[meteorite-list] surface treatments/ oils...

From: drtanuki <drtanuki_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2007 10:44:48 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <900845.65130.qm_at_web53206.mail.re2.yahoo.com>

Michael and List,
  Thank you Michael for taking your time to contribute
and educate myself and the list more about abrasion
tool use. Your comments were very informative. Thank
you. Sincerely, Dirk Ross..Tokyo



--- Michael L Blood <mlblood at cox.net> wrote:

> on 3/27/07 9:47 AM, drtanuki at drtanuki at yahoo.com
> wrote:
> > The abrasion tool that I have seen can be used to
> > remove soil or rust from the Gaos and other
> > meteorites. It is basically a sandblaster that
> has a
> > stylus like a pen. I don`t know what a "bead
> blaster"
> > is.
> Hi Dirk and all,
> In a "sand blasting" unit, one can use any
> number
> of materials for cleaning. You can see the same
> thing
> in "tumblers" in the rock trade.
> One can use sand (Si02) which is a hardness
> of 7
> on the Mo's scale down through cork, which is under
> a hardness of 2. Some even use lead beads.
> For meteorites, a decent choice is tiny
> glass beads
> with a hardness softer than the fusion crust (man
> made
> glass is approximately a 5). However, even with
> glass
> beads, care must be taken to keep from "blasting
> off"
> parts of the fusion crust, since the force of the
> unit can
> do that - much like a tornado can rip off the roofs
> of
> buildings. In addition, even with softer material,
> the
> "peeks" of fusion crust can be rounded off - highly
> undesirable in my opinion. So, how far one holds the
> tip of the "sand blaster" from the stone, the amount
> of
> pressure used in the unit, How long the material is
> exposed
> to the treatment, etc, all play into being able to
> remove
> rust and/or dirt without harming the fusion crust.
> A skilled hand and fine eye can, with
> experience,
> remove rust from most meteorites without damaging
> the fusion crust - depending on many factors.
> So, to say blasting does or does not alter
> the fusion
> crust is na?Ee. Some times it does not - many times
> it
> does. Going very slowly and checking closely to
> exactly
> what is being removed and or altered is a
> requirement
> of the person using the blaster. Use of a microscope
> greatly aids in this, but increases the time by many
> factors - and I believe most dealers do NOT
> have a clear understanding of the intricacies of the
> process and/or take sufficient care in their work to
> insure fusion crust is left unaltered.
> Best wishes, Michael
>
>
>
>
> --
> "What fits your busy schedule better, exercising one
> hour a day
> or being dead 24 hours a day?"
> ----Anon
> --
> Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity.
> ---Graffito: The Bayou, Baton Rouge , LO
> --
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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Received on Wed 28 Mar 2007 01:44:48 PM PDT