The PaleoTools Mighty Jack

   

This tool is designed to work on large blocks of matrix containing fairly large bones. We have used it on a 1500 lb. (680 Kg) block containing a vertebral column from an Allosaurus and worked right up to the vertebra and ribs.

 

 It works like a very large airscribe in the sense that you have to let the tool do the work. If you bear down hard on it, it just stalls out. It runs at about 8,000 to 10,000 CPM. It works best in the 100 to 120 PSIG (6.9 to 8.3 BAR) range and it takes somewhere around a 5 Horse Power compressor to keep it going. If your air pressure gets down to 80 PSIG (5.5 BAR), shut the tool off and let the compressor pump up again as the Mighty Jack gets very wimpy at this and lower pressures.

 

Using the Mighty Jack with two hands, it is very controllable and we have worked within 1/8" (3mm) of the bone or fossil. 

The important point about the Mighty Jack is that it doesn’t have "rock shattering" power.

It comes with a solid tungsten carbide stylus that is ¼" in diameter and protrudes from the bushing about 3". We have found in testing, that either a two sided chisel or a four sided pyramidal shaped stylus worked best, the flat chisel on softer matrix and the four sided on harder. The stylus is locked in the tool so it cannot rotate. The Mighty Jack comes with an eight foot long flexible rubber hose. This tool has enough air consumption that it can be worth putting an "air tool oiler" in the line feeding it. We recommend about six drops of oil per hour put in the end of the air hose if oiling by hand.

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There is the option of a handle which can be slipped on or off the tool in a matter of seconds. The handle can make guiding the tool simpler.The Mighty Jack needs to be lubricated as it has reciprocating parts in it. I use 6 drops of a good air tool oil in the end of the air hose every three or four hours of operation.