mrflake
having dreams about rocks
Member since August 2003
Posts: 58
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Post by mrflake on Oct 17, 2003 14:28:52 GMT -5
can amber be tumbled safely? I have some lovely amber with insect inclusions, but of course it is quite brittle, so is tumbling totally out of the question or is there some way to do it, ie. does it require a slower tumble speed?
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donwrob
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2003
Posts: 509
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Post by donwrob on Oct 17, 2003 18:45:21 GMT -5
Hi mrflake, I don't know if this will help you or not. I picked up a pound of Columbian amber a while back. It was raw and unsearched. Even wet, you couldn't see if there were any critters in it. I decided to try it in my vib tumbler with a mess of nylon beads and a little 120-220 grit just to de-bark it and clear it up a little. In 2 days it cleaned up nice. Sadly, I only found a half dozen ternmites, 1 ant, and a good sized set of what look like skeeter wings, no body attached . I had visions of prehistoric tree frogs, small reptiles and birds and other neat creatures trapped in their golden time capsules.... yeah right . Oh well, it is pretty stuff even with nothing inside. I haven't gone any further with it, as I just planned to hand finish it as I've done before. I thought about trying to finish it with the vib tumbler, but worried about ruining it. I guess it wouldn't hurt to run it again while my vib is idle between loads and experiment a little more? OK, I talked myself into it! I'll let you know how it goes. Talk to you later, Don
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Post by docone31 on Oct 18, 2003 18:52:56 GMT -5
I might be reluctant to tumble amber. If it is tumbled, and something of value is inside, and it is trashed by the tumbling, it would be a dissapointment. Amber polishes real well by sanding, and leather buffing with either aluminum oxide, or cerium oxide. By the way, an hot pin is the test. If in intruding the red hot pin, and it smells like pine sap, it is amber. If it smells like a burning boat, or a corvette, it is plastic. Also, if there are any large inclusions, insects, reptiles, etc, and there are bubbles around the inclusion, beware. That is a sure fire indicator of a phony.
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