[meteorite-list] "not the best place to hunt meteorites"

[Lasse Lindh]

Thanks Mike

It's no problem that the magnets should attract each other and cause 
collisions. Mine is very strong and will sit tightly on the metal bar 
with 140 lbs pressure. Sideways they are quite weak. I also secure them 
with duck tape. Not so much to secure them, but as a pure protection 
against wear and tear.

It's an interesting complement tool to metal detectors and properly used 
it can surely vacuum the surface of meteorites, at least the ones with  
metal content. We have to find a way to hunt those that are 
non-metallic. That's a challenge...

Regards

Lasse


Michael Murray skrev:
> Hi Lasse, List
> Very nice rake.  I had something like that in mind before my magnets 
> arrived.  Once in hand though, I lost my nerve to place them so close 
> to each other.  It was just real spooky and so i rethought the design 
> and the divided wing setup you see in the picture won out.  You may 
> have worked it out on yours though and so not the worry.
> I should explain why i use the magnets right down on the ground and 
> how that works.  Having them ride right down on the top of the ground 
> doesn't really mean they are actually dragging along.  In the first 
> few seconds they are moving, small gravels have already attached 
> themselves to the bottom of the magnets.  The magnet actually is 
> riding up on top of these stones.  So you will normally see the 
> magnets about a 1/2" off the ground.  As you continue to move the 
> magnet, those same small stones that have collected underneath start 
> to work their way to the trailing edge, up the edge and finally up on 
> top of the magnet. They will ride up there as long as you do not let 
> the magnet slap on the ground real hard which may dislodge some of 
> them.  I usually drag the cane or the rake until I see that the 
> magnets just simply can't hold anymore magnetized material on top.  
> Then I stop and clean it off and go again.  One important thing to 
> note about cleaning the magnets off is that you can pick up some very 
> sharp nasty little things like fish hooks.  One would be well advised 
> to wear gloves during this cleaning off part, and then you want to be 
> a little careful.  I even found a cactus thorn mixed in with the small 
> rocks when cleaning off the cane on time.  It took a while for that to 
> quit hurting.
> I am glad to know there are others out there with the same ideas for 
> hunting.  Thanks for sharing the picture of the rake.  I hope you have 
> great success and find some really cool stones.
>
> All the Best
> Mike in CO
>
>