[meteorite-list] RE: POLL: rustiest most unstable known

From: Steve Schoner <schoner_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed May 31 11:19:54 2006
Message-ID: <20060531.080544.21820.38484_at_webmail10.nyc.untd.com>

Irons are not all the same. It depends on the amount of water that has penetrated into the crystalline structure. Some respond well to Hartman's tech, but others do not respond to simple heat and oil.

I have used my tech which involves sodium hydroxide solution with great sucess. 60% distilled water of which 10% of that is sodium hydroxide, and the rest iso-alcohol. (If one sees a layer at the bottom of the container, just add enough distilled water and stir till it goes away). Soak the specimen and I found that if one adds galvanized nails to one side, but not touching the specimen (use a plastic container) this creates an electric charge that actually removes chlorine from the specimen. The meteorite becomes the cathode and the nails become the anode, chlorine ions migrate to the anode, and the solution then turns them into salt.

Now, the results. I re-soaked my problematic Mt. Dieu for 3 months in this solution with galvanized nails. At first the nails bubbled as the charge was established. I watched the meteorite flake away. Mt. Dieu is terrible for rusting. I think that it is probably the worst ruster on the planet, as bad if not worse than Nantan in my opinion.

Well, after three months, I removed it and soaked it in distilled water to remove the salt and excess hydroxide. And the result is quite nice. The rust on the outside has completely flaked away revealing the crystal structure in bold relief, and the cut surface is untouched and clean. I do not add any oil or coating, and I do not have to re-etch, though I will to remove the rust spots that were there before I started the process.

Steve Schoner/AMS
IMCA #4470




R. N. Hartman
Tue, 30 May 2006 20:34:38 -0700

Our experience:

You will not remove all the moisture that gets deep into fissures and at the
boundaries of the inclusions in an iron meteorite simply by any method if
the meteorite is treated at room temperatures. We heat the iron meteorite
in an oven to a high temperature in a protecting oil which expands the
cracks and allows a protecting oil to replace the moisture. The protecting
oil prevents discoloration and damage to the iron which would occur if
heated otherwise. It works perfectly. None of my iron meteorites rust.
The protecting oil is then swabbed over the surface and allowed to evaporate
for a few days, then the remainder is removed and the surface allowed to
fully dry, protecting the meteorite from absorbing additional external
moisture. Such an oil is ordinary ATF as used in modern automobile
transmissions. (And it is cheap!) The method was developed by my son, Jim,
and has been partially described in one of my previous articles in METEORITE
TIMES (November 2002) in which we described proper preparation of the
surface of an iron. The details using the AFT was not discussed there as it
is a bit tricky and I am not suggesting that anyone try this as I don't want
anyone to burn down their kitchens or blow their heads off, but with careful
experimentation someone experienced in lab techniques can achieve much
success. Heating carefully as described in the article should give good
results.

Other techniques have been described by various preparers and some of them
seem to be successful as well. But each iron is unique and no method works
exactly the same for any two.

Ron Hartman

----- Original Message -----
From: "mark ford" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Monday, October 10, 2005 9:07 AM
Subject: RE: [meteorite-list] RE: POLL: rustiest most unstable known




The way I see it is there are two issues with rusting:


1) water/chlorine oxygen that is in the meteorite when you buy it, Often
due to etching in water based etchants or rain damage when it was in the
ground - This causes rusting even if you coat it in varnish since it is
just using up contaminants inside the matrix. To over come this type of
rusting you need to dry the metal very well and maybe even use sodium
hydroxide solution to neutralize any acid.

2) External sources of water vapor, chlorine and such: This can be
prevented by using appropriate VCI and dessicant or dehumidification and
keeping the specimens in a closed cabinet away from draughts and sources
of water or contaminats. And this means not using bear fingers when you
pick up irons!


Some Irons do seem to rust no matter what you do to them, but I have
succsfully stabilized 6 kilos of campo and it is as fresh as the day it
was cut over a year on.

The best stuff I have found is 'Lithium Grease', just spread a smear on
iron slices all over on and then wipe off the excess it protects for at
least 6 months...


Mark Ford



-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Bill
Mason III
Sent: Monday, October 10, 2005 3:21 AM
To: 'Steve Schoner'; meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
Subject: RE: [meteorite-list] RE: POLL: rustiest most unstable known

Dear, I give up rusters. I'm perplexed at the people who have given up!
Why can I solve the problem of continued corrosion and you
can't?
I'm not magic and I can understand the cause of corrosion. Why doesn't
anybody start thinking what causes rust? OPEN conversation invited!

Bill Mason "rusty"

-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Steve
Schoner
Sent: Sunday, October 09, 2005 4:46 PM
To: meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
Subject: [meteorite-list] RE: POLL: rustiest most unstable known

harlan trammell
Thu, 06 Oct 2005 20:30:15 -0700

ok, folks what it is? let's see the TOP 10 sweatiest,
crappiest, rustiest, hear-it-crackle- as it falls
apart in your hands 5 seconds after sawing, skyrox.
i'll start with: tsarev, brahin, campo. what have YOU
got?!

MT. DIEU... PEEEE-UUUUU !

Nearly impossible to cure.

Steve Schoner/AMS
Received on Wed 31 May 2006 11:04:54 AM PDT