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

From: Martin Altmann <altmann_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2010 00:21:46 +0200
Message-ID: <001b01cb5392$0de2d050$29a870f0$_at_de>

Hi there,

well although I still feel relatively healthy, I know my meteorites will
outlive me.
Historic meteorite collectors know it; the way a meteorite goes, how it is
passed from people to people, through the collections, from generation to
generation.
Yes, we have now the decade, were meteorites are greatly available and
already obscenely cheap, but it's a phase. And little money doesn't mean,
that we can forget about the respect we should have for these stones.
(Would anyone throw his Tieschitz, his Ensisheim, his Tabor in acid? So why
an NWA...).

Irons, irons are different chapter. If it has around a lot of oxide-snot,
rust it is absolutely legitimate to remove it. As it is legitimate to cut,
polish and etch irons.
But they are pure metal, the core remains unaltered in such procedures.

Stones however not. They are damageable.
All chemical treatment has to be avoided with them. Removing caliche,
removing mechanically rust ect. alcohol not a problem, but everything else
is.
Just choose the wrong putty, see old discussion with the wrong softener or
oils, and within not so long time,
your stone will be damaged and blackened cm-deep and a case for the
trash-bin.

Throw a brown slice of a weathered chondrite, W3 or worse, with some acid in
a vacuum cleaner, tear it out, when it's light grey et voila.
Throw it then into ebay, without saying a word, and you get a tenfold price.
You see how fine the line is? From innocent home decoration aspects to that,
what some would call: fraud.

And what for? Why can't the stone keep its dignity?
Or else, not grandiloquent:
You alter the material, afterwards it hasn't the same properties anymore. It
will be something different. That's what I meant in my first post.

A clear consequence is: It looses its collector's value, the monetary
virtu.


What will happen with pieces, treated that way, when the owners once will
get weary of them?
They'll get into circulation.
No good. No good at all.

I don't agree with Martin. Yes, on each mineral show you can see a lot of
pimped, forged, mounted, glued, artificially colored minerals.

But stone meteorites? Here and there perhaps a box of UNWA, painted black or
treated with oil to sham freshness and fresh fusion crust. But very rarely.
Use fingers and nose, easy to detect.

And other than minerals and fossils, meteorites aren't bulk goods.
The primary and secondary sources of origin are relatively few people, and
responsible people.
And the rest of the suppliers chain resells specimens like they get them in
without working on them (except mounting them in jewellery, watches and
stuff).
Who of them would do such things? See.

So it's really better to let the stones in peace, love them like they are.
There are enough really fresh ones around, no necessity for manipulation.
It deteriorates the material.

Totally different question of course, but very easy to answer:
Only if a stone is threaten to decay, then of course provisions to conserve
it have to be applied.
But we're talking about stone meteorites, not irons. Almost all make zero
troubles,
and if you store them dry, the number of real bleeders you can count on the
fingers of two hands.

Best,
Martin
Received on Mon 13 Sep 2010 06:21:46 PM PDT