llanago
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,714
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Post by llanago on Oct 14, 2004 9:30:48 GMT -5
I cut and started some of the obsidian Shorty sent me a couple of months ago. I started it by itself in my 3 lb. CE barrel that I can use on my 33B. It ran for a couple of days with no problem,then I came home one day and the lid was off and sludge and obsidian was everywhere. What a mess! They had been ground down a bit, so I decided to wait until I had cut some more to start them again. Finally got more cut and started. They went fine for a couple of days, then once again I came home to find sludge and obsidian everywhere. I had been watching the barrel closely and there was no indication of gas and I had never read anything on the forum about obsidian having gas. The CE barrel is not as stiff (for lack of a better word) and it's kinda mushy feeling compared to the Lortone barrels so I am wondering if maybe the mushiness of it contributed to the explosion. I haven't used the particular barrel to tumble any other rocks to see if the same thing happens. Guess I will load it up with some agate and see what happens. The obsidian I moved to the vibe and added some "cobbles" - which is nothing but some cut up colored glass I ordered for a craft project. After a day in the Vibe they are lookin' pretty good, but the glass will have to be replaced soon or there won't we anything left of it. Guess it's time to bust all the colored wine and liquor bottles I have been collecting! And, no, I didn't drink all that! Some I dug out of the trash can, aka dumpster diving, and some were given to me. I posted a notice on our bulletin board in the rec hall asking for colored bottles. I must confess I did drink the contents of the pretty blue Skyy Vodka bottle - er, actually, both of them! ;D llana
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Post by hermatite on Oct 14, 2004 9:34:07 GMT -5
hmmm...I'm trying to pull together a load of obsidian. Any info on what caused the explosion is much appreciated. Llana...I've had excellent result with the breaking bottles method of tumbling glass. Perrier bottles come out really nice too.
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shorty
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2003
Posts: 392
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Post by shorty on Oct 14, 2004 10:37:32 GMT -5
hi lana i tumbled some of that obstin and did nt have no trouble i have no idea of whats happining .. i dont thank it has gas. i dont now. im sorrey . shorty
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Post by Cher on Oct 14, 2004 10:44:22 GMT -5
Llana, I'm sorry you had such a mess. I'm a little worried now, I have a load of jasper in my CE, think I'll go check it out. I've notice the difference also in how the inside lid goes on the CE as compared with the Lortone, it just doesn't fit as tight but the outer cover on mine is so tight I can hardly get it off. It's not hard to put on but a bugger to get off.
What's the purpose of tumbling colored bottle glass? Can it be drilled to use for beads or would it just break?
Cher
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Post by hermatite on Oct 14, 2004 10:50:20 GMT -5
Hi Cher, Yes you can drill tumbled bottle glass. For example the necklace I showed here in the My creations thread has a piece of tumbled bottle glass that I drilled and added beads to. I've also drilled several other pieces for a bracelet but I didn't want to post pics because it's not stones so I didn't know if it was appropriate. The tumbled glass I've done comes out frosted with very much the same look as seaglass.
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Post by krazydiamond on Oct 14, 2004 11:29:47 GMT -5
yes, indeedy, that's almost what happened with the obsidian i am in the final stages of processing. i had to check that in 60/90 every 2 days and empty the rabid froth it was generating...it was amazing! if i hadn't done that i would've had the same oozing eruptions as you did, llana!
it's like there was soap or something in there. adding borax did not help at all. once i got them through the 220, it seemed to calm down a bit. they are in final polish now, i put them in the Tin Ox yesterday....i didn't add enough water, but caught it in time (i hope)...
will post the pics sometime next week when they are done.
KD
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Post by Cher on Oct 14, 2004 11:57:48 GMT -5
Beano?? ;D Or something with simethicone to get rid of the gas.
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Post by krazydiamond on Oct 14, 2004 14:11:55 GMT -5
it wasn't like gas exactly, more like dense froth. i kept pouring it out down to the 3/4 level every couple of days....
KD
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Post by Cher on Oct 14, 2004 14:25:16 GMT -5
Did you keep adding water and grit then or just removing the foam?
Cher
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Post by krazydiamond on Oct 14, 2004 14:28:06 GMT -5
just removing foam.....it was like it was self generating!
the one nice thing about it was that it really made a nice cushiony slurry for the softer stones....i have fingers crossed they will polish up nicely!
KD
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bschultz
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2004
Posts: 234
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Post by bschultz on Oct 14, 2004 16:05:47 GMT -5
My tumblers haunted, B's tumbler is a bathroom traveler that goes bump in the night and Llana's tumbler is being invaded by terrorists. What's next? My tumbler ran off with my spouse!!!
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JKowalski33
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2004
Posts: 451
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Post by JKowalski33 on Oct 14, 2004 16:57:23 GMT -5
i have done two load of apache tears in 3lb lortone barrels for the 60/90 stage, and have had no trouble at all. I love how obsidian shapes up to fast, compared to some agates and jaspers that i have had going for so long in the 60/90....
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sweetiehound
starting to shine!
Member since June 2004
Posts: 36
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Post by sweetiehound on Oct 14, 2004 19:47:34 GMT -5
Did someone say they wanted colored glass? I am a bartender and I throw out A LOT of colored bottles Skyye(blue), Jagermeister(green), lots of browns. If anybody wants them I can break them up and mail them to you. Sweetiehound
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Post by Cher on Oct 14, 2004 22:20:30 GMT -5
I think it would be cool to try some colored glass, but not for awhile. Got to do the rocks first. LOL Hubby would have a fit if I started doing glass with all the rocks I have in the basement. [glow=red,2,300] ~ Cher ~[/glow] pages.prodigy.net/bestsmileys1/signs/RockOn.gif [/img]
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Post by puppie96 on Oct 15, 2004 3:59:00 GMT -5
Wow, I also have a load of obsidian, it's the only thing right now that's sorted by type as the books tell you to do.
I also had it form a lot of foam, really bad like soapsuds, and at the same time another barrel -- different stuff, different place -- did the same thing. I've had this experience many, many times, but I have never had an explosion. Lately I'm starting with a very low water level, I think that may help. Some batches do this, some don't, I collected rocks at one site and every single batch I start up does this, I don't know why. I have been taking all that dense suds and scooping it out with my hand (wearing a rubber glove, obviously), putting it in a container and leaving it. There's a lot of grit in the suds. Eventually I take all such containers, rinse them all out and salvage the grit I collect on the bottom of the final container, if this makes sense. It ends up being a mix of unspent grit and tiny scraps of stone, and makes a good additive for loads that are refusing to slurry or loads that you think need a little boost at midcycle. Also, of course, for batches you remove suds from and remove grit in the process.
Back to obsidian, I finished this batch but I'm redoing because not all of it polished and a lot was cloudy and there were too many pits. I think that I have some snowflake obsidian here but I also have just plain pitted obsidian. So I started it all over and now it looks really good -- I washed it tonight and put it in 1000. I read somewhere that with obsidian a good prepolish is critical. I've had other obsidian in batches of tumbling mix and it did beautifully while with the other rocks, so as usual, you don't know till you try I guess.
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llanago
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,714
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Post by llanago on Oct 15, 2004 9:01:42 GMT -5
I moved the obsidian to the vibe, so no more exploring problems! I do have some more to cut and tumble, so guess when I do them, I will have to check them everyday to prevent the exploding obsidian syndrome! ;D Sweetiehound, I got 5 lbs. of the cobbles and a bunch of bottles (that I have done nothing with!), so I don't need any bottles now. But the cobbles I am doing along with the obsidian is looking so good, I will probably use them for something and may need bottles in the future. Rose, I was told obsidian should be tumbled by itself and didn't have enough to fill a barrel. I figured that since obsidian is basically glass, then using the glass for fill would be better than using those darn pellets! Also, the cobbles had sharp edges and the tumbling rounds them off so they won't cut. I started wirewrapping cobbles - or trying to before I started tumbling. I will probably drill some of these, try my hand at wirewrapping them again,or do some sort of mosiac with them Got lots of ideas, just actually doing them is the problem! ;D llana
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Skipper
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2003
Posts: 258
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Post by Skipper on Oct 16, 2004 21:53:57 GMT -5
Both batches of obsidian I did were gassy. On the last run I was opening it up every 2 days to release build up (just air, did not pour anything out).
Always best to check in on your rocks every day. You can usually see when the bottom of the barrel is bulging out or being sucked in.
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Post by puppie96 on Oct 17, 2004 1:34:53 GMT -5
I'm afraid to put the obsidian in the vibe. It's chipping enough as it is.
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llanago
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,714
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Post by llanago on Oct 17, 2004 9:02:10 GMT -5
Skip, I had been keeping an eye on it since the last explosion. There was no indication of barrel expanding or sucking in. puppies, haven't noticed any chipping yet. Guess I better keep a close eye on it, maybe even add some of those dreaded pellets for cushioning. llana
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Skipper
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2003
Posts: 258
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Post by Skipper on Oct 17, 2004 15:26:12 GMT -5
Weird. i think if I was really worried, I'd probably throw in a TUMS. Sounded like good advice to me.
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