peterboyle1990
off to a rocking start
Member since December 2019
Posts: 3
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Post by peterboyle1990 on Dec 9, 2019 12:02:47 GMT -5
Greetings! I am looking to add different surface textures to my small borosilicate glass sculptures and marbles. I figured a tumbler would be fun to experiment with. I am trying to achieve frosted and polished finishes. The pieces I am focusing on are essentially textured marbles about 2 inches in size. You can see them on Instagram Peter._.boyle So my questions... It is my understanding a vibratory tumbler will be better to preserve the shape of the pieces. What size machine will work for 2" glass sculptures? Will I only be able to safely tumble one piece at a time without chipping? And will the etching reach in the crevasses of the pieces? Thank you!
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Dec 9, 2019 13:27:57 GMT -5
The Lot-O tumbler would be your best way to go if they fit thru the (about) 2 1/8 inch opening in the hopper. The Lot-O is about as good as it gets for a factory tumbler for doing glass if you use the correct small materials to tumble with your bigger glass sculpture. Yes, one piece at a time at 2 inches. Two will damage each other. Another concern is the surface finish before you begin. I don't do Instagram so I could not see your link. You can send one to me and I will give it a try. It will also give me an idea of the 'recipe' needed as far as abrasive types and slurry. It can be a boo-boo. I will be running some glass in a vibe I modified specifically for glass soon. This is some of my tumble polished glass work - www.flickr.com/photos/67205364@N06/sets/72157689895637020This glass being run with sugar thickener to protect it and small pea gravel in aluminum oxide 220. Next step is aluminum oxide 14,000 polish. It takes about 5 days.
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Post by rockjunquie on Dec 9, 2019 13:43:43 GMT -5
Beautiful work! You have great control over the colors!
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Dec 9, 2019 14:03:04 GMT -5
Wowza! Those are amazing.
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peterboyle1990
off to a rocking start
Member since December 2019
Posts: 3
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Post by peterboyle1990 on Dec 9, 2019 23:53:18 GMT -5
Thank you all for the kind words! And thank you James for the information. I was leaning in the direction of the lot-o. I am sure it will take a lot of experimentation but it sounds fun. I would greatly appreciate some assistance getting started and would be happy to send one to you if you are willing to experiment with it.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Dec 10, 2019 3:47:42 GMT -5
peterboyle1990 Borosilicate may have different properties than the soda lime glass I have always tumbled. I am anxious to give it a try for this reason too. Italian and Polish hand blown glass is some of the hardest and toughest(bruise resistant) glass go figure. Before you purchase a Lot-O let me know. The Vibrasonic vibe may be a better choice but it costs much more. It is the vibe I use on glass but it is modified by me. It needs a specialized hopper and specific adjustments to do glass. Just looked up the hardness of borosilicate. If it is truly Mohs 7.5 it may be easy to tumble in most any tumbler. But the Mohs hardness is not the tell-all property, it may be susceptible to bruising like all glass which may make it tricky to tumble. I'll PM address, looking forward to trying. From article: "In terms of hardness, Borosilicate glass is harder, stronger and more durable than Soda-lime glass. According to the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, diamond’s rate is 10, chalk is 1, borosilicate comes in at 7.5 and the other types of glass at 6." This comes as a big surprise to me.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Dec 10, 2019 3:55:38 GMT -5
Wowza! Those are amazing. Thanks Robin, it opened. This is art work. Am blown away by Peter's work. Borosilicate can be worked with a torch and artists can do miracles with it. rockjunquie used to work with Boro too. Maybe she will share some of her works.
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Post by rockjunquie on Dec 10, 2019 5:16:37 GMT -5
Wowza! Those are amazing. Thanks Robin, it opened. This is art work. Am blown away by Peter's work. Borosilicate can be worked with a torch and artists can do miracles with it. rockjunquie used to work with Boro too. Maybe she will share some of her works. I didn't do anything as nice. I was more sculptural. Boro colors were not as advanced then as they are now. I was still using a lot of gunmounts.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Dec 10, 2019 5:44:44 GMT -5
I remember rockjunquie's sculptures. They were very sensual Tela lol. I think you don't have the kahunas to post them .
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Post by rockjunquie on Dec 10, 2019 5:47:12 GMT -5
I remember rockjunquie 's sculptures. They were very sensual Tela lol. I think you don't have the kahunas to post them . A dare? LOL! I have a bunch of stuff to do this morning. Maybe this afternoon or evening I can find them.
ETA- I found an old thread with some of them. I really don't have a lot of pictures. I lost a bunch on an old computer.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Dec 10, 2019 6:09:32 GMT -5
It was a dare. I knew you would rise to it lol. Thanks. Shame we did not have digital cameras way back when...
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Dec 10, 2019 6:14:42 GMT -5
I have to ask, did you make other more devious objects out of glass rockjunquie ?
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Post by rockjunquie on Dec 10, 2019 6:14:54 GMT -5
It was a dare. I knew you would rise to it lol. Thanks. Shame we did not have digital cameras way back when... These are digital, though not the best camera. Most of my work was late 90's early 2k.
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Post by rockjunquie on Dec 10, 2019 6:16:25 GMT -5
I have to ask, did you make other more devious objects out of glass rockjunquie ?
LOL! That is a Fertility Goddess bead. LOL! But, yeah you should see the honkers on a mermaid I made for my brother in law- he likes big boobs and he can not lie.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Dec 10, 2019 6:16:39 GMT -5
Thanks Robin, it opened. This is art work. Am blown away by Peter's work. Borosilicate can be worked with a torch and artists can do miracles with it. rockjunquie used to work with Boro too. Maybe she will share some of her works. I didn't do anything as nice. I was more sculptural. Boro colors were not as advanced then as they are now. I was still using a lot of gunmounts. You are so modest. Colors mean nothing, look at your sculpts !!
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Dec 10, 2019 6:17:21 GMT -5
All men like big ones LOL
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Post by rockjunquie on Dec 10, 2019 6:19:07 GMT -5
I did a few nice implosion beads and pipes and stuff, but I was more into sculptures. Not to mention all the stuff I made for my 9-5 - which was a lot.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Dec 10, 2019 6:21:08 GMT -5
Well rockjunquie, I never knew that boro has a hardness of 7.5. That may make it a fine target for tumbling if it does not bruise. Since you started tumbling you should toss a couple of pieces of scrap boro in your tumbler with your other tumbles and see how it does.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Dec 10, 2019 6:22:52 GMT -5
I did a few nice implosion beads and pipes and stuff, but I was more into sculptures. Not to mention all the stuff I made for my 9-5 - which was a lot. I remember this was a job and not so much a hobby. I believe you were expected to do production work under pressure.
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Post by rockjunquie on Dec 10, 2019 6:28:16 GMT -5
I did a few nice implosion beads and pipes and stuff, but I was more into sculptures. Not to mention all the stuff I made for my 9-5 - which was a lot. I remember this was a job and not so much a hobby. I believe you were expected to do production work under pressure. That's how it started. I did piece work and rocked it! Made a fortune since I could bust all the quotas, but then I was shifted to repairing glass. More difficult and I had to know how to do everything in order to repair everything. That was hourly, but really grueling with all the oven work. My shoulder still hurts.
I have used an etching paste on boro and we used to sandblast pieces. The only real problem is that each (and tumbling) will introduce microfractures and weaken the glass. It's mostly stable, but I've heard where they can spontaneously explode. Each micro fracture has the potential to "run" into a crack. It was 95% ok, though.
eta- after my actual job, I did my own work and used a lot of color. The company did not.
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