Dan Fronefield

Don can't be over about 40 cause I've known him over 20 years and I'm only ... oh yeah ... never mind. Happy Birthday Don!!!

Iron meteorites were once the core of small planet sized objects formed as the solar system was formed over 4.6 billion years ago. The Widmanstatten pattern is developed due to the very slow cooling of molten nickel iron at the core of the planetoids (about 1 degF per 100,000 years). Two similar but different forms of nickel-iron crystalize, which forms the patterns you see once etched. The larger the banding in the widmanstatten pattern, the larger the original planetoid and the slower the core was cooling. Eventually, these planetoids smashed into each other and were broken up with the remains falling into the sun, escaping our solar systems gravity or forming the planets we know today. Some small pieces have floated around since then and eventually are swept up into Earths gravity well and fall as meteorites. If you take an iron meteorite and heat it up much beyond about 400 degF, the widmanstatten pattern starts to disappear. So, you can not forge iron meteorite and hope to retain any of the patterning. Dan

Martian and Lunar meteorites are stony meteorites and can not be "forged". I use slices and pieces as accents in my knives. Pretty pricey at $400-$1500 per gram depending on rarity and form (see ebay). I actually have a slice of Mars meteorite in my wedding ring. Mars and Lunar meteorites are the result of there being a large impact on either Mars or the Moon by another meteorite which blasts fragments of those planets into space. Those fragments may travel the solar system for millions (billions) of years before being sucked into the Earth's gravity well. Dan

Well, I guess I can probably add something to this subject since I specialize in using meteorite in my knives (all kinds: iron, stone, stoney iron, Mars, Lunar, etc) You'll only be forging iron meteorite and as noted the forgability varies between different falls and within a single fall. At this time, Campo is the cheapest most plentiful iron meteorite avaiable. The widmanstatten pattern is fairly large and not really suitable as knife furniture (too coarse a pattern). Any iron meteorite can be forged ... with care. Most are crumbly at first. Forge at welding heat with lots of flux. I frequently will just take a meteorite section and run weld beads all around it, just to get it to hold together for the first heat. Tap, tap, tap ... don't hammer until it get consolidated. Don't forge cold or cool, stay at a welding heat as you forge and fold until it starts to feel and sound like a solid piece of steel. There are silicates and graphite nodules and other crap in meteorites, which will all eventually come out with the flux/forging. I usually lose about 1/4 of the original weight when done. From there on, treat it like a no-carbon, high-nickel steel. Remember that iron meteorites are about as hard as an old coat hanger and will not hold an edge. There are lots of ways to get around that, all methods I've used. I'll frequently make a damascus twist of meteorite layered with HC steel. In high layer counts, you end up with micro-serations as the softer meteorite wears. Or, take the same twists and laminate on either side of a HC steel core (san-mai) so that no meteorite is on the edge. Or, the meteorite can be melted and alloyed appropriately with carbon to make a meteoritic base HC steel. And so on ... The iron meteorite will be a bright line in damascus due to the high nickel content. Most speculation on the Tutankhamen's iron dagger is that it was forged from meteorite. Because of the low/no carbon, it is not a "hard" blade. Should you have any specific questions, let me know. Dan

Ric, Cosmically speaking, I'm VERY near ... probably not much help, huh? And while I'm of Swiss ancestry, I'm afraid I don't speak the language ... still no help <sigh>. Good luck ... Dan

I did finally get in touch with Tom. For some reason, all my emails to him went into his SPAM folder. I've subsequently ordered a bunch of files from him. As stated, you can't beat the price. Thanks for the lead. Dan

Wayne, This sounded like a good deal, but I've emailed Tom three times this year with no reply ... Do you have any insight into why? Dan

Anyone ??? BTT

I'm looking for someone in San Diego who might be willing to pick up some legal Baleen for me near Point Loma. I will compensate you for your time & effort. Please email me. Thanks Dan

I'm good for a 30ish lb box too Dan

Looking at a 325 lb anvil, but can't ID it based on the pictures or owners comments. Anyone out there have any ideas? Thanks Dan

Just to clarify the provisions ... and why I suggested someone close to the location (same state) Marine Ivories ( Walrus Tusk & Whale Teeth & Narwhal Tusk ) - Sellers may only offer items derived from marine ivory to buyers in the same state. The Marine Mammal Protection Act is a law which prohibits non-Alaskan Natives from possessing raw walrus ivory that has not been handcrafted by Alaskan Natives. Walrus ivory tusk is highly regulated by The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act. Raw walrus ivory predating the Dec. 21, 1972 law, tusks bearing the Alaska state seal, ivory that has been carved or scrimshawed by an Alaskan native (Eskimo) are legal to buy, possess, and sell inside the sellers state, (intrastate). Raw walrus ivory obtained after 12/21/72 is not legal to buy or sell unless both parties are Eskimo (it is legal to own). The interstate sale of items derived from whale teeth (scrimshaw or unworked), and narwhal are also highly regulated inside the USA. The import/export of marine ivory to or from the USA is prohibited. No federal documentation is required to sell marine ivory intrastate (inside your state). The importing and exporting of marine ivory items is also regulated by CITES.

Saw this on Craigslist - a free stuffed walrus with tusks. Looks to be 18" long tusks. If you can get it ... think of me (or send me a tusk <G>). Hurry; the owner is scared of it and plans to throw it in the dumpster. She is not inclined to ship it or even discuss it ... just wants someone to come get it. http://stgeorge.craigslist.org/zip/1572350212.html Dan

Dave, Well, it looks like what is sold as "Natan" or "Nadan" on ebay; a chinese meteorite with a long terrestrial age (sat on earth for 100's of years). Most of those are totally worthless for forging as they are totally oxidized and full of silicates and graphites. Gibeon, Toluca, Sikhote Alin, Canyon Diablo and Campo del Cielo are fairly good iron meteorites for forging. For very crumbly iron meteorites, I have sometimes taken some light weld passes all around the meteorite to hold it together until I can get a good weld (yes, very light taps). Since meteorites are full of inclusions and cracks, it is best to gently forge, fold, forge, fold (lots of flux) until it starts acting like steel. At that point, any weld beads are mostly invisible and you can treat it like a no-carbon steel that is about as hard as a coat hanger. A spark test would show that it has iron in it ... but there is no carbon. Meteorites come in 3 types: Iron (mostly iron with nickel and minor inclusions of other "crap"), stone (just what it says ... stone with flecks of nickel-iron), and stoney-iron (a mix of olivine crystals and stone). Only the iron meteorites are forgable. Hope this helps for your next ebay purchase. Dan

Here are a couple of meteorite damascus knives in a San-mai style. This way, there is no "soft" meteorite on the edge. Both have meteorite/1084 twist damascus (opposing twists) laminated to a 15N20 or L6 core. Regards, Dan