[Rockhounds] Why are we still living in the Iron Age???!

[Axel Emmermann]

Personally I would like Larry Niven's "variable sword" or a sring of
"Sinclair monofilament" to cut through rock like butter.
Still who's complaining?
We got the accu-powerdrill and the stuff (always forget the brand name,
anyone remember?) that expands when wetted... What more do you need. The
Egyptians used to split large rocks that way 5000 years ago. OK, without the
powerdrill and they used wooden wedges that swell when wet, but still...

Last week I went to an "instruments" fair. All the newest applications for
the industry and laboratories. One of the innovations there was a
directional microwave beam. Let's you heat a column of water inside a much
larger volume. Direct that at a water bearing rock and let the heat do your
hard work. Also great for preparing lunch in the quarry and winning
discussions with anyone in sight ;-)))

Cheers
Axel


> -----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
> Van: rockhounds-bounces at lists.drizzle.com 
> [mailto:rockhounds-bounces at lists.drizzle.com] Namens Kreigh 
> Tomaszewski
> Verzonden: donderdag 29 mei 2008 3:22
> Aan: Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for rock and gem 
> collectors
> Onderwerp: Re: [Rockhounds] Why are we still living in the 
> Iron Age???!
> 
> I want one of those force field cutters (from Asimov's Empire 
> Novels) so I can whittle stone.
> 
> NASA is using a 'tricorder' to identify minerals on Mars. 
> Point it at a rock (for something like 16 hours) and get an 
> identification of the minerals it contains. It needs to get 
> faster (and cheaper) before it catches on.
> 
> NASA also has a cool Rock Abrasion Tool that drills holes in 
> rocks using vibration and almost no power.
> 
> A (trailer) portable CO2 laser that can drill holes in rocks 
> is a DIY project today, but you will still have to lug along 
> a generator to power it. The new tic-tac sized plasma light 
> bulbs that put out more light than a street light from 
> battery power should shrink it to a backpack unit in a few 
> years. Military and commercial cutting applications should 
> make this available (read affordable) in a decade.
> 
> The technology is out there, but it has not yet trickled down 
> to us amateur collectors.
> 
> Kreigh
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Wednesday, May 28, 2008, at 21:03 America/Detroit, Tim Jokela Jr. 
> wrote:
> 
> > I wonder why field collecting of minerals and fossils has 
> progressed 
> > hardly a jot since the Iron Age?
> >
> > We continue to try to recover fragile crystals by using a 
> heavy piece 
> > of iron to hit another piece of iron!
> >
> > (Sure there are some alternatives like diamond chainsaws and 
> > gas-powered drills, dynamite and bulldozers, but the cost of these 
> > tools is prohibitive to perhaps 98% of collectors.)
> >
> > Does anybody else find it rather amazing that in all the long 
> > centuries of mineral collecting, we haven't made any damn > 
> improvements?
> >
> > Am I wrong to dream of a rock-cutting pocket-sized laser that costs 
> > twenty bucks?
> >
> > Comments? Suggestions? Is there any hope for the future?
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Tim Jokela Jr., tjokela at execulink.com
> > Business: http://www.element51.com
> > Pleasure: http://www.ontariominerals.com
> >
> > --
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