[meteorite-list] Fired up the saw for the first time today!

From: Galactic Stone & Ironworks <meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:29:31 -0400
Message-ID: <e51421550906262029k4b185c65s749fded621d661a8_at_mail.gmail.com>

Hi Listees!

I finally fired up my saw today and did my first cuts!

First, I had no idea that cutting stony meteorites was so EASY.
Albeit, I was cutting small ones.

I did my very first cut on a non-descript UNWA stone. It cut right in
half like butter. So, then I was feeling increasingly brave, so I cut
some NWA 869 and Oum Dreyga. It was surprising how easy it was to cut
nice, thin, and even slices. The NWA 869 and Oum Dreyga turned out
very nice - the latter has black crust around the edges. All of the
slices are small - the Oum Dreyga slices were made from a 10 gram
crusted chunk and the NWA 869 was cut from a 42 gram stone.

I also cut several oddball meteorites I have been sitting on for a
while - waiting for a saw. Most were run of the mill H-type
chondrites with metal flecks a few sparse chondrules. One was an
Al-Hagg type EL chondrite. But one was interesting. It has a grey
matrix with dark grey and white clasts. It also has a few ill-defined
chondrules. The stone shows a very slight attraction to a neo-magnet
and I don't think it's a wrong. (although I could be wrong) - it
bears a visual resemblance to a eucrite. I'll snap some photos and
post them soon.

I used distilled water as a coolant. After cutting I dried the slices
and endcuts on paper towels and then baked them in an oven for a few
hours afterwards to purge the moisture. Amazingly, I did a decent job
cutting them - very few saw marks and nice even flat cuts. Some
slices have no visible saw marks without using a loupe to see them. I
haven't sanded or polished any of them yet. I don't think the NWA 869
slices need polishing - they look quite good as-is. The Oum Dreyga
shows a dual lithology or some clasts (not sure what terminology to
use). It reminds me of how Peekskill looks on the inside. Maybe it's
brecciated? I'll try to post some pics. There are also some nice
well-defined chondrules.

One last observation about my first cutting experience - the 6"
lapidary saw was alot quieter than I expected it to be. I also
expected a big mess from coolant being flung everywhere - this didn't
happen either. In fact, the wife didn't even know I had been cutting
until afterwards. She couldn't hear it from the garage. I guess I
was expecting something loud like a circular saw. LOL

I had fun cutting stuff and now I can't wait to start cutting other
rocks and stuff. :)

Regards,

MikeG

-- 
.........................................................
Michael Gilmer (Louisiana, USA)
Member of the Meteoritical Society.
Member of the Bayou Region Stargazers Network.
Websites - http://www.galactic-stone.com and http://www.glassthrower.com
..........................................................

Received on Fri 26 Jun 2009 11:29:31 PM PDT