[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Cleaning and preserving meteorite collections


I have been trying to find information about ways to clean and
preserve meteorites in the home environment.

I have read several articles but the information is scant.

I have already done a little in this way - here are my results so far:

Cleaning:
   Under a microscope, I can see a great deal of soil products on the
   outside of some specimens. I use a metal dental probe to lightly test
   for locations that have this and then I used the following  method for
   removal, so far I tried this only on samples of Allende.
       1) Use old soft Braun electronic toothbrush and soapy
          warm water to clean the major mass
       2) Use the water squirter on the Braun with warm water
          to spray the cavities

   After a quick cleaning with a hair dryer I looked at the sample
   again under the microscope and probed a few more spots and
   repeated this process. This worked pretty well, vastly improving the
   overall appearance of the endpiece.

       3) Soak in anhydrous alcohol for several days, change 
          alcohol each day. I got anhydrous alcohol from a 
          friend who works in a medical institute.

   Allende is very porous and soaked up a huge amount of water, I
   didn't want to have any water remaining. I hope I paid for
   this when it was weighed on a dry day;-)

I worried a bit about using water to clean the sample, but let's be
realisistic - this specimen has already been on the ground for a long
time and must have seen some showers. A little more can't hurt
especially if I dry it right away.

Does anyone know if EverClear (195 proof grain alcohol) is an
alternative to anhydrous alcohol? I'm running out of anhydrous
alcohol and it's expensive.

Preserving:

   I bought some silica gel tea bags at a photo store.
   Relative humidity around here is usually about 50% so it's not
   a major problem.

   I am now trying to find a proper storage environment.

   I know some out there have kept their meteorites in a bank vault.

   I looked into personal safes, and many of these have a
   moisture-making chemical in the walls that makes a very humid
   environment. However there are safes designed for stamp collections
   so that might be an alternative, I'm looking into this now.

   I also trying to find some environmental chambers like what museums
   use. It should be air-tight, maybe I can build something, out of
   acrylic?

Re-finishing pallasites:

   The Esquel amd Imilac I have has a protective coating of something
   like lacquer, probably KRYLON, and the coating is chipped and exposed
   in some places. I think this is soluble in acetone
   and acetone shouldn't harm the olivine. So I think I will soak them
   in acetone for a few days, then wipe off the coating, clean with
   water, then soak in anhydrous alcohol a few days, and finally
   re-coat with a few light sprays of Krylon.


Irons:

  I'm looking for SHEATH. I'll have to visit a gun shop, I guess.
  WD-40 has been mentioned, but it has chemical rust removers,
  I think, and I'd rather not use something like that.

I would welcome comments on this approach and anything others have
found that might help. Quickly, too, before I damage something:-)

Before I try to clean a Murchison, does anyone think that water
cleaning and alcohol soak will be bad? I don't want the Murchison
to dissolve or crumble. Since it already had lots of aromatic
compounds I sincerely doubt that alcohol will harm it.

What do other's do to store their meteorites long-term? I plan to 
keep them in riker mounts with silica gel. But where to put the Riker
mounts so they are protected, yet easy to access?

-- 
          Jim Hurley
       Arachnaut's Lair
http://www.arachnaut.org/ >
Follow-Ups: