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Post by hummingbirdstones on Feb 28, 2020 21:11:41 GMT -5
jamesp , it's a vibe tumbler. Bought it a gazillion years ago to tumble metal for jewelry with steel shot. Many years later, when Don from Diamond Pacific was at our show he was doing a demo of the Vibra Dry. I talked to him about it for a while and bought some. It works great for taking tarnish off metal, too. I talked to him a couple of years later and he told me about polishing stones in it, so I tried it. Worked a treat. I'll put a piece of glass in there this morning.
It took a while to figure out how much media was required to run the glass in the vibe. Mine holds 8 pounds. I have tumbled up to 6 pounds of pendant glass with only 2 pounds of media. To be safe and get a better polish I raised it to 3 to 4 pounds media with 5 to 4 pounds of glass pendants. Point being, I have done a bit of dry tumbling but I seem to remember you could only run small amounts of target material ? Is this correct ? What size is your vibe and how many pounds of cabs can you run in it in a dry tumble is you don't mind me asking ? Oops, got busy and forgot to put the glass in the vibe.  I'll get it done this weekend.
Pounds of cabs? HA! I'm lucky if I have a couple to put in there at once. I am the slowest cabber in the whole wide world. How people finish multiple cabs a day is beyond me.
I totally finish my cabs before I put them in the vibe in the 50K. I just like how they look after they're in there for a bit. My vibe isn't that big and it's a case tumbler (Lyman Turbo 600). The bowl is 8" in diameter, but it doesn't say how many pounds it would hold -- just that it will hold 175-38 Special cases.
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Post by fernwood on Feb 29, 2020 10:36:24 GMT -5
Milifori thought. Would putting slices in the vibe prior to combining to other glass help?
Have you tried slicing some milifori paperweights and using them? The paperweights are very inexpensive.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Feb 29, 2020 11:49:08 GMT -5
It's "millefiori." In Italian, literally, "million flowers."
Blocks of it in many colors are available at Q, and I've seen it at some shows. A rectangular block would be much easier to put into vice for slabbing than a round ball.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Feb 29, 2020 12:17:25 GMT -5
Milifori thought. Would putting slices in the vibe prior to combining to other glass help? Have you tried slicing some milifori paperweights and using them? The paperweights are very inexpensive. To fuse glass it must have the same COE @fermwood. That is the problem with using unknown glass. There are 100's of different glass with 100's of COE'S. We have not found millefiori with COE 90. "The Coefficient of Expansion (COE) refers to the rate at which glass expands and contracts when heated and cooled. All glass has a COE but we don't always know what it is. It's important that all of the glass you are fusing together expands and contracts at the same rate or stress and cracking can occur." |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Feb 29, 2020 12:20:35 GMT -5
It's "millefiori." In Italian, literally, "million flowers." Blocks of it in many colors are available at Q, and I've seen it at some shows. A rectangular block would be much easier to put into vice for slabbing than a round ball. I want that block/brick millefiori sold at Quartzite Jean. I saw fossilman's, looks fine, price was right. It is handy to have the individual rods too for accents. We can't find COE millefiori, that's the problem. |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Feb 29, 2020 13:33:03 GMT -5
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Post by rockpickerforever on Feb 29, 2020 14:55:05 GMT -5
It's "millefiori." In Italian, literally, "million flowers." Blocks of it in many colors are available at Q, and I've seen it at some shows. A rectangular block would be much easier to put into vice for slabbing than a round ball. I want that block/brick millefiori sold at Quartzite Jean. I saw fossilman 's, looks fine, price was right. It is handy to have the individual rods too for accents. We can't find COE millefiori, that's the problem.
James, I understand about the COE. I'm sure most of the sellers at Q have no idea about COE, or glass properties. They buy the stuff in large quantities overseas (probably China). They'll sell anything that will make them a profit.
Some are not even knowledgeable about the rocks they sell!
Next time I see it at Q or elsewhere, I'll ask. Doesn't hurt to ask, right?
I have a friend that is into glass and glass fusing. I'll pick her brain about where to find the rods. Someone's got to sell them online, I'd think.
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Post by Garage Rocker on Feb 29, 2020 15:23:25 GMT -5
My word, I'm late to the party. That's a whole explosion of color; you guys have been very busy. Lots of photographic opportunities with all that fodder. I could get lost in all the composition possibilities.
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illusionist
starting to spend too much on rocks
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Post by illusionist on Feb 29, 2020 15:46:34 GMT -5
Love them!
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Mar 1, 2020 11:14:50 GMT -5
I want that block/brick millefiori sold at Quartzite Jean. I saw fossilman 's, looks fine, price was right. It is handy to have the individual rods too for accents. We can't find COE millefiori, that's the problem.
James, I understand about the COE. I'm sure most of the sellers at Q have no idea about COE, or glass properties. They buy the stuff in large quantities overseas (probably China). They'll sell anything that will make them a profit.
Some are not even knowledgeable about the rocks they sell!
Next time I see it at Q or elsewhere, I'll ask. Doesn't hurt to ask, right?
I have a friend that is into glass and glass fusing. I'll pick her brain about where to find the rods. Someone's got to sell them online, I'd think.
Rarely can you mix glass Jean. It is the COE that kills the deal. even coe 96 can rarely be mixed with coe 90. No way doing coe 90 with coe 33 or coe 103. I was lucky, several 1000 pounds of coe 96 from glass blower, and several 1000 pounds of coe 90 art glass. But those 2 do not mix most of the time. it can take 6 months for cracks begin to form. This can be upsetting if you made some fine creations only to have them fall apart months later. It was a miracle that the knappers knapped all that brick glass and no cracks showed up a year later. They were the ultimate test. |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Mar 1, 2020 11:16:42 GMT -5
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Mar 1, 2020 12:16:41 GMT -5
My word, I'm late to the party. That's a whole explosion of color; you guys have been very busy. Lots of photographic opportunities with all that fodder. I could get lost in all the composition possibilities. More than ever I wish I had a fine macro set up with nice lighting. The close ups can flat tear up some pixels. The glass gets some serious small details. Colors galore. I'll have to send you some good photo subjects to nail. |
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Post by rockpickerforever on Mar 1, 2020 13:13:59 GMT -5
James, I understand about the COE. I'm sure most of the sellers at Q have no idea about COE, or glass properties. They buy the stuff in large quantities overseas (probably China). They'll sell anything that will make them a profit.
Some are not even knowledgeable about the rocks they sell!
Next time I see it at Q or elsewhere, I'll ask. Doesn't hurt to ask, right?
I have a friend that is into glass and glass fusing. I'll pick her brain about where to find the rods. Someone's got to sell them online, I'd think.
Rarely can you mix glass Jean. It is the COE that kills the deal. even coe 96 can rarely be mixed with coe 90. No way doing coe 90 with coe 33 or coe 103. I was lucky, several 1000 pounds of coe 96 from glass blower, and several 1000 pounds of coe 90 art glass. But those 2 do not mix most of the time. it can take 6 months for cracks begin to form. This can be upsetting if you made some fine creations only to have them fall apart months later. It was a miracle that the knappers knapped all that brick glass and no cracks showed up a year later. They were the ultimate test. James, I Googled Millefiori rods, and found them on either eBay or Etsy. They were not actually rods, more like less than half inch lengths of rods. Sold by the bag or pound, I'm not sure which. But they were available in both 90 and 96 COE. Pretty sure they were mostly coming out if China, though. May not want to act on that right away. |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Mar 1, 2020 13:37:08 GMT -5
Rarely can you mix glass Jean. It is the COE that kills the deal. even coe 96 can rarely be mixed with coe 90. No way doing coe 90 with coe 33 or coe 103. I was lucky, several 1000 pounds of coe 96 from glass blower, and several 1000 pounds of coe 90 art glass. But those 2 do not mix most of the time. it can take 6 months for cracks begin to form. This can be upsetting if you made some fine creations only to have them fall apart months later. It was a miracle that the knappers knapped all that brick glass and no cracks showed up a year later. They were the ultimate test. James, I Googled Millefiori rods, and found them on either eBay or Etsy. They were not actually rods, more like less than half inch lengths of rods. Sold by the bag or pound, I'm not sure which. But they were available in both 90 and 96 COE. Pretty sure they were mostly coming out if China, though. May not want to act on that right away. They must lie about COE lol. They may say 90 or 96, but they aren't in most cases. So many different brands tried and they favor cracking as if COE is off. Millefiori is particularly difficult to get a constant COE because of the many different glass color it takes to make them. Just saying we have been frustrated fusing it into our stock. Millefiori is made by stretching individual rods over and over in groups. Like glass ropes wound together over and over. Usually over a 50 to 100 foot length. Then cut down to shorter pieces say 1/4 to 18 inches long. It takes some higher level skills. |
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Post by knave on Mar 1, 2020 15:22:43 GMT -5
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Post by Garage Rocker on Mar 1, 2020 17:21:33 GMT -5
My word, I'm late to the party. That's a whole explosion of color; you guys have been very busy. Lots of photographic opportunities with all that fodder. I could get lost in all the composition possibilities. More than ever I wish I had a fine macro set up with nice lighting. The close ups can flat tear up some pixels. The glass gets some serious small details. Colors galore. I'll have to send you some good photo subjects to nail. Send them, I'll take some macro shots and we'll sell the prints as abstract art.  |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Mar 2, 2020 7:28:42 GMT -5
More than ever I wish I had a fine macro set up with nice lighting. The close ups can flat tear up some pixels. The glass gets some serious small details. Colors galore. I'll have to send you some good photo subjects to nail. Send them, I'll take some macro shots and we'll sell the prints as abstract art. I would be honored to have some Randy quality photos of the glass I have collected. Ah, the tumble polished shards from the expensive blown vases would be the ultimate photo project. They were bought at thrift stores but are super fine art vases valuable in their day. Each vase broken and tumbled is kept in a separate container. I'll send you a sample polished shard of each of many. Since the vases were made all over the world it would be an international photo collective. It would make a fine reference album for glass blower's styles too. And you can make prints of our backyard stuff ! I'm not sure we would get much respect out of Milano Italy lol ! Just imagining the great glass blowers from Poland, Italy, Sweden, Czech Republic etc barfing when they see mine and Denise's creations. PM address Randy. P.S. The only camera ever used on the glass was iPad Pro so they have not been photographed well. There is a lot of pattern/color structure going on in hand blown/fused glass on a macro level. |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Mar 2, 2020 7:43:25 GMT -5
That's how millefiori is made knave. The long stretch game. No rest making millefiori. Crushed glass also called 'frit' is often made the same way. They will heat up a like 40mm diameter color rod and stretch it into 1/16-1/8-3/16 inch sticks like 100 feet long and then crush it. Then sort to size it by sifting. Intensely colored glass color rods. Not cheap.  |
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Post by joshuamcduffie on Mar 2, 2020 8:33:46 GMT -5
That's how millefiori is made knave . The long stretch game. No rest making millefiori. Crushed glass also called 'frit' is often made the same way. They will heat up a like 40mm diameter color rod and stretch it into 1/16-1/8-3/16 inch sticks like 100 feet long and then crush it. Then sort to size it by sifting. Intensely colored glass color rods. Not cheap. At those kind of prices, it might be cheaper to make glass from scratch.  |
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Post by Garage Rocker on Mar 2, 2020 8:48:04 GMT -5
Send them, I'll take some macro shots and we'll sell the prints as abstract art. I would be honored to have some Randy quality photos of the glass I have collected. Ah, the tumble polished shards from the expensive blown vases would be the ultimate photo project. They were bought at thrift stores but are super fine art vases valuable in their day. Each vase broken and tumbled is kept in a separate container. I'll send you a sample polished shard of each of many. Since the vases were made all over the world it would be an international photo collective. It would make a fine reference album for glass blower's styles too. And you can make prints of our backyard stuff ! I'm not sure we would get much respect out of Milano Italy lol ! Just imagining the great glass blowers from Poland, Italy, Sweden, Czech Republic etc barfing when they see mine and Denise's creations. PM address Randy. P.S. The only camera ever used on the glass was iPad Pro so they have not been photographed well. There is a lot of pattern/color structure going on in hand blown/fused glass on a macro level. Haven't done any macro shots in a while, Jim, it would be MY honor to photograph some of your creations. It's a trip getting down into the details on some of the rocks we tumble, I imagine the glass is a different world, due to the depth and layers in some of those pieces. And the colors! I'm excited. |
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I'll get it done this weekend.
