saginaw72 Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 I've got some suspect rocks I would like to cut open. Any suggestions as to how best to do this? I'd rather not loose a lot of material doing it. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy dog Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 highland park 10 inch diamond blade cutting saw with a thin blade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saginaw72 Posted June 26, 2013 Author Share Posted June 26, 2013 Thanks GD. Will take a look at the blade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank c Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 File an area that will loose the least amount of material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredmason Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 buy a cheap whetstone from home dump...it takes very little area to show the interior of a stone...dime sized is usually enough...fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saginaw72 Posted June 27, 2013 Author Share Posted June 27, 2013 Thanks Frank and Fred.I'll checkout the Home Dump for the whetstone, but I can't afford any equipment. I've got a friend who has a shop with what I'll need except GD's suggested diamond blade.One of the rocks I want to open is that suspect GB find in photo 913 in Karl's "GB ANYONE" topic. It's about the size of a checker piece, but thicker. There is quartz and maybe basalt in it, so a diamond blade will be a must. It is so darn heavy and magnetic, I've just got to look inside. I could window it, but I want to cut off a quarter of it to see a big cross section.Thanks, . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikestang Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 (edited) If there's quartz it 100% is not a meteorite; quartz does not exist in meteorites. Basalt is a type of rock, not a constituent. Edited June 27, 2013 by Mikestang Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saginaw72 Posted June 27, 2013 Author Share Posted June 27, 2013 (edited) You're right Mike.I'm just wondering what's inside to make it heavy. I gave up on it being a meteorite, it's crusted with little bits of quartz in a black matrix. There's a photo of it, P1000913 in Karlfarris' "GB ANYONE" topic. Take a look. I'd like to hear what others think might be inside.It's heavy like an iron, magnetic, crusted with quartz, and I don't think it's a meteorite. I'm curious to know what is in there. Don't want to get fooled by something else like it on my next GB outing.Planning to start cutting it this weekend.Thanks Edited June 27, 2013 by saginaw72 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredmason Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 there is a lot of hot magnetic/quartz schisty type stones scattered around gold basin...I was even fooled by onea year or so ago...I did not realize how bad my vision had got until that stone. I took it back to camp and washed it off, that is when I could see little flecks of quartz...so then I broke it up just to be sure it was not a gold speci ...just a love stone and like my heart all broken up...You may have a gold/ironstone/quartz specimen...if there is gold in it you should (usually) see bits showing through...fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_S Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 If there's quartz it 100% is not a meteorite; quartz does not exist in meteorites. Not true. Quartz has been found as a constituent in some meteorites. Here is an example:http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2006.tb00495.x/pdfAnd another example:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3021006/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikestang Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 Neither of your links work.It is a rule of thumb that if you see quartz, it's not a meteorite. Like all rules, there are exceptions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saginaw72 Posted June 28, 2013 Author Share Posted June 28, 2013 Well, it turned out to be one of Fred's love stones. My buddy and I cut it open tonight and there was nothing inside worth talking about, but I will post some photos this weekend for anyone wanting to see the result.Oh well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_S Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 If there's quartz it 100% is not a meteorite; quartz does not exist in meteorites. Basalt is a type of rock, not a constituent.Look up: Magmatic cristobalite and quartz in the NWA 856 Martian meteorite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikestang Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 (edited) Martian meteorites are rare of the rare of the rare. Like I said, there are (rare) exceptions to every rule. If you find a rock here on Earth and it has quartz in it, it is 99.999999999999999999% terrestrial, and I'm probably being conservative with my decimal places. Edited June 28, 2013 by Mikestang Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_S Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 Martian meteorites are rare of the rare of the rare. Like I said, there are (rare) exceptions to every rule. If you find a rock here on Earth and it has quartz in it, it is 99.999999999999999999% terrestrial, and I'm probably being conservative with my decimal places.There are classes of meteorites more rare than martian meteorites. Although, there is some question as to whether any of the martian meteorites are even from Mars as none have been found to contain zeolites, which are very common in thee martian surface.That is not the point though. The point is that quartz has been found in meteorites and I posted just one example. The eucrite NWA 5218 also has quartz as does NWA 4269, NWA 049, Kapoeta, etc. How much is irrelevant. Your statement was clearly wrong as you clearly stated "If there's quartz it 100% is not a meteorite; quartz does not exist in meteorites". Maybe if you spent more time researching the subject and less time trying to act as a know it all you may actually learn something and maybe some day even answer my earlier question to you of what specifically does a meteorite look like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikestang Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 (edited) Why are you nit-picking my post? My statement is not wrong, it is a rule of thumb, as I've stated already. Let me expound for you, please pay attention.How many people do you know personally that have found a martian meteorite, or a eucrite? Please name them. How many people do you know personally that have found any type of meteorite? Finding the most "common" of all types of meteorites is more UNCOMMON than finding a diamond or gold! Dude, those type of meteorites you are talking about are SUPER SUPER RARE, and meteorites themselves are SUPER SUPER RARE, so you are talking about a super rare subset of a rare group of rocks: that is what we call and EXCEPTION TO THE RULE, because it is a very uncommon occurrence (and the quartz in them looks nothing like you are used to seeing in earth rocks). Let me say again exactly what I said before (which you quoted so I don't know how you missed it): If you find a rock here on Earth and it has quartz in it, it is 99.999999999999999999% terrestrial, and I'm probably being conservative with my decimal places. If you find a eucrite or martian meteorite, congratulations, you just won the lottery while being struck by lightning during a shark attack.Yes, I said "If there's quartz it 100% is not a meteorite; quartz does not exist in meteorites". I rounded up. It's like saying "If it doesn't stick to a magnet, it's not a meteorite." Well there are way more types of meteorites that do not stick to magnets than there are quartz bearing. For more reading, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thumb.Mike Edited June 29, 2013 by Mikestang Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnno Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 Just to keep the peacehttp://meteorites.wustl.edu/id/quartz.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saginaw72 Posted June 29, 2013 Author Share Posted June 29, 2013 Thanks for the input Jonno.Really like your Cherokee story! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DolanDave Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 Just to keep the peace http://meteorites.wu...u/ id/quartz.htmIn Johno's link, it talks about rare types with quartz in them, but a very small amount. It even states if you can see quartz, it is not a meteorite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredmason Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 Where is the fun in keeping the peace? I love reading these little disagreements...often educational...fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikestang Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 Was I not being peaceful? Sorry, my posts can read aggressively. I'm not really a sarcastic cynical a-hole, I just play one on TV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnno Posted July 2, 2013 Share Posted July 2, 2013 LOL. Me too Mike, I'm on Tuesday nights at 9.00pm PST, channel 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saginaw72 Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 I was thinking of buying a used Rock Rascal Model JM, 6" Trim Saw. I've been told this will work for specimens up to 2-3 inches, but that I could outgrow it quickly.Would this be a good starter saw? Or is there another used/inexpensive saw that would be a better starter (less likely to outgrow fast). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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