Patent ID: 8015861

Claim:
A method comprising disposing a retention member adjacent a planar surface, the retention member forming one or more inner side walls which, together with the planar surface, define a retention member void sized to receive a laminar rock chip; disposing the laminar rock chip in the retention member void such that a laminar plane of the laminar rock chip is substantially perpendicular to the plane of the planar surface; placing into the retention member void a flowable material capable of hardening, the flowable material flowing between a bottom surface of the laminar rock chip and the planar surface and further flowing around the laminar rock chip such that substantially all of the surface area of the laminar rock chip is covered by the flowable material; causing the flowable material to harden into a solid while retaining the laminar rock chip in place so that the laminar plane of the laminar rock chip remains substantially perpendicular to the plane of the planar surface, thereby forming a plug of solid material having the laminar rock chip embedded therein; removing the plug from the planar surface and abrading a top surface of the plug, the top surface and a bottom surface of the plug being substantially parallel to one another, and the top surface being sufficiently abraded so that a contact surface portion of the laminar rock chip is exposed at the top surface; and placing the bottom surface of the plug upon a hardness testing device support plate and contacting the contact surface portion of the laminar rock chip at the top surface with a primary contact member of the hardness testing device so that force is applied by the primary contact member to the contact surface portion of the laminar rock chip in a vector which is within the laminar plane of the laminar rock chip, so that a hardness of the laminar rock chip is measured.