Friday, November 12, 2010

Test for Limestone or Marble

My cousin was here recently as he drove cross country...moving from Florida to California. Since he was a geologist in a "former" life it was fun to have him help me with some of my stones.

I confess I find stones that I think are pretty and I frequently don't know what they are! What kind of sculptor is that? Truth is, I'm more interested in how they carve and what they look like...but it is good to know what it is in case I like it and want to get more!

He told me that I can do a simple test to determine if my pieces are Limestone or Marble.

Take plain vinegar and place a drop on the stone. If it "fizzes" you have Limestone or Marble.

An alternate test is to, in place of the vinegar, use muriatic acid (you can get it from a swimming pool supply store.)

Sometimes with the limestone you have to have some stone powder rather than the solid rock...I'm not sure why, but I'm the carver cousin not the scientist!

Haven't tried it yet, but I have a couple rocks that I want to run the test on. It'll be interesting to see how it works out.

No comments: