How To Stabilize a Bone or Fossil with B-76 Butvar Resin

Here is a quick tutorial on how to stabilize a bone or fossil with B-76 resin.
B-76 resin is a museum-approved thermoplastic resin designed to keep bones and fossils from cracking or falling apart. You can find it for sale from several online suppliers.
This tutorial is for the amateur collector. If you have a rare or valuable fossil in need of stabilization, please consult a paleontologist or institution.
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[@StrangeLittleGarden]

i have some crazy brittle shale with leaves and ferns in them. They are crumbling apart in my hand as I pick them up. I used a mix of water and clear elmer's glue from the craft store and mixed it 40%glue and 60% water and squirted the shale with it. It covers them in a thin layer of glue, for some i gave them more then one coat. if the mix is too thick, you can get glue bubbles that dry on the surface and looks shitty. thinner the better, you can always add more layers in my opinion. I had a few with some mud on them and rinsed them with a little water and they started to crumble! ahh! so hard to work with, but so worth it. Some pieces look like art!

[@nirvanamadpaul]

I used b76 with ethyl acetate.. Saw it worked with ethyl methyl (something)... I used MEK in the paint Industry so tried it.. Yeah it's really quick to desolve and leaves a nice fine finish when 5/10%

[@nirvanamadpaul]

Re MEK.. Methyl ethyl ketone

[@aprilek86]

Can I apply it on a wet bone? (River find)

[@jheadley635]

Any tips on how to combine this with paint touch-ups? I learned the hard way that acetone will dissolve any acrylic paint you might have put on a fossil for restoration purposes.

[@nebraskaman1375]

I always do any painting after it's fully dry. If you already did touch ups and the fossil is becoming brittle, you may have to just redo it in order to save the fossil.

[@jheadley635]

@@nebraskaman1375 Does the color blend well? I'd imagine it'd look dull next to a part that is coated in the butvar.

[@nebraskaman1375]

@@jheadley635 I suppose it would depend on how skilled the touch ups are. You can add a gloss to the painted areas. I use testors enamel paints myself, they come in matte or gloss finish.

[@pecador_tor]

can I use isopropyl alcohol for a quick stabilization?

[@lavaunjohns7796]

I have a massive whale vertebra that has been sitting on my patio like a plant stand and it's slowly looking like it's going to fall apart. I love that bone and want so much to preserve it but it's so big.

[@nebraskaman1375]

There are other ways of preserving it, you can try epoxy resin thought it's not reversible

[@DanDan-ux3ii]

I have a bunch of bones(not old) that I took bad advise before i knew better….I cleaned them and bleached them. Now of course many of them are a little flakey/powdery. I ordered some butvar76 and bought a gallon of acetone. Do you think kit will help stabilize and stop this flaking?

[@nebraskaman1375]

Yes should help, good luck

[@jacobhudson2745]

What’s the difference between b - 76 and b72?

[@Sea1fly]

What’s the difference between b-76 and B-72???

[@jacobhudson2745]

@@Sea1fly yes I was trying to figure it out had a guy tell me to use b-72

[@nebraskaman1375]

For the purpose of preserving fossils, they're essentially the same

[@DevenDeanFisherMusic]

Bone Er Fossil 😂