taenerys
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2023
Posts: 5
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Post by taenerys on Jan 25, 2024 12:00:40 GMT -5
Hi all!
I have this 4-5 pound chunk of obsidian.
I know if I break it up, I can end up with a bunch of razor blades on my hands. The thing is, now that I have tumblers (and a vibratory), the thing is TAUNTING ME. The sounds of “tuuuuummmbbbllleeee meeeeee” are coming out of my floorboards at 3 AM.
If I was going to bust it up to tumble it, how would I do it safe(ish)ly?
Thank you!! 🥰
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hplcman
spending too much on rocks
Looking forward to my Friday Night Barrel Clean out!
Member since August 2022
Posts: 493
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Post by hplcman on Jan 25, 2024 12:05:08 GMT -5
If you have a rock or tile saw to cut it into manageable pieces that would be best and much safer. If you have to use a hammer you will absolutely end up with razor sharp pieces, so good leather gloves and safety glasses are a must. You may want to do this work in a cardboard box so no pieces go flying off into the distance, only to be stepped on later. I would recommend using a chisel to focus on getting larger chunks off there, hopefully with minimal fracturing. I used a hammer and chisel to break a piece of mahogany obsidian in half and it was easy, but still made a lot of splinters.
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dshanpnw
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since December 2020
Posts: 1,158
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Post by dshanpnw on Jan 26, 2024 20:29:47 GMT -5
Wear gloves and eye protection. You could wrap an old towel around it and hit it with a hammer. You could use a box as well like hplcman suggests.
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arentol
off to a rocking start
Member since July 2023
Posts: 20 
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Post by arentol on Jan 27, 2024 17:59:27 GMT -5
Get yourself a pair of knife-safe gloves, ANSI-9 if you want to be super safe, but ANSI-5 will probably be adequate if you are also just generally careful. You can get them off Amazon for around $7-12.
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waterboysh
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2021
Posts: 386
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Post by waterboysh on Feb 12, 2024 11:00:05 GMT -5
When I did some obsidian, I ordered 2 lbs (or maybe just 1lb? Don't remember...) and didn't expect a single chunk to arrive... lol. What I did was place it inside a dry cat food bag and whack it from the outside really hard with a hammer. It turned out pretty good. If you have a dremel, another thing you can do after reducing the size some is to score a groove all the way around, then stick a chisel in it and give it a good smack. I did this with a bunch of Mahogany Obsidian with good results. You can see where I did this on some of the pieces in this picture.  |
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