Crazy question.

Welcome to our Antique Bottle community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Jstorm

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2021
Messages
392
Reaction score
342
Points
63
Please go to the jar doctors web site .he has every thing you need .I have been using his products for years .they work
Yes I appreciate that. I know the copper will work but trying to determine how many pounds to buy for a cheap harbor freight tumbler. I have 2 normal canisters mended together about 10 inches long. I know he can calculate the pounds but would you have any idea. Thanks
 

Len

CT LEN
Joined
Nov 14, 2020
Messages
994
Reaction score
823
Points
93
J-Storm,

Please resend if you don't get a reply in the usual time frame. --Thx.
 

Bohdan

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2019
Messages
282
Reaction score
104
Points
43
Location
Prairies of Canada
I have a cheap tumbler and I want to try to learn how to tumble. I know the video's are out there but is it true you can crush up old bottles and use them to tumble your bottles? Yes I am cheap and trying to experiment a little instead of buying the copper. Thanks
Always worth a try.
 

forro

Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2022
Messages
12
Reaction score
20
Points
3
hello, im new to the site. I grew up in savannah and dug bottles there for about 40 years. I have an extensive collection but I have never tumbled anything. Each person has their own taste, and some will pay more for a well tumbled bottle, but I prefer the natural patina on the old bottles. To me old bottles should look old. Sure a shinney clean and clear look will display nicely. If they come out of the ground with little or no haze or staining I loved it, but I would not want to strip away the historical natural surface that years of being under the ground have applied to a bottle. A historical bottle is what it is, and any doctoring other than a good cleaning takes away from it in my not so humble thought.
 

Roy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2022
Messages
364
Reaction score
468
Points
63
hello, im new to the site. I grew up in savannah and dug bottles there for about 40 years. I have an extensive collection but I have never tumbled anything. Each person has their own taste, and some will pay more for a well tumbled bottle, but I prefer the natural patina on the old bottles. To me old bottles should look old. Sure a shinney clean and clear look will display nicely. If they come out of the ground with little or no haze or staining I loved it, but I would not want to strip away the historical natural surface that years of being under the ground have applied to a bottle. A historical bottle is what it is, and any doctoring other than a good cleaning takes away from it in my not so humble thought.
Welcome forgot,

I can certainly appreciate your view of keeping the bottles the way they were found. To each their own. I guess in my case, I would consider a light tumble just a good cleaning then. Roy
 

Digger 57

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2022
Messages
79
Reaction score
96
Points
18
hello, im new to the site. I grew up in savannah and dug bottles there for about 40 years. I have an extensive collection but I have never tumbled anything. Each person has their own taste, and some will pay more for a well tumbled bottle, but I prefer the natural patina on the old bottles. To me old bottles should look old. Sure a shinney clean and clear look will display nicely. If they come out of the ground with little or no haze or staining I loved it, but I would not want to strip away the historical natural surface that years of being under the ground have applied to a bottle. A historical bottle is what it is, and any doctoring other than a good cleaning takes away from it in my not so humble thought.
I can appreciate that .But I prefer them to look like they did when they were used.Dirt an stains do not look good no matter what you call it.Glass was made to be clear an colorful .
 

willong

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2009
Messages
1,022
Reaction score
997
Points
113
Location
Port Angeles, WA
hello, im new to the site. I grew up in savannah and dug bottles there for about 40 years. I have an extensive collection but I have never tumbled anything. Each person has their own taste, and some will pay more for a well tumbled bottle, but I prefer the natural patina on the old bottles. To me old bottles should look old. Sure a shinney clean and clear look will display nicely. If they come out of the ground with little or no haze or staining I loved it, but I would not want to strip away the historical natural surface that years of being under the ground have applied to a bottle. A historical bottle is what it is, and any doctoring other than a good cleaning takes away from it in my not so humble thought.
Welcome to the site.

In general, I agree with your preference. I'd rather have an as-dug example of a nice historical bottle than one that has been tumbled so long that it is unnaturally glossy with the edges of the embossing features noticeably rounded compared to other examples. However, if a bottle is so stained, crusted or sick that it appreciably detracts from my enjoyment I can certainly see the attraction of "...a light tumble just [as] a good cleaning..." as Roy opined. Perhaps the title of a Moody Blues album is apropos here; it is "A Question of Balance" after all.

Pictured below is a bottle that I dug, which I think could benefit from "...a light tumble." However, before resorting to that remedy, I mean to try an acid soak first in case that haze is due to a deposit of lime on the surface of the glass rather than an etching of the glass itself.

1658437463899.png
 

Roy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2022
Messages
364
Reaction score
468
Points
63
Welcome forro,

I can certainly appreciate your view of keeping the bottles the way they were found. To each their own. I guess in my case, I would consider a light tumble just a good cleaning then. Roy
 

forro

Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2022
Messages
12
Reaction score
20
Points
3
As I said before , each person has his own taste. One other thing I like about mine untumbled is that I can recognize each one by its own unique pattern of oxygenation. Its always great to pick one up and remember the hole it came out of and who I was with to recapture the nostalgic moment in the glory days. I don't know if I may ever get a place to dig again but reliving some past victories is always fun.
 

Members online

Latest threads

Forum statistics

Threads
83,220
Messages
742,917
Members
24,237
Latest member
Fancy2cu
Top