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THE BOOK OF DIAMONDS
devised
by the above mentioned student makes use of a sieve to produce globules
of the desired size. The name given to this method is the "Drop Shot".
The first piece of equipment necessary is a sieve that will stand
molten metal. Fifteen holes were drilled in the bottom of a graphite
crucible, exactly like the one used in the furnace. Against the bottom
is directed the hottest possible flame of a compressed air-natural gas
blast lamp. This is to prevent too rapid cooling of the fused metal
which will not solidify in the sieve before running through and
producing drop shot.
Fifty-seven
pounds of iron were melted by the Hutchinson Foundry and at the same
time it was poured, a pint of sugar carbon was mixed with the melted
iron to see whether any of the sugar carbon would crystallize into
diamonds. The purpose of trying this method instead of the usual one
was to see whether we might get larger stones by using larger
quantities of iron. After the iron had solidified it was dissolved in
hydrochloric acid. It required over a year to complete the solution.
The residue was then washed and searched for diamonds. Several dozen
transparent crystals the size of an average pin head were found.
Treating these with pure hydrofluoric acid failed to dissolve them in
twenty-four hours, but after thirty-six hours they began to become
somewhat soft. This proved that they could not be diamonds. They could
not be the ordinary quartz since they remained in hydrofluoric acid for
over a day without dissolving. They are probably minerals as spinels or
corundum.
138
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