"Smokey" wrote in message
...
Thanks to all of you for some excellent suggestions and help. Colin, I
fell
of my chair reading yours !
I realize now that "carborundum powder" is one of those things that ham
project books describe but, in reality, was never invented.
Somewhere in a cavernous basement is an evil person laughing about the
goose
chase he sent legions of novices on only to end in hopeless frustration.
His
eyes are probably sinister and he has a fang-like overbite. Memories of my
first Boy Scout campout come to mind as I recall spending hours in the
middle of the night going camp to camp for my scoutmaster trying to find a
"caffeine eliminator" for his coffee. Others, I have heard, looked for
"snipe." "Caffeine eliminators," "snipe" and now we can add "carborundum
powder" to the list of common things that no one will ever be able to
find.

ANYWAY...the suggestion of using "anything abrasive will work" was a good
one. I had on hand some 1500 grit waterproof sheets of something or other
(I
don't know if it was aluminum oxide, emery, sandpaper or what). I decided
to
try grinding again after my 40 year hiatus since my novice days. I dropped
a
few drops on water on the stuff to give the crystal a little cushioning. 3
sets of "figure 8s" later I had moved the crystal the 2 kc I wanted to
move
it. It was simple. Light pressure on the corners of the crystal...only
enough to guide it in its figure-8 pattern, not even bearing down with
any
discernable pressure. After each set of 8 figure-8s I'd rinse the crystal
off and remeasure its frequency. There was no magic in the event and it
was
actually somewhat anticlimactic. Apparently technique is the key thing,
keeping the crystal parallel and trying not to grind down the corners.

Had I been this successful as a WN9 I may have been launched into a whole
different career. Why, I could have been "C-W Crystals" or "Peterson" or
"James Knight" !!!

And from my executive office I could have ordered around my
employees..."Anderson, bring me the Jenkins report!, " "Wilson, get in
here
I want to see you" but my favorite would be, "Miss Davis...bring me a cup
of
coffee, cream and sugar and the caffeine eliminator." Heh-heh.

Vern W9STB



Carborundum was a man-made product produced in electric fired furnaces
in the New York region IIRC.. I have a few examples ofearly carborundum
fixed
detectors in my collection. Whether the product is still being commercially
produced is another thing, but it did exist at one time...

Pete

Uncle Peter wrote:


Carborundum was a man-made product produced in electric fired furnaces
in the New York region IIRC.. I have a few examples ofearly carborundum
fixed
detectors in my collection. Whether the product is still being commercially
produced is another thing, but it did exist at one time...

Carborundum is the abrasive used in any of the "black" sand papers, such as
the brand name "wet-or-dry". It is a trade name for silicon carbide.

Originally carborundum was a mined mineral called moissanite. But now it is made
using an electric furnace to combine silica sand and carbon. It is such an easy
process you could make carborundum crystals at home if you wanted to.

Carborundum was the initial product mined by the company we now know as 3M. Back
then the company was known as Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing. They were the
first to find a reliable way of putting carefully graded and sized carborundum
granules on a piece of waterproof paper. In essence, they invented "sandpaper".

-Chuck

Smokey wrote:
Thanks to all of you for some excellent suggestions and help. Colin, I fell
of my chair reading yours !
I realize now that "carborundum powder" is one of those things that ham
project books describe but, in reality, was never invented.

Poppycock!

Carborundum is the 3M trademark for Silicon Carbide. It is very much available,
and is the grit on any of the black sandpapers, such as "Wet-or_Dry".

Less than a minute with google would have found you plenty of information on
the subject, and a few suppliers.

-Chuck Harris

Uncle Peter wrote:
Carborundum was a man-made product produced in electric fired furnaces
in the New York region IIRC.. I have a few examples ofearly carborundum
fixed
detectors in my collection. Whether the product is still being commercially
produced is another thing, but it did exist at one time...

It is still being commercially produced, and like most other materials today,
most of it comes from China. Moyco sells several grades for abrasive.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Gee guys...lighten up. I was just trying to make a little joke about the
carborundum.

de W9STB

"Chuck Harris" wrote in message
...
Uncle Peter wrote:


Carborundum was a man-made product produced in electric fired furnaces
in the New York region IIRC.. I have a few examples ofearly carborundum
fixed
detectors in my collection. Whether the product is still being
commercially
produced is another thing, but it did exist at one time...

Carborundum is the abrasive used in any of the "black" sand papers, such
as
the brand name "wet-or-dry". It is a trade name for silicon carbide.

Originally carborundum was a mined mineral called moissanite. But now it
is made
using an electric furnace to combine silica sand and carbon. It is such
an easy
process you could make carborundum crystals at home if you wanted to.

Carborundum was the initial product mined by the company we now know as
3M. Back
then the company was known as Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing. They
were the
first to find a reliable way of putting carefully graded and sized
carborundum
granules on a piece of waterproof paper. In essence, they invented
"sandpaper".

-Chuck

Most vintage radio resources credit the Carborundum Company, in Niagra
Falls, NY
with the product. Here is a link:

http://www.chemheritage.org/classroo...m/acheson.html

I'm pretty sure my detector assemblies are labeled as being made by the
same company.

Pete

Uncle Peter wrote:
"Chuck Harris" wrote in message

Carborundum was the initial product mined by the company we now know as
3M. Back
then the company was known as Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing. They
were the
first to find a reliable way of putting carefully graded and sized
carborundum
granules on a piece of waterproof paper. In essence, they invented
"sandpaper".

-Chuck

Most vintage radio resources credit the Carborundum Company, in Niagra
Falls, NY
with the product. Here is a link:

http://www.chemheritage.org/classroo...m/acheson.html

I'm pretty sure my detector assemblies are labeled as being made by the
same company.

Some further checking revealed:

http://multimedia.mmm.com/mws/mediaw...6IMhCOrrrr Q-

It would seem that 3M was looking for a carborundum, and found a mine in
3 rivers Minnesota, and thought they were mining carborundum, but were wrong.
In the end, that mistake caused them to go into the sandpaper business using
imported garnet abrasive. The rest is history, as they say.

-Chuck

Chuck Harris wrote:
Uncle Peter wrote:
"Chuck Harris" wrote in message
Carborundum was the initial product mined by the company we now know
as 3M. Back
then the company was known as Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing.
They were the
first to find a reliable way of putting carefully graded and sized
carborundum
granules on a piece of waterproof paper. In essence, they invented
"sandpaper".

-Chuck

Most vintage radio resources credit the Carborundum Company, in Niagra
Falls, NY
with the product. Here is a link:

http://www.chemheritage.org/classroo...m/acheson.html

I'm pretty sure my detector assemblies are labeled as being made by the
same company.

Some further checking revealed:

http://multimedia.mmm.com/mws/mediaw...6IMhCOrrrr Q-

So much for that link! It's the third link down from googleing 3M carborundum

Smokey wrote:

Gee guys...lighten up. I was just trying to make a little joke about the
carborundum.

de W9STB


Yeah! There is no reason to be so abrasive!


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida