[meteorite-list] The big red grinder and the meteorite pie ***apology (is accepted)

From: j.divelbiss_at_att.net <j.divelbiss_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat Feb 26 12:24:51 2005
Message-ID: <022620051724.19827.4220B0DC00021ACB00004D7321602807489C9C070D040A90070BD206_at_att.net>

Dave and others:

Your story yesterday did seem a bit crass...but the thought of cutting meteorites with a tile saw is "scary" to think about from my perspective too. I'll have to go back and read the pie story with a different mind frame this time.

I too did not tell the whole story with my earlier note on using a saw. I also advise others to cut plenty of terrestrials before ever trying to cut a meteorite. I have drawers full of terrestrial slices. I only use distilled water, and like Bob I make sure I dry the cuts right away ...in my case with a heat lamp. I change water fairly often, and have limited my cutting to stones for the most part. A few meso's and small eucrites have been in the saw too. :)

Personally I would like to hear from folks like Stefan Ralew, Eric Olsen and others who do some of the best work out there. When it comes to nice cuts and premiere polishing, Stefan and Eric have it down to an art. Some of Stefan's pieces look like a mirror...the polish efforts are amazing to see with some of the materials. And for pricing, both of these guys are quite fair.

You're forgiven Dave for trying to point out the absurdity of the tile saw, hack saw, grinder concepts for cutting meteorites.

John

 

-------------- Original message from David Freeman <dfreeman_at_fascination.com>: --------------


> Dear List;
> I wrote a very satirical post yesterday about cutting and grinding your
> meteorite and making a pie.
> PLEASE do not take any of this literally. Meteorites are much to
> valuable to be fooling around with in this fashion.
> I have owned over half a dozen diamond blade saws in the past ten years
> and own three today.
> I probably run my saws over 500 hours a year minimum. I mostly cut
> stromatolite, jade, petrified wood, banded iron.
> I cut a gold basin once years ago. I used water and my favorite small
> saw. I could see then that a meteorite, being so rare, would be forever
> altered by the saw, sometimes for the good and sometimes for the
> bad...perminently! Fortunately, my cut turned out for the good but it
> could have went the other way very easily.
> I do not cut meteorites today. I do cut meteorwrongs for hobby purposes.
> I recommend anyone that wants to start cutting meteorites to start
> cutting Earth rocks for a while and then get a professional or very
> experienced meteorite cutter to tutor them individually about how to
> select the thin blade, the best methods. For anyone to start out with a
> tile saw would be really a very poor judgment move in my opinion. Even
> the lowly Nantan or rusty Campo deserves better than a tile saw. My
> fossil fish supplier used a tile saw for rough cutting fish plates. That
> would be the extent of what a tile saw would be good for, not meteorites
> or other rocks.
> When I found my "Rock Springs" meteorite, did I cut my child: nope! I
> sent it to a professional to do the slice for science cut.
> Please, do not play around with sawing up meteorites, even NWA's until
> you have practiced/perfected cutting on terrestrial rocks, and only cut
> meteorites as an apprentice under an experienced person who knows what
> they are doing.
> I am sorry for posting the satire about the tile saw and
> grinders....because there are those that don't have any common sence and
> MAY try it after all. PS: if you do, be sure to use chocolate pudding
> and the frozen pie shells, they taste better!
> Dave Freeman
> (no, I won't cut your meteorite)
>
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Received on Sat 26 Feb 2005 12:24:45 PM PST