[meteorite-list] AD - 25% OFF - Eclectic assortment - Cutting/Polishing services, Meteorite Webmaster Report, and more!

From: Galactic Stone & Ironworks <meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:16:14 -0400
Message-ID: <AANLkTi=QQ5izUi0fR1nCiOC-RQTH7dyr450k88JRhrzL_at_mail.gmail.com>

Hi Steve, Gary, and List,

Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate the feedback. :)

I enjoyed cutting Steve's specimen because it pushed my personal
boundaries as a cutter. I'm still relatively new to this compared to
some of the veteran cutters like Jim Tobin and others. And your stone
had a flat profile, which was a little more challenge to cut in half
than most other stones of similar mass. I was confident that I could
cut it, but I was unsure about how straight the cut would be and clean
it would be, because the size of the stone was approaching the upper
limits of what my trim-saw can handle. So I do admit I was a little
nervous when I first started cutting it, but once the cut started to
proceed smoothly, it turned out to be one of my better cuts. I've
since taken on a couple of trickier cutting jobs that I might not have
attempted if I hadn't already built my confidence on your Bou Arfa
stone. :)

A few words to anyone who might be considering having me or someone
else cut your specimen :

1) my saw is a 6" trim saw. Only about 3" inches of the blade is
exposed above the cutting surface, so for all intents and purposes, I
have a 3-inch saw. This limits the size of the specimens I can cut.
If you have a specimen that is slightly bigger, I can handle it by
making a prep-cut that will reduce the profile of the remaining
specimen, which I can then slice comfortably. This is what I did with
Steve's specimen. It was a little bit too tall for my saw, so I
shaved off the broken face of exposed matrix, cleanly removing it as a
small "endcut". This removed several millimeters of material and left
me with a perfectly flat surface. I rotated the stone onto the new
flat surface and proceeded to cut the stone in half "book end" style,
exposing the most surface area. But, if Steve's stone had been BIG,
say softball-sized or bigger, I could not have done this with my
current saw setup.

2) I don't cut irons. I leave that for the cutters with more time,
patience, skills, and money than me. It's too labor intensive and it
eats up too many blades. I will window or cut very small irons on a
case by case basis, but nothing big. I will also cut most stony-iron
specimens like mesosiderites. I also have experience cutting fragile
and friable specimens like carbonaceous chondrites and some
achondrites. (surprisingly, some diogenites are TOUGH to cut on a
small saw, while others are not!)

3) I cut most specimens by hand. I can get away with this because I
mostly cut very small specimens that I can firmly grasp and control.
I get good feedback through my hands while cutting, and I can cradle
the stone to provide the best vibration dampening. It's hard to
describe in words, but I feel a connection or "link" to the specimen.
Plus, I don't want it to be ripped out of my hands and thrown across
the room, so I make darn sure it isn't going anywhere using a
dentist-like precision that is difficult to get when using a vise or
jig. This results in very clean cuts that are straight with minimal
saw marks, and fewer saw marks means less sanding and less loss of
material. But, the price paid for this, each subsequent slice is
taken by hand, so the next cut is not going to be 100% parallel to the
previous cut, so most of my thinner slices tend to have a small degree
of taper - these are not horrible wedges that can be used as door
stops, but they are not perfect credit-card like slices either.
(unless I get lucky, and occasionally I do make a really perfect
slice, but it's not that frequent when cutting thin.)

4) I sand and polish by hand, on a hard flat surface, using
progressive grits of sandpaper from 100 to 1500 and beyond, depending
on the material being polished. Just like with the cutting, I have
solid control over the specimen during the process and I get good
feedback from it through my hands. This allows me to handle delicate
and fragile specimens that I would dare press against a spinning lap
disc. Breakage during sanding is rare, unless the specimen is very
thin, very weathered, or very friable. And if it's very friable, then
chances are it's not the type of material that requires (or benefits
from) sanding and polishing.

5) Most of the work and most of the fee involved (for me) comes from
the sanding and polishing. The actual cutting part of the process is
usually pretty quick and relatively painless. But, removing saw marks
can require a lot of elbow grease and sandpaper - depending on the
material involved. Some hard ordinary chondrites are like granite and
a saw mark can take quite a while to remove by hand. Other types are
easier to sand. So the fee will depend, in large part, on how much
work there is for me to do after the cutting. I can control part of
that by being very careful during cutting, but the rest is dictated by
the meteorite itself and will vary from case to case.

I recently had the pleasure of cutting some very interesting new
material that is currently awaiting provisional classification
numbers. The material is not mine, but it was fun to work with and I
am excited to be a part of the classification process, even if my
involvement was very minor (cutting the type specimen from the mass).
 I'm sure we'll be hearing more about this new material on the list
when the time is right. ;)

Best regards,

MikeG

------------------------------------------------------------
Mike Gilmer - Galactic Stone & Ironworks Meteorites
http://www.galactic-stone.com
http://www.facebook.com/galacticstone
------------------------------------------------------------

On 8/22/10, Steve Witt <stelor96 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Greetings List,
>
> Just a quick reply from someone who's used Mike's services. He does
> absolutely outstanding work!!!
>
> Best,
> Steve
>
>
> Steve Witt
> IMCA #9020
> http://imca.cc/
>
>
> --- On Sat, 8/21/10, Galactic Stone & Ironworks <meteoritemike at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> From: Galactic Stone & Ironworks <meteoritemike at gmail.com>
>> Subject: [meteorite-list] AD - 25% OFF - Eclectic assortment -
>> Cutting/Polishing services, Meteorite Webmaster Report, and more!
>> To: "Meteorite List" <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
>> Date: Saturday, August 21, 2010, 12:26 PM
>> Hi Folks!
>>
>> I have some interesting news for those of you who maintain
>> meteorite-related websites. Over the last week, I
>> have intensively
>> researched the google page rank of 89 different meteorite
>> websites,
>> including dealers. I have compared the longevity,
>> page ranks and
>> traffic details of these websites and complied the data
>> into a report.
>> This report will show the google page ranks of 100
>> websites (89
>> meteorite sites plus some benchmarks) and then give some
>> analysis of
>> what these pagerank numbers mean, and how you can improve
>> your page
>> rank. If you run a meteorite-related website or a
>> dealer site, then
>> your site is probably mentioned and ranked in this
>> report. This
>> report is 9 pages long and is available upon request for
>> $2. If after
>> reading the report, you don't think it was helpful or
>> informative, I
>> will refund your $2. Any webmaster who wants to
>> improve their traffic
>> or any dealer who wants to increase their sales, should see
>> this
>> report. If you want a copy of the report, send $2 via
>> PayPal to -
>> meteoritemike at gmail.com
>>
>> Some of you might be quite surprised (or shocked!) to see
>> what your
>> website's google page rank is.
>>
>> Also, I am offering my cutting and polishing services to
>> any meteorite
>> collectors who have stony or stony-iron specimens in need
>> of cutting.
>> Perhaps you want a specimen sliced, windowed, or a type
>> specimen
>> removed for classification. As long as your specimen
>> is no bigger
>> than 3-inches at it's widest dimension, I can cut it.
>> I have cut and
>> polished specimens for other dealers and several
>> collectors, and I can
>> provide references and photos of my work on request.
>> I can do just
>> cutting without sanding, or I can sand/polish all the way
>> to 1500 grit
>> and beyond, for a true glassy-smooth finish.
>>
>> See this link for more info about cutting -
>> http://www.galactic-stone.com/product/meteorite-cutting-services-i-cut-your-meteorite
>>
>> Currently I am offering 25% OFF every specimen in my store,
>> just use
>> coupon code "sale" at checkout to get the discount.
>> :)
>>
>> See the newest specimens here -
>> http://www.galactic-stone.com/products/brand-new/?page=1&s=newest
>>
>> Unclassified stony specimens -
>> http://www.galactic-stone.com/products/nwa-unclassified
>>
>> Exclusive Riker box displays -
>> http://www.galactic-stone.com/products/riker-box-displays
>>
>> Also, check out the new Meteorite Top Sites List - increase
>> your
>> website traffic for free! - http://meteorite.gotop100.com/
>>
>> Feel free to contact me offlist with any questions or
>> requests -
>> meteoritemike at gmail.com
>>
>> Thanks for looking and have a great weekend!
>>
>> MikeG
>>
>> --
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> Mike Gilmer - Galactic Stone & Ironworks Meteorites
>> http://www.galactic-stone.com
>> http://www.facebook.com/galacticstone
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> ______________________________________________
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>
>
>
>
>

--

Received on Mon 23 Aug 2010 03:16:14 PM PDT