Forging meteorite

[anvil]

Howdy. I just was given a piece of meteorite. It's from Tucson and possibly connected to one of these:

 https://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2017/10/19/two-tucson-meteorites/

Any suggestions on forging?.  I've done some research, but interested in info from here.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

[MC Hammer]

Sell it for some serious cash and go buy a pile of metal that will last you a while.  I remember paying $30 for two twisted up pieces of meteorite for my son when he was younger as a present.  If you have a sizable piece to forge it's got to be worth some serious cash.

With that said, I seem to recall reading that someone did forge one once and the metals were so variable that it tended to want to crumble apart.  I also recall seeing a knife successfully forged out of one too.  

I'm a flintknapper and some of the greats make arrowheads out of fire opals priced by the gram.  I can't imagine taking that risk.  If I had a fire opal I'd sell it and buy 4 buckets of premium flint to work.  Just my two cents.

[bigb]

There were pieces of meteorite being sold at the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show last month, in fact I had a friend visiting from Denver that bought some of it. The "Tucson Ring Meteorite" is a great story although many of the facts are controversial. 

[ThomasPowers]

I assume you plan to use it in a pattern welded billet as it will not have enough carbon in it to harden for a blade.  Heating it for forging will also destroy the Widmanstätten patterns.  I assume you are also a skilled pattern welder all ready otherwise you should concentrate on learning that before working with something as difficult as meteorite,  JPH sometimes posts here and probably has more experience pattern welding meteorite than most of the rest of us put together,

[Aschaefer]

Not a good idea check out this video it doesn't forge well 

[ThomasPowers]

How hard it is to forge depends on the composition of the meteorite;  which is generally aligned with what fall it is from.  Basing such a statement on *one* example is rather poor reasoning.  I'm glad he checked for the Widmanstätten pattern himself;  I've seen some fakes done with etching.

[anvil]

19 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

I assume you plan to use it in a pattern welded billet as it will not have enough carbon in it to harden for a blade.  

Thanks for the input.

This piece is heavy, black, and magnetic, so it at least has some iron/steel within

I do realize I will lose the crystal pattern upon forging. 

And I have no problem forge welding most anything including pattern welding. I have never forgewelded a Bloom,, well a small piece long ago, so that will be new.

 

My intent is to treat it like a Bloom and remove all inclusions and impurities. Then when it becomes a billet, I'll spark test it and see what I've got.

Most likely it will end up pattern welded and after that, who knows. 

So, I'm looking for I and ideas on forging before  I play with it.

Thanks for the vid. 

 

[ThomasPowers]

There is documented an instance when a meteorite was "gifted" to an eastern ruler who presented it to his swordmakers for use---they figured out that it had to be alloyed with several times more regular steel before it was usable.  Of course the earlier kris's were supposed to use meteorite for the nickle lines. (until the introduction of Krupp nickel steels to the area...)  The Southern Indiana ABANA affiliate  The Southern Indiana Meteorite Mashers got the name from a project they did with meteorite and might be people to check with too.

[John B]

In 2008 I had a the pleasure of forging a meteorite for a client, purportedly to have originated from Jupiter according to analysis (could not find Made on Jupiter or any other ID on it, so assume it to be as stated)

It wasn't a large sample, and the client wanted it forged into the shape of the Ursa Major constellation. ( aka Great Bear, Big Dipper)

Unlike the one Mr Steels was attempting to forge in his video, you could see the striations on the lower surface as it had travelled through the atmosphere to its resting place in the Sahara desert where it was found. To look at it was reminiscent of the cone shaped capsules of the NASA projects as they were heated upon rentry into the Earths atmosphere.

This was supposedly similar to the items used when mummyifying Egyptian Pharoah's bodies prior to being entombed in the pyramids. It was in this case to be worn as a necklet.

The process proved quite interesting, as when this metal was originally used it was forged pre the iron age, more valuable than gold, and the Egyptians thinking it was sent by the Gods fronm the stars.

After a slow start and a couple of attempts, in a coal fired hearth, to get the feel for it. I found it best to work by keeping to  a high temperature and not allowing it to cool too much, it was quite manageable.

I first forged it into a small rectangular bar, Manipulated it to the rquired shape, cut off the excess which I also used to make a pendant for the clients daughter, and then formed the shape by bending the bar on edge and punched a small hole through the tail end of the dipper. The position of the seven stars were then stamped into the item, and a light clean up undertaken with a file and emery cloth.

The excess that I cut off was reforged, twisted and punched, then polished.

The finish was superb and easily polished to a mirror finish, due to what I believe was a high nickel content in the sample.

None of the forging processes proved troublesome , must have been beginers luck, or the Gods were smiling down on me that day.

Edited March 12, 2018 by John B
Additonal information

[Steve Sells]

1 hour ago, anvil said:

 Then when it becomes a billet, I'll spark test it and see what I've got.
 

what do you expect a spark test to tell you ? its meteorite sparks wont tell you anything  about it

[JerryCarroll]

somewhere on IFI is some pictures of Billy Merrit's work that includes several items forged from meteorite. He was at Possums hammer-in held in southern Ind. Glenn was there.

[Glenn]

Billy has several 3 x 8 foot demo tables full of things that were forge welded together. Things that did not even like each other would forge weld together for Billy.

[ThomasPowers]

I've seen Billy weld at temps I would consider cool for forging!

[anvil]

Thanks, one and all. That's just what I'm looking for. Anything from magic and myth to first hand experience. 

On 3/12/2018 at 4:09 PM, John B said:

. I found it best to work by keeping to  a high temperature and not allowing it to cool too much, it was quite manageable.

Thanks, John, this is especially helpful. When I watched the video, I felt that forging at a high temp was important.

On 3/12/2018 at 4:12 PM, Steve Sells said:

what do you expect a spark test to tell you ? its meteorite sparks wont tell you anything  about it

Steve, it will tell me if there is any carbon in my piece. Being my first time working with this, I feel a first hand check is worth the time.

Have you any first hand experience with meteorite you are willing to pass on? Any suggestions or advice would be cool.

On 3/12/2018 at 4:08 PM, ThomasPowers said:

  The Southern Indiana Meteorite Mashers got the name from a project they did with meteorite and might be people to check with too.

Thomas, thanks, I'll check them out.

By the way, I'm near Durango and go to ABQ fairly often for VA stuff. If you are close and don't mind visitors, maybe I could see your shop,,,and library.

[Steve Sells]

I posted a thread about making a space rock knife a few years ago, and there is no way for any carbon to get into a metallic meteorite, that is why there is none listed in any analysis of any metallic meteorite when you researched them, which is why I wondered what you expected to find in a spark test of one.  You will find Iron, nickel, gallium, iridium and cobalt

[anvil]

I found the pic of your knife, but not the thread. I'm not the best at "search".' any help on finding the thread would be great.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

I used space rock "iforgeiron" with google, the first item up.

https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/10829-space-rock-blade/

[anvil]

Thanks! I used the forum search with little luck 

Nice job! And just what I was looking for.

I'm going to attempt to forge the raw meteorite. I've watched a few forge bloom into wrought and will follow their hammer techniques and see what I get.

Again,, thanks to all for your input. I'll keep you updated over the next few weeks 

[Will W.]

On 3/14/2018 at 12:50 PM, Steve Sells said:

there is no way for any carbon to get into a metallic meteorite

Older thread, surely, but im curious, Steve. What if you attempted to add carbon via carburization? As in, the same way shear steel and blister steel are made. One assumes that if the meteorite is of high enough iron content, the carbon will migrate into it, yes? I wonder if the high nickel content usually found in meteorites would inhibit carbon uptake?

It would likely be better to refine the meteorite first, in order to get it as purely metallic as possible, before carburizing, similarly to how wrought iron would be refined before it was carburized. 

This is just my speculation. 

[MotoMike]

King Tut's Iron dagger was forged from a meteorite circa 3400 years ago. 

 

[Steve Sells]

carbon is not native to meteorite, but in the forge it can be added

[ThomasPowers]

Well not common in metallic meteorites; it is found in other types...