other news, I accepted a job offer this morning, ... from my previous employers. It's been a decade and a half since I left. I've been back to school since then, knowing what they needed and what I might be able to handle. It will involve steel work, lots of steel work.
 
tanglediver said:
80% on a dirty surface is excellent!!
~~
In other news, I accepted a job offer this morning, ... from my previous employers. It's been a decade and a half since I left. I've been back to school since then, knowing what they needed and what I might be able to handle. It will involve steel work, lots of steel work.
Click to expand...
Congrats for sure tanglediver :thumbsup:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top