[meteorite-list] question on cleaning irons

[countdeiro at earthlink.net]

Mike in Co & List,
Good question Mike. I have a big ugly Nantan of about 2000 gr. that was covered in concretions and rust. I ended up high pressure sandblasting it and ended up with a very even grey patination. I then struck it with a hammer and it cleaved along natural lines. When I blasted these interior surfaces I got the same dark grey color. Interestingly, the sanding did not remove metal, and flow lines were revealed. Deciding that this abrasive removal was acceptable, I took a 600 gr. rusted Campo and tried stainles steel wire brushing with a hand held Dremel tool. This also resulted in an overall dark grey patination with all of the aerodynamic and melt features still present.

I would ask the List for a discusion on, not only your interst in electrolysis for removing non-meteoric material, but the wire brush technique also,

With regards to all,

Guido     

-----Original Message-----
>From: Michael Murray <mmurray at montrose.net>
>Sent: Sep 27, 2009 9:49 AM
>To: Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>Subject: [meteorite-list] question on cleaning irons
>
>I'd like to try cleaning a small suspect iron so that I can see what  
>it looks like without all the rust and other buildup.  Anyone have  
>experience with using an electrolysis bath on an iron to clean it up?  
>If so, another question...Will it remove the black oxide?
>Mike in CO
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