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

From: michael cottingham <mikewren_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:08:12 -0700
Message-ID: <9A98064F-C1BD-417B-A5E0-89F78F147274_at_gilanet.com>

Hello,
Congrats, you just entered an amazing world of endless discovery and
excitement. After countless of meteorite cuts (maybe 5,000 or more) I
still love opening up a meteorite for the first time. Meteorites,
remind me of books and each cut is like turning a page of a story...

Best Wishes

Michael Cottingham
On Jun 26, 2009, at 8:29 PM, Galactic Stone & Ironworks wrote:

> 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
> ..........................................................
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Received on Sat 27 Jun 2009 12:08:12 AM PDT