herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Sept 22, 2012 10:36:52 GMT -5
I decided a couple of months ago to try again tumbling obsidian. I had picked up some slag glass from here and some rock shops, so I started a mixed load about a month ago. I put in glass and a bunch of chunks of obsidian and have had them in a coarse tumble for a full month, one pass without opening. I loaded the barrel pretty full to minimize bashing and put a Lot of ceramic in to keep things more cushioned. I cracked the barrel open last night and was very happ with the progress. I pulled some pieces out that were ready to move on to the next step, they look like cool sea glass I added more glass last night, some other cool striped glass that should be pretty once it rounds out, and I'll let it go another month.
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keystonecops
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2010
Posts: 957
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Post by keystonecops on Sept 22, 2012 10:56:34 GMT -5
Sweeet John. Too bad ya aint closer. We got all kinda obsidian here in Oregon. Bout the only thing I use it for is to sharpen saw blades. Later Clyde
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snuffy
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
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Post by snuffy on Sept 22, 2012 11:32:17 GMT -5
Gonna look good!I like glass batches.
snuffy
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Post by rockrookie on Sept 22, 2012 13:55:23 GMT -5
looking good !!!
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Post by beefjello on Sept 22, 2012 14:24:39 GMT -5
Nice!
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Post by tntmom on Sept 22, 2012 16:49:09 GMT -5
Those are looking great! Can't wait to see them finished!!!
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Sept 22, 2012 19:11:20 GMT -5
Those are really cool John. Are you going to take the glass all the way to polish or keep them with a natural frosted look?
Chuck
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Sept 22, 2012 19:21:49 GMT -5
Yeah I'll polish them. I've got a month on 'em and want to see it through.
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
Posts: 1,546
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Post by tkvancil on Sept 22, 2012 21:49:16 GMT -5
Nice. Looking forward to seeing the finished product. Rock on !!
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Post by Bikerrandy on Sept 22, 2012 21:56:08 GMT -5
I kinda like the sea glass look better than polished
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Post by Bluesky78987 on Sept 25, 2012 10:12:11 GMT -5
Nice! I have to get some of that. Guess it's time to get those blue beer bottles for this weekend!
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billg22
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 451
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Post by billg22 on Sept 25, 2012 11:58:59 GMT -5
Remember, blue beer bottles are thin. Run them for a 2-3 days or they will be gone. Went to Riteaid and picked up a 12 pack for $8.98. Worst part is having to drink the stuff. Too bad Newcastle or Sam Adams isn't bottled in blue glass. There are some mineral waters that have a light blue glass.
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Post by tntmom on Sept 25, 2012 14:20:30 GMT -5
That is so funny!!!! My husband's friend came over yesterday to watch Monday night football, he brought one of those 6 packs of blue beer bottles with him and I thought the same thing LOL! I rinsed them and took them out to the garage to break up and throw in the Lot-O for a day or two. That blue is a really pretty color.
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Post by Bluesky78987 on Sept 25, 2012 14:54:01 GMT -5
Hey, I'll just make Kris, Laura and Al drink them. ;-)
Back to John's post, the obsidian looks really nice too. Obsidian is my favorite rock today.
Did you see the fireworks obsidian tumbling rough that movielegends is selling on ebay? It's pretty sweet stuff, worth a look if you like the snowflake. Variation on a theme.
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Mattatya
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2012
Posts: 452
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Post by Mattatya on Sept 25, 2012 15:42:03 GMT -5
Great photos and great work tumbling obsidian. From your post, It looks as though your using a rotary tumbler through polish. If so I would love to use your process steps. I have a bunch of OBS. and have been hesitant to tumble as most member post show great results moving to vibe tumbling after step one.
Thanks for posting Matt
Sent from my SPH-D710 using proboards
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Sept 25, 2012 23:43:40 GMT -5
Susan, I did see that, pretty cool stuff. I have a metric crap-ton of obsidian I need to cut/smash up and tumble though - bought close to 100# when I first joined and gave up on it when I couldn't get a shine on it, but I was mixing it with harder stones which I think was my problem.
Matt, I am only in the 60/90 stage, and will only use the rotary on this stage. Once I have enough, I will put the glass and obsidian with the ceramic media in the vibe for the rest of the process.
I'll show more then, but I expect to leave this in 60/90 for another few weeks.
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Mattatya
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2012
Posts: 452
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Post by Mattatya on Sept 26, 2012 16:31:57 GMT -5
TnTMom has. Great recipe for obsidian with 1st stage rotary and vibe for the rest. Seems that's the way to go with obsidian. I don't have a vibe yet and was thinking of doing all steps with rotary.
I'm going to hold onto the obs. Tilli get a vibe.
Look forward to your pics Matt
Sent from my SPH-D710 using proboards
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