[meteorite-list] Stange Happenings in the Shop

From: Rob Wesel <nakhladog_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:27:45 2004
Message-ID: <001b01c3a5c0$8e0f5820$037cd50c_at_robewcufk0z2s3>

That...was...awesome!
Ahh, tears in my eyes

Rob Wesel
------------------
We are the music makers...
and we are the dreamers of the dreams.
Willy Wonka, 1971



----- Original Message -----
From: "Adam Hupe" <adamhupe_at_comcast.net>
To: <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Friday, November 07, 2003 8:48 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Stange Happenings in the Shop


> Dear List Members,
>
> We had a pretty strange thing happen in our shop today. We purchased some
> so-called "magic cleaning potion" at the Denver show from a hippie that
had
> beautiful mineral specimens for sale. He told us the stuff works great
for
> removing calcite from minerals. We asked about meteorites and he said it
> would be safe because it is natural, does not pollute and is a "green
> product". We mixed up a batch with some distilled water as he directed
and
> threw a handful of Taza irons into the solution. What happened next was
> pretty scary. The bucket started to bubble (or boil, we are not sure) and
a
> noxious brown cloud that smelt like rotten eggs permeated our shop gagging
> everybody present. We were tempted to call a hazmat team but decided to
> deal with the problem ourselves. We didn't have gas masks so we had to
> reenter the shop with wet towels over our faces, put the bucket outside
and
> open the windows. Once we felt it was safe to go near the bucket we
dumped
> out the contents on the driveway and hosed everything down. What we found
> was that this stuff not only removed the calcite but also etched the
> meteorites from the outside and ate a large hole in the driveway. If we
> would have soaked them overnight like the hippie advised there probably
> would have been nothing left including the bucket. Needless to say, this
> will be a limited addition item as we are going back to the air-abrasion
> tool method to clean irons. Assuming this stuff was some kind of very
> powerful acid we neutralized the irons using baking soda, washed them with
> pure ethyl alcohol and heat treated them. Although it was a bad
experience,
> the end product looks pretty cool. If you are interested in seeing what
> they look like check out this link:
>
> http://www.lunarrock.com/11-7/taza1.jpg
>
> To help offset the costs of repairing the driveway, we are making this
> limited addition run available on eBay. If you are interested, here is
the
> link:
>
> http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/meteoritelab/
>
>
> Wishing everybody well,
>
> Adam and Greg Hupe
> The Hupe Collection
> IMCA 2185
>
>
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________
> Meteorite-list mailing list
> Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
> http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>
Received on Sat 08 Nov 2003 01:21:32 AM PST