King Tut's dagger--a blade of meteroritic iron

[Timo Nieminen]

Originally Posted by Bob A

Can iron be worked at room temperatures with tools that are softer than iron?

Some types of cold-working are possible with soft tools (e.g., bending, dishing), but that requires starting with thin enough sheet. In general, you want tools (i.e., hammers and anvils) that are harder than iron. The Greenland solution was usually basalt (which is much harder than iron).

Originally Posted by Bob A

Does the heat-treating that any meteorite receives during its atmospheric entry have any consequences affecting its characteristics, that would not obtain in ordinary terrestrial iron?

Probably not. The internal crystal structure doesn't appear to be affected by the fall. We don't know much about how hot they get during their fall. For a brief discussion, mostly of our ignorance, see http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/abo...h-intermediate