[meteorite-list] Fw: etching with radio shack etchant

From: David Pensenstadler <dfpens01_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 3 May 2010 08:38:18 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <362562.19442.qm_at_web113307.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>

I have also used ferric chloride on a Campo with good results. It is easier and less hazardous to use than nital.

Dave

--- On Mon, 5/3/10, R N Hartman <rhartman04 at earthlink.net> wrote:

> From: R N Hartman <rhartman04 at earthlink.net>
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Fw:? etching with radio shack etchant
> To: "Meteorite Central" <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Cc: "Meteorite1" <meteorite1 at earthlink.net>
> Date: Monday, May 3, 2010, 3:44 AM
> I was just browsing through some of
> the posts on Joes Skyrockcafe website when I ran across a
> post from a collector who was unhappy with the Radio Shack
> etchant for iron meteorites.? He claims to have sanded
> a Campo down to #400 but could not get a Widmanstatten
> pattern, although he did get a beautiful pattern using the
> traditional Nitric method.
>
> My son, Jim, and I posted an article in the November 2002
> issue of the Meteorite Times about preparing and etching
> irons using Ferric Chloride (which is the same material as
> used in the Radio Shack etchant).? The method has been
> used widely since that time with outstanding success by many
> and with superior results, so there is now an undisputed 8
> year positive history.? Etches show more contrast and
> subtle details come out more readily, and fears of ferric
> chloride use have been put to rest as the specimens are not
> rusting and crumbling.? In fact, they do just as well
> if not better than when etched with nitric. (But that is a
> topic for another day.)
>
> I think the problem of the person in posting his negative
> experience was that after grinding down to a #400 grit that
> he did not then polish out the surface.? Unlike
> preparing an iron to etch with nitric acid, the surface
> wants to have a highly reflective mirror-like surface before
> etching.? As we say in the article, however, every
> meteorite is different and can react differently to
> different circumstances, so he may have just had an unusual,
> but uncommon, experience.? He may have a very different
> experience with a different Campo.? (I have many
> Ferric-etched slices of Campos in my personal collection and
> they are all doing well.)
>
> Ron Hartman
>
>
>
>
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Received on Mon 03 May 2010 11:38:18 AM PDT