Covington 10" trim saw with power feed.

Instrumentation and techniques

Near-term goals for the collection are to acquire instrumentation to study meteorites and to work through techniques for properly handling them.

Slicing meteorites ... First and foremost, we need to consider how we can section meteorites to look at their internal structure. While services are available for slicing meteorites at upwards of $1 per gram, the recommendation is that we should start by investing in a small water-washed circular saw for cutting stony meteorites with Cubic Boron Nitride blades. About 85% of all meteorites are stony meteorites which have a variable iron/nickel content of up to 20%.
Stabilizing and preserving meteorites ... The iron in meteorites with an iron/nickle content is susceptible to ongoing rusting by way of chloride ions during exposure to moisture (weathering). Meteorites can be galvanically treated to remove chloride ions by loosely wrapping them in aluminum foil and placing them into an aquaeous solution of sodium carbonate. Simply put, the iron chlorides in meteorites are reduced to solid iron via the sacrificial anode of the aluminium in the galvanic reaction this forcing the chloride ions into solution. Once dried, the meteorite can then be treated with micro-crystalline wax

Techniques for examining stabilized meteorites are at this time beyond the scope of this webpage.