Fossil Restoration and Mounting is an extremely skilled task. CKP has been doing this for decades. The goal in Restoration, is to fill the gaps in a specimen that is either unstable or not present. All of our restoration is extremely well documented. We take pictures of the original specimen before restoration and after. It is crucial to our clients to know what portion of a specimen is authentic or restored. We tend not to restore a fossil unless it is necessary for stability, or if a section is completely missing to create a complete specimen mount. All of our restoration is reversible and identifiable through a variety of methods outside of our documentation. We never present a restored specimen without documenting and describing that process and areas restored.
The Mounting Process is done to display a fossil specimen in a secure armature that will not damage the specimen. CKP creates unique, hand crafted, steel armatures that cradle a fossil specimen. Some times, we need to fuse an armature to the original specimen to ensure its stability. This process is always reversible and we only do that depending on our clients needs and request. We have mounted complete skeletons of many dinosaurs, like Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops. This task is extremely time consuming and takes a true master to ensure the safety of the original fossil and a beautiful presentation. CKP only mounts major specimens at the request of a client. They are completely involved in the design, materials used, and final desired result and use. Major skeleton mounts take thousands of hours to create and hundreds of thousands of dollars in materials and equipment. The goal of the mounting process is to protect and display an original fossil specimen for viewers to enjoy. For our major mounts, almost every element is able to be removed, the mount cradles the element and is not fused to it. This way elements can be removed for study.
Below will be a basic outline of mounting an original fossil in a custom steel armature. Coming Soon!