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Post by rockjunquie on Mar 9, 2015 10:06:42 GMT -5
Phone Tom Cruise. Maybe it' some kind weird of L. Ron Hubbard volcano spew. Seriously though, metallic slags are often used as railroad ballast as they tend to say in place. I would think them heavy though..Mel I did find dirty heavy slags that looked like construction debris and some big grinding wheels with very coarse grit and brake components that resembled slag. This material sure does have a low SG as coal does. And in thin chips that are hard to break; let's say far from brittle. L. Ron Hubbard and Kyptonite did come to mind. Doing research I found tumbled anthracite. I believe Tela rockjunquie has made cabs of anthracite. I don't think common bituminous coal would hold up to either of those processes. I have seen pure graphite that is silver and shiny but it is super soft and greasy like talc. Slag is still a possibility, as it has what looks like casting bubbles in it. I will saw a piece on the big saw to get a clean cut. Guessing a meteorite looking cross section with metal crystals. I have wrapped the rare rainbow stuff, but I have not cabbed any coal. I have no clue what your rocks are. But I do love a mystery!
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Post by rockjunquie on Mar 9, 2015 10:07:44 GMT -5
The plot thickens......
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Mar 9, 2015 10:27:23 GMT -5
Indeed Tela. Looks like metal, crystalizes like a chemical, chips like a crystal, cools from a melt like a metal, and chips like a crystal after being melted. Starting to think a geiger counter might be needed. A coal cab could be used to start a fire
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agatemaggot
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Post by agatemaggot on Mar 9, 2015 11:21:24 GMT -5
The reason I ask if your specimens were silver colored is I find Galena chunks on or near Indian camps on the Mississippi River. It looks exactly like your pictures. It seems to behave in the exact same manor. Heating it to a brilliant yellow with an acetylene torch is not very productive because it cools to its original color and appearance, no change whatsoever, still remains hard as heck. What the Indians were doing with Lead ore is a mystery to me, but, I did find a fire ring made of good size pieces that was about 30 inches in diameter. There was a good amount of charcoal in the sand around it. The nearest mine to my area is over 100 miles south. That is a heck of a hike carrying an armful of Lead !
Does it seem slightly heavy for its size ?
Harley
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Post by fantastic5 on Mar 9, 2015 12:04:04 GMT -5
I'm still leaning towards anthracite. Could possibly even be UHG anthracite, and from what I saw on line it can be difficult to ignite. I agree that your torch should have done the job, but I wonder jamesp if the force of the torch reduced the available oxygen in the immediate vicinity keeping it from igniting?
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Mar 9, 2015 13:16:54 GMT -5
I'm still leaning towards anthracite. Could possibly even be UHG anthracite, and from what I saw on line it can be difficult to ignite. I agree that your torch should have done the job, but I wonder jamesp if the force of the torch reduced the available oxygen in the immediate vicinity keeping it from igniting? The heat was intense fantastic5. It melted the steel plate under it. It was very hot. I had the torch cranked way up and it has it's own oxygen supplied, so it is a pressurized oxygen fed torch. The material was went from orange to yellow and then too bright for naked eyes. That be hot !! Would coal melt like this material did ? Scratches glass ?? I put three pieces in the tumbler. Will saw a piece to see if the crystal structure is present. The molten section chips about like hard quartz consistency, it is brittle but still hard. Guessing SG about 2.0.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Mar 9, 2015 13:21:37 GMT -5
About like aluminum, not near as dense as steel agatemaggot. That is what puzzled me, I was surprised that it was so light weight.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Mar 9, 2015 13:59:21 GMT -5
Here is a cab sized piece that was sawn on a good saw with lubricant. It shows crystal lattices when light angle is changed. The bubbles seem representative of some type of slag. Could it be a product of ceramic brake pads on the train ? Uncut, other side. all crystalline structures:
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Post by rockjunquie on Mar 9, 2015 15:32:19 GMT -5
jamesp - You be careful now! You're making me nervous.
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Post by gingerkid on Mar 9, 2015 16:10:16 GMT -5
jamesp - You be careful now! You're making me nervous. He'll probably shoot at it, too. J/K jamesp!
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Mar 9, 2015 16:35:52 GMT -5
jamesp - You be careful now! You're making me nervous. Ya think I am getting irradiated. Bless your heart. Dang near sterile as it is Ha. I worked in a saw shop at Scientific Atlanta, many strange metals. Many had to be sawn with abrasive blades and made a big slag blobs. I always worked with metal. This seems a hybrid of some sort. space ship coating. A bubble grew out of it as it cooled, hmmm. I was hoping it would not splatter. It cooled fast, like copper or aluminum. Conducts heat real well. no problem Tela. They are strict with materials on trains, I doubt they would ship anything too hazardous that could fall off an open rail car. Maybe ingestion will give Kyptonite powers. Roll back the clock about 25 years. Think I'll try it in my wife's tea not really.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Mar 9, 2015 16:59:17 GMT -5
jamesp - You be careful now! You're making me nervous. He'll probably shoot at it, too. J/K jamesp! I did shoot it. And it blew a 600 foot deep hole in the ground when it blew up Jan. I was looking at basically a swamp on the Santa Fe river down in Florida. It was cheap, only had a little spot of high ground. It was the real estate agent's primary residence and she sent me over to look at it; her (lazy) husband was there to show me around. A giant of a man, real slow guy. We walked 100 or so feet to the dock on the river from his house. I noticed a piece of a jet sitting on the ground and asked him where it came from. He said he was cleaning fish at the table there about 50 feet from the house and the river. When he and his house were instantly covered with mud. And he was knocked down. He got up and started trying to figure out what the heck happened. And never did, till the Air Force showed up looking for a downed fighter jet. It was in a dive at a high rate of speed and drilled into the river and mud like 100 feet deep. Just there, not 50 feet away. Going faster than the speed of sound, so he had no sound warning. Trying to imagine the reaction of this guy when that thing hit the water. Totally cracks me up every time I think about him. His description and gestures as he described the experience. Trying not to laugh fearing he would crush me. Any way, that is my fear of shooting some alien chunk like this. That it would cause a nuclear reaction or big explosion. And I would end up with mud all over me and my residence. I wish I videoed that guy. mercy
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2015 19:34:08 GMT -5
ferrosilicon?
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Mar 9, 2015 20:53:35 GMT -5
Yep. That sounds right. There are many forms of it. This one has a low SG(about 2). Is that possible? Some has titanium, aluminum, barium, others. It seems just like SiC mixed with a light weight metal. Bet you nailed it.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Mar 9, 2015 21:15:41 GMT -5
Dang it, I wanted to figure it out.
Found in similar pieces as sold in bulk. gotta be ferro silica.
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Post by rockjunquie on Mar 9, 2015 21:21:54 GMT -5
Dang it, I wanted to figure it out. Yeah, and you did all the work, too!!!! Doesn't seem fair, does it? JK -- Great call, @shotgunner- looks like mystery solved.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2015 22:02:18 GMT -5
Yep. That sounds right. There are many forms of it. This one has a low SG(about 2). Is that possible? Some has titanium, aluminum, barium, others. It seems just like SiC mixed with a light weight metal. Bet you nailed it. Low SG = high silicon content. Prolly not magnetic either. Dang! I got lucky again!
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Mar 10, 2015 5:00:26 GMT -5
@shotgunner-Check out this chart. My sample is SG close to 2.3. There is so many 'alloys' of ferrosilicon. Non-magnetic and 2.3 low SG works perfect when 100% Si by weight. 100% ?? Sample seems very metallic. Could it be alloyed with a low SG metal ? Curious about ferrosilicon. Never seen it. I am thinking it would make wild cabs. Upon polish it should display crystal lattices like meteorites. Add etching... Meteorite: Physical properties of ferrosilicon Si content (wt.%) 0% 20% 35% 50% 60% 80% 100% Melting point (°C) 1538° 1210° 1210° 1210° 1230° 1360° 1414° Density (g/cm3) 7.87 6.76 5.65 5.1 4.27 3.44 2.33 Source: Materials Science and International Team[2] Chart says 100% Si content ferrosilicon has SG of 2.33. About the same SG as my material. Melt point same as steel @ 2500F. Melting point seems way low according to my torch. But it is reflective and that can reflect some heat from an acetylene torch, but not likely. The only ferrosilicon with low SG of 2.33 is 100% Si by weight which is an oxymoron. Where is the ferro ? gingerkid had researched ferrosilicon- any adds to this Jan ?? This is the sample that got heated. Right side only. As it cooled that blob(hippo) grew out of the top of it. Got out the knapping hammer and knocked half the melt off just behind the hippo's butt: Here is a view of the break, head on, looking at hippo's butt. Notice how it recrystallized seamlessly with the 'not' melted back side:
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Mar 10, 2015 6:20:52 GMT -5
Maybe if melted and stirred the bubbles would go away. Or maybe some ferrosilicon has no bubbles. It may polish and show reflection of different cleavages. It may be a good one to tumble. The melted section has many small cleavages. Or it may polish to look like chrome and have different cleavage reflections.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2015 14:15:54 GMT -5
Got enough to share a piece with your ole buddy shotgunner? I'll do precise SG and other diagnostics.
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