Meteorite

L

Lokelani

Joined
Sep 20, 1999
Messages
199
Greetings~
Can anyone tell me a little about the performance of a blade made out of meteorite? Also, what is "purple heart?" I met a custom knife maker who gave me a few photos of his work. Awesome! One knife has "Moldavites" on the pommel (the only "gem" that has ever fallen to earth from outer space). Any feed back would be truly appreciated.
Aloha~
Patti
 
cant answer your question on meteors but purple heart is an ugly purple wood

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All that is not Given Is Lost
 
purple heart can have some very nice figure, although most of it is straight and plain. btw...it is VERY hazardous to breath the dust..one of the very worst.....forgers use meteorites all the time to build blades as most of it has a lot of iron in it....dont know anything about the gems but they must be pretty rare.

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http://www.mayoknives.com


 
Greetings,
I have been specializing in using meteorites in my custom knives for many years. I have made several knives using sliced iron meteorite as the blade. When acid etched, they show a beautiful widmanstatten pattern which is only seen in meteorites. However, the iron in meteorites is about as hard as a coat hanger, and since there is no carbon, the blade can not be hardened….aesthetic only. I also forge meteorite as one of the layers in my damascus steel. Since it is so soft, I always make San-Mai damascus such that the core / edge is high carbon steel. Meteorite has a high nickel content so it makes a dramatic, bright line in the damascus. As far as I know, I am the only maker that uses all three classes of meteorite in my knives… iron, stone, and pallasite. Pallasites are a beautiful and rare meteorite which consists of a mixture of iron and green olivine crystals and in my opinion a more awesome gem than the moldavites. I have also used moldavites as accent pieces and you are right, they are stunning. If you have any specific questions about meteorites and their use in custom knives, I'd be happy to answer to discuss it further. You can see some examples of my meteorite pieces at my webpage: http://hiwaay.net/~dfronfld/
Dan Fronefield

 
Mr. Fronefield, lovely work, I hope you don't mind my stealing a picture from your website to post here.
stellari.jpg


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James Segura
San Francisco, CA
 
I am the very happy and proud recent owner of a Fronefield damascus folder, with just a touch of meteroite accent. The workmanship is simply amazing. I bought it as my daily carry, but it is too nice for me to be entirely comfortable to use in that role, although it certainly is perfectly usable every day. If I were computer literate I would love to post a picture. You simply have to check out his work, especially the meteorite. Incredible stuff.
 
First off, thank you all for your compliments on my work. I appreciate it.

Moldavites are still a bit of an enigma. Some scientist believe that tektites (moldavites are a type of tektite...prettiest kind) are the result of a meteorite or comet stike on the Earth. This is where the resultant molten material from the initial strike is thrown into space and then splashes back on Earth in a vacuum purified form. Others believe that tektites are the result of volcanic activity or meteorite strikes on the moon where the "spashed" material enters the Earth atmosphere. There is still quite a debate on this subject. I'll see if I can attach a few pictures of moldavites in their raw state and as a cut gem. As with many things, moldavites come in several grades. Some are truly spectactular in their natural state, while others are ugly chunks. However, since moldavites are actually highly refined green glass, the chunks can be cut into very nice faceted gems.
http://www.minresco.com/moldtek/mtjpg/h2_fm.jpg http://www.minresco.com/moldtek/mtjpg/fac2_m.jpg

 
Many thanks for all of your responses. Might I ask a few more questions? What is "fossilized walrus cosik?" Where did the name "Widmanstatten" originate. Also, is there a relationship between Pallasites and the olivine green sand beaches of Hawaii? Inquiring minds want to know. Again, thank you for your input.
Aloha~
Patti
 
Patti,
Fossilied walrus "oosik" is the fossilized penile bone from a male walrus. Perhaps you had a spelling error? The olivine in pallasite meteorites is chemically identical to the olivine on earth and to peridot, a green gemmy material. The difference being that the olivine in the meteorites has remained unchanged for more than 4 billion years, and was once part of the core of a large asteroid or planetoid before it was broken up by cosmic collisions. (Whew...that was a run-on sentence). Widmanstatten is the name of the scientist that discovered the pattern in iron meteorites. I believe he originally did so by heating them in a flame!
 
Here is a little more info on "Widmanstatten" for those of you who aren't bored by the topic <G>.

"Widmanstatten" comes from Carl von Schreibers, director of the Vienna mineral and zoology cabinet, in 1808, he named it after Aloys von Widmanstatten. Count Alois von Widmanstatten discovered the structure named "Widmanstatten" four years after William Thompson discovered the octahedral figures. The Count got the credit.
 
Thank you, Daniel, for my science/history lesson. It's a very interesting subject. I paid a visit to your website....beautiful work! It must be very rewarding to create something so exquisite from something with so much mystery surrounding it. Again, Mahalo
smile.gif

Patti
 
Mr Fronefield,
I had the pleasure of viewing some of your work at the Florida Art knife show earlier this year. I just wanted to say that you should indeed be proud of the quality and uniqueness of what you are doing. Your stuff is AWESOME!
Take Care,
Al


[This message has been edited by Biginboca (edited 04-25-2000).]
 
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