[meteorite-list] Rust Question about my stone meteorite. BKF is thebest :)

From: Linton Rohr <lintonius_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2010 11:06:38 -0700
Message-ID: <6C4389E7AAA0467CA4782E75E5472A36_at_D190TH71>

Hi folks.
I think both sides of this debate have valid points.
One might ask: Is the cure worse than the disease?
While a 'little' rust doesn't bother me, if my 'patient' is being killed by
rust I'll most certainly intervene. A pile of crumbling, rusted fragments is
of no value to science either. Sometimes rust removal might be considered
the lesser of two evils.
Linton

----- Original Message -----
From: "Shawn Alan" <photophlow at yahoo.com>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Monday, September 13, 2010 10:48 AM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Rust Question about my stone meteorite. BKF is
thebest :)


Hi Martin and Listers

Martin BKF is an acid and nothing more.... The acid doesn't bleach the
surface and the active ingredient is oxalic acid, naturally occurs in plants
and animals. The acid acts like an accelerant to the surface by stripping
away the rust. The oxalic acid is nothing more then acid rain on steroids.
But in this case the rust is stripped away from the meteorite, preserving
the meteorite.

As for making the meteorite worthless for being used for science, I think we
can leave that up to the scientists, and to be honest, I think most
meteorites in peoples collections are void because I bet scientist have
strict rules on handing and storage of meteorites. But again I am not a
scientist nor are most people on the list. But at any rate, if a scientist
was going to use the L6 meteorite for research, I think that they would use
an acid as well to strip the surface away to get to the good stuff in the
middle :)

As for changing a weathered meteorite from a W4 to W0 is probably impossible
if the meteorite is a W4. The reason is because the weathering isn't
superficial and the weathering is through out the meteorite. You would have
to strip down the meteorite to nothing. Now do I say that everyone go out
and do this no, but what I do say is if your confident and know what your
doing then do it because rust for a meteorite can spell trouble.

As for devaluing a meteorite for research, Martin again I have to say that
most meteorites that people own could be deemed as worthless because of how
they are handled, cut, sliced, buffed and stored. But again I don't think we
all have a science lab in our bedrooms performing science experiments on our
meteorites. If any thing I was able to stop the process of the meteorite
from rusting and restore the surface to its original form. In that regard I
am able to identify the meteorite from its physical features now, making the
L6 more important from a scientific observation stand point and because I
can see the meteorite and not rust from old age.

Science 101, to stop an acid one can use a neutralizer aka water

Shawn Alan
IMCA 1633
eBaystore
http://shop.ebay.com/photophlow/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p
4340







[meteorite-list] Rust Question about my stone meteorite. BKF is the best
:)Martin Altmann altmann at meteorite-martin.de
Mon Sep 13 08:24:16 EDT 2010


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Humhem...please!

No offense. It's absolutely you're private affair, what you're doing with
your meteorites.

Though in general I think it's a big No-No to manipulate stony meteorites
that way, to artificially bleach them. (Just was looking, "Bar Keeper
Friend"s main reactive agent is oxalic acid).
Stone meteorites are no irons. In my opinion such a treatment will make them
to a certain degree worthless,
as they can't be used anymore for scientific measurements.

What I would urgently expect, is to avoid, that such bleached chondrites
would be brought in circulation.
The meteorite sector, other than the minerals and fossils sector, all in all
was so far relatively spared from manipulated or fudged specimens.

It would be in my very personal opinion everything else than good, that W2,
W3, W4 material now would be pimped to be suggestive of being a W0 or a W1.

I hope we all can agree about?
Worried
Martin




-----Urspr?ngliche Nachricht-----
Von: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com
[mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com] Im Auftrag von Shawn
Alan
Gesendet: Montag, 13. September 2010 07:59
An: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
Cc: Jimski47 at aol.com
Betreff: [meteorite-list] Rust Question about my stone meteorite. BKF is the
best :)

Jim k and the List,


I took your advice and used the Bar Keeper Friend on my L6 meteorite
fragment to remove the rust on the surface of the meteorite due to age and I
would have to say, wow, this stuff really works. The meteorite looks so much
better. I can see the true color of the meteorite, I can see the texture and
the gray matrix. I have a link down below of before and after images of the
meteorite :) Take a look and you will be amazed of the results.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48262799 at N03/4985819064/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Shawn Alan
IMCA 1633
eBaystore
http://shop.ebay.com/photophlow/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p
4340


[meteorite-list] Rust Question about my stone meteorite.
Jimski47 at aol.com Jimski47 at aol.com
Sat Sep 11 07:38:57 EDT 2010

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Hi Shawn,

I doubt that soaking a meteorite in alcohol will remove rust. I've used
fine grit sandpaper to remove rust from slices. Lay the sandpaper on a hard
flat surface and gently rub the meteorite onto the sandpaper. For removing
rust from iron etched slices, I use a product called "Bar Keepers Friend",
this can be found in most grocery stores cleaning supplies isle. It comes in

a powder form, so you have to make a thick liquid out of it. Wet the
meteorite with warm water then apply the liquid BKF. Rub it onto the
meteorite
with your finger gently. Rubbing to hard can damage the etch. After removing

the rust, rinse the piece, soak it in alcohol and bake it dry in an oven
about 200 degrees for 2 hrs.

You can try the BKF process on a chondrite fragment and use a toothbrush
to scrub it. It should work but you might want to experiment with a cheap
uncl. NWA first.

Jim K

In a message dated 9/10/2010 11:14:49 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
photophlow at yahoo.com writes:
Hello Listers,

I have a question about rust and how to clean it off your L6 meteorite.
Now can you just soak the meteorite in a 99% alcohol bath for a couple days
and the rust on the surface will some what come off the surface or are there

other steps?

The the size of the L6 fragment is 3.45g, so I dont have much room to work
with. I used a sand/finger nail file and sanded the surface, but not sure
if that made a difference and it seems that the L6 meteorite surface is
stronger than the sand paper on the finger nail file.

If any Listers have some suggestions let me know please :)

Shawn Alan
IMCA 1633
eBaystore
http://shop.ebay.com/photophlow/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p

4340
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BKF is the best :)
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isthe best :)
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Received on Mon 13 Sep 2010 02:06:38 PM PDT