Judging from everything I have heard, from several different people with experience, cutting irons seems like a major PITA. I have the utmost respect for those who specialize in cutting and preparing irons. Taking into account the time, labor, and expense, it's amazing that anyone even bothers with cutting irons. I don't see how a person could make a profit (or break even) cutting most irons. Like Marcin said earlier, who the heck is going to slice up a big Campo? The resulting slices wouldn't pay for the destroyed blades/wire and many hours of labor.
For folks like Mike Miller and Mirko Graul, who prepare gorgeous iron slices - my hat is off to you. :) Best regards, MikeG ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Mike Gilmer - Galactic Stone & Ironworks Meteorites Website - http://www.galactic-stone.com Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/galacticstone News Feed - http://www.galactic-stone.com/rss/126516 Twitter - http://twitter.com/galacticstone EOM - http://www.encyclopedia-of-meteorites.com/collection.aspx?id=1564 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- On 3/10/11, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote: > The optimal wire thickness for cutting stony meteorites to produce the > straightest cuts and longest wire life is about 250 um (that includes the > diamond coating on the wire). This is from my own experience. I can cut with > 150 um wire, if needed. I stopped cutting irons and pallasites on the wire > saw since it wasn't very cost effective for me or the customer. Plus they > are a total pain in the butt. > Matt > > ------------------------ > Matt Morgan > Mile High Meteorites > http://www.mhmeteorites.com > P.O. Box 151293 > Lakewood, CO 80215 > > -----Original Message----- > From: "Marcin Cimala" <[email protected]> > Sender: [email protected] > Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2011 03:11:41 > To: <[email protected]> > Reply-To: Marcin Cimala <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] wire saw cost > > Hi List > I like to pay Your attention that diamnond wire saw is not best method for > irons. Much better idea how to cut irons (exclude pallasites) is EDM - > Electrical Discharge Machining > http://www.wireedm.com/wireedm.htm > http://www.mech.kuleuven.be/pp/research/edm > This can cut everything what conduct voltage, so graphite, iron or diamonds > :) I remember photo of Canyon Diablo badly cut around nano diamond rich > nodule, becouse it was impossible to cut using conventional methods. For EDM > it could be easy. > Also in diamond wire saw You can't use very thin wires for irons becouse it > will simply tear off very fast. Maybe Mr Morgan can tell what thickness he > usualy use for most irons vs stones? In EDM equipment I use wolfram wire > have 0.12mm thickness. In diamond wire saw u can't even think about this > thickness. > > Diamond wire cutting is perrfect for stony meteorites or pallasites. But for > irons I want suggest EDM as a preffered method. > Ofcourse there is alvays one "but"... > > What material You want to cut (how expensive and how big). > Becouse cutting 5kg Campo will be also expensive and take many hours of > cutting, and every hour cost. Anyway I dont see a sense of cutting campo not > matter why :D > In EDM You can very precise cut thick slice of historic iron into two > thinner slices or cut small (lets say up to 500g) irons all types. > There is also problem how to find good place to cut becouse this equipment > is much more expensive than diamond wire saw, so not everyone will like to > waste *expensive* time of his machine to cut strange piece of crap that some > freak bring to him..... > > Anyway from my personal experience, if I can choose cutting iron for free on > my diamond saw (not wire) or pay for EDM I choose ofcourse second option. I > have less cut loses not only from cutting , but also from grinding becouse > slices are much more flat than from typical diamond blade. Ofcourse diamond > wire saw will make same flat surface as EDM but for me is much more > expensive, something like 5x :) so calculations are simple. > > -----[ MARCIN CIMALA ]-----[ I.M.C.A.#3667 ]----- > http://www.Meteoryty.pl marcin(at)meteoryty.pl > http://www.PolandMET.com marcin(at)polandmet.com > http://www.Gao-Guenie.com GSM: +48 (793) 567667 > --------[ Member of Polish Meteoritical Society ]-------- > > > ______________________________________________ > Visit the Archives at > http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html > Meteorite-list mailing list > [email protected] > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > ______________________________________________ > Visit the Archives at > http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html > Meteorite-list mailing list > [email protected] > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > -- ______________________________________________ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list [email protected] http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
