[meteorite-list] thin section waste?

[Göran Axelsson]

Hi Tom!

Do you really think the rest of the material is being wasted? I would
guess that the piece left is returned to the owner if he wants it back
and then it doesn't really matter if it's 4 or 10 mm thick.

The website you linked to is a general description on how to make
a thin section (very good site, I've bookmarked it for the future)
apparently aimed for students or temporary visitors. It's not a
description on how to make thin section of meteorites as the way
to measure thickness is to look at the color of quartz.

I think that they could work with almost any material size and
thickness if it's only rare enough and you pay them for the work.

   :-)

/Göran

Tom Knudson wrote:

>Hi List, I know nothing about thin sections or how they are made. So, I went
>to Google like a good boy and read about it.  All the sites I visited said
>the same thing, but gave no explanation. They said you end up with a "chip"
>it is the piece that is clued to the slide.  They say to, take a "chip"  27
>x 46 mm rectangular and 10mm thick epoxy it to the glass then cut off the
>chip as close to the glass as possible leaving just a thin slice attached to
>the glass.
>   Okay, I said in the beginning, I know nothing about thin sections, but
>that seems like a waste of time and material to me!!!  You just wasted 3/4's
>of the material! Why not take a piece 27 x 46mm and 4mm thick and epoxy it
>to the glass and save your self the second cut and 6mm of your material?
>You can call me what you will, but I can not see the reasoning behind the
>waste!  If you are making a lunar thin section, that is an expensive
>proposition!
>
>http://almandine.geol.wwu.edu/other/thinsections/
>
>
>Thanks, Tom
>peregrineflier <><
>
>
>______________________________________________
>Meteorite-list mailing list
>Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>
>  
>