[meteorite-list] dronino (in)stability: a solution ?

From: John Gwilliam <jkg_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:29:56 2004
Message-ID: <4.2.0.58.20030916095729.00992640_at_mail.theriver.com>

Rust Sufferers,

You might consider using Steve Schoner's tried and true sodium hydroxide=20
process. I had several slices of old Campo that would rust no matter how=20
may times I polished them or how dry I kept them. Then, two years ago, I=20
used the sodium hydroxide process and the slices have been rust free ever=20
since. One of the slices sits in a metal pan out in my garage where it is=
=20
subject to the heat and humidity and there is absolutely no rust on it.

Best,

John Gwilliam

At 06:21 PM 9/16/03 +0200, Zelimir Gabelica wrote:
>Hello Steve, Matteo, List,
>
>Dronino seems to be very versatile to rusting indeed.
>-I got a small slice from Sergey Vasiliev in May 2003 with not any rust
>problem so far (now about 4 months after).
>-I purchesed 2 other slices in Ensisheim (June 21) from Serguei (Serge)
>Afanasiev and one month after they both were fully covered with rust,
>basically all around the silicate inclusions.
>- I purchased another small slice from Vasiliev in Ensisheim and today it=
 is
>just as fresh as in June....
>
>Apparently either every Dronino piece is intrinsicaly different or it is a
>problem of cutting method and precautions taken after cutting, but probably
>not a storage problem because all the 4 slices were stored in the very same
>drawers and boxes, with just, as (poor) protection, a silica bag in between
>the cotton wool and the plastic box bottom.
>
>Having nothing to loose with Serge's slices and not having on hand any
>reliable recipe nor chemicals, I directly tried the first commercial=
 product
>I found in a Department Store (in Belgium).
>It is a tube of compact (wax-like) "paste" named "STRAHLDUR" (German brand
>?) sold for a few euros as a "mirror finish without polishing" for current
>domestic houseworks...
>
>Operatory conditions, as written on the tube and box, in 6 languages (also
>in italian, Matteo!), suggest to "apply Strahldur" on a WET sponge for
>"stainless steel, copper, brass, tin, chromium, aluminum, but also=
 plastics,
>enamel, glass, tiles bathroom fittings, sink, hot-plates, oven grill,
>toaster, kettle, IRON, cutlery, resopal kitchen furniture, refrigerators,
>window frames, garden furniture, and much much more"...moreover: "it=
 removes
>RUST from chrom plated parts and dirt from wheel rims"...
>It so continues:
>"Wash the object (with a wet sponge) and dry (wipe off)...ready!"...
>Any warnings ? Not really. They write: "Strahldur contains NO ACID and is
>gentle to the skin"...
>Composition ? "contains "mineral polish" (?), emulsified paraffin, natural
>soap, "cleansing raw materials" (?)...and a "fresh orange fragrance"
>(probably to remove tha latest doubts of a semi-convinced housewife"...).
>
>As a chemist, I realized that the paste could prove relatively harmful to
>most of metallic objects. And the metals cited above (including rust!) can
>mostly be involved in a meteorite as well!
>Without preliminary trials on any other meteorite, I just then removed most
>of the superficial rust from my 2 dirty Droninos with a razor blade (dry
>conditions) and then applied Strahldur with a DRY cloth (I IGNORED wetting
>for obvious reasons) for about 2 minutes, by gently rubbing all around the
>slices. Then just gently polished with another soft cloth so as to recover
>the initial mirror-brillant polish.
>The slices immediately recovered their initial aspect and were mint again!
>
>This treatment was performed 5 weeks ago and I just checked the 2 slices
>today: perfect with not any trace of rust! (remember that rust appeared 1
>month after purchase of the mint slices).
>
>This can be a first step towards a solution of rust removing from our
>polished iron slices and, in particular, Dronino.
> I am however cautious and prefer waiting for more time but so far this=
 kind
>of simple treatment appears fairly promising.
>I will, of course, keep you informed. But the message here can be that,
>instead of using complicated and harm chemicals (such as preliminary I
>wanted to use in a laboratory), it is perhaps preferable to put our faith
>into very common cleaning products for housewifes. They are, by definition,
>not dengerous, must be efficient and, especially, polyvalent, thus for a=
 lot
>if different uses, probably including meteorite cleaning, rust removing=
 and,
>possibly, further protecting through some film (my speculation).
>
>I almost forgot.
> I further tried this product to remove some rust spots from an etched=
 iron
>involving Widmannst=E4tten pattern.
>As all my Gibeons are "desperatly" stable, I tried to treat a slice of
>SPEARMAN (Om IIIAB, Texas). Rust was immediately gone but the W pattern
>remained untouched!
>This is (for me) an even more promising result as it was always a nightmare
>for me to have to remove rust from a slice through some chemical (acid) and
>then re-treat with Nitol (or FeCl3) to recover the W pattern.
>
>Glad if this helps and happy to answer any further question or comment,
>
>All the best,
>
>Zelimir
>
>
>------
>At 04:51 16/09/03 -0700, Steve Arnold wrote:
> >Hello again list.Could someone please let me know how stable the DRONINO
> >meteorite is?I mean versus campo, nantan, and some other iron pieces.I am
> >trying to decide whether or not to buy some.I, like mike blood like to
> >collect only stone or stoney-irons, but like to take a chance on a good
> >stable iron piece.Let me know.
>
> > steve arnold
>------
>On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 04:58:39 -0700 (PDT), Matteo answered:
>
>Hello
>
>Dronino have high problem with rust, I am under search
>a method for stop this.
>Regards
>
>Matteo
>******************************************************
>Prof. Zelimir Gabelica
>Groupe S=E9curit=E9 et Ecologie Chimiques (GSEC) - ENSCMu
>3, rue A. Werner
>F-68093 MULHOUSE Cedex, FRANCE
>Tel: +33 (0)3 89 33 68 94
>FAX: +33 (0)3 89 33 68 15
>e-Mail: Z.Gabelica_at_uha.fr
>******************************************************
>
>
>
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Received on Tue 16 Sep 2003 01:03:09 PM PDT