rockbrain
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2022
Posts: 3,167
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Post by rockbrain on Feb 14, 2024 22:28:45 GMT -5
I have someone that left a note on my shop door the other day. He said a friend had told him that I cut rocks. He says he has a meteorite and some other stones that he wants cut. I was skeptical as I know lots of people think they find meteorites and they aren't. After speaking with him it sounds like he did find one. He said he found the impact point and some impact glass but not a lot as there had been years of overgrowth. Sounds like he's researched it quite a bit and was talking about minerals that were fused to the outside of it. He want's a thin slice to send to someone in London for analysis. Anything I need to know about cutting this? Do I just put it in a saw and cut slabs like most other rocks? Don't want to mess anything up, including my saw. He's more than willing to share for cutting.
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Post by vegasjames on Feb 15, 2024 9:44:57 GMT -5
If there are minerals fused to the outside, it does not sound like a meteorite.
Most meteorites hit the ground cold, or maybe slightly warm. Not hot and glowing as some people think. Atmospheric resistance slows the speed down from the average 10,000-30,000 miles per hour when they first enter to terminal velocity, then they simply plop to the ground.
A large enough meteorite coming in very steep can hit hard enough to create a crater, but to create "splash glasses" would require a super major impact, so the crater would be quite significant.
As for cutting actual meteorites, it all depends on the type of meteorite.
Most stone meteorites can be cut with a regular diamond saw and CLEAN water as to not contaminate the specimen too much. Urelites are an exception as they are full of diamonds and thus can be hard on blades.
Stony-iron meteorites can be a lot trickier as they vary in metal content. Mesosiderites should not be much of a problem cutting with a diamond saw, but pallasites in particular ou would have to go very slow.
Iron meteorites are a real challenge. They can tear up diamond blades. I destroyed one diamond tile saw trying to cut a Gibeon iron meteorite once. Did not even make it all the way through. Got maybe a third of the way through before it destroyed the motor. Iron meteorites are also extremely hard on diamond blades. And of course the larger the iron meteorite the slower you have to go cutting it. For one I would say about baseball size I would go at a rate of about 1/4-1/2 inch per hour. There are two reasons for this. One is to save the diamond blade. And second is to help keep the meteorite cool as overheating the meteorite with cutting too fast can alter the crystal structure of the metal.
Can you post a pic of what he thinks is a meteorite?
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rockbrain
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2022
Posts: 3,167
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Post by rockbrain on Feb 16, 2024 10:15:17 GMT -5
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