Iron pontils

[opmustard]

Hi,
I was wondering what is the best way to preserve the iron on a pontiled soda while tumbling?
Any info would help.
Thank you,
opmustard

 

[yacorie]

Anyone tumbling bottles should know how to do it - but there are a bunch of options that include using a rubber ball, caulking, nail polish or some other method to protect the iron or graphite.

are you doing this yourself or are you just curious how it’s done?

 

[opmustard]

Hi,
I used to tumble my own and friends bottles, however I haven't tumbled any bottles for over ten years.
I have had some major surgeries and illnesses between the last time I tumbled and my memory isn't so good anymore. Could'nt remember what to do about protecting the iron when tumbling.
Remember using a rubber ball, but wasn't happy with the results. Think I remember using nail polish and think it did work. Someone else told me that they used varnish and then used some type of varnish remover.
I need to know what to use and how to then safely remove the protective material without removing the iron.
Thanks,
opmustard

 

[Harry Pristis]

"...method to protect the iron or graphite." There is NO GRAPHITE. "Graphite pontil" is a long de-bunked collector mis-understanding. It's an iron pontil scar, as Opmustard correctly describes it.

 

[opmustard]

I was told a long time ago the same thing that you mentioned in your post, but it seemed like everybody was saying graphic iron.
Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Harry Pristis]

I can't address what "everybody" was saying, but the bare iron pontil scar was construed to be a "graphite" pontil scar because early collectors couldn't imagine that molten glass will adhere to bare iron. There just HAD to be some medium (like crushed glass or "sand") to get the pontil rod to stick. Because the residue on the bottle was black and fine grained, someone decided it must be graphite. The faulty idea caught on with collectors.
BTW, skipping the step of applying a separating medium (crushed glass or "sand") to the tip of the pontil rod led to calling the new bare iron technique an "improved pontil."

 

[opmustard]

Harry, thank you so much for your enlighting post about the iron pontils. Part of my bottle collecting are iron pontil sodas and mineral waters. Your post has given me a new light about pontils.
opmustard

 

[ROBBYBOBBY64]

Hi,
I used to tumble my own and friends bottles, however I haven't tumbled any bottles for over ten years.
I have had some major surgeries and illnesses between the last time I tumbled and my memory isn't so good anymore. Could'nt remember what to do about protecting the iron when tumbling.
Remember using a rubber ball, but wasn't happy with the results. Think I remember using nail polish and think it did work. Someone else told me that they used varnish and then used some type of varnish remover.
I need to know what to use and how to then safely remove the protective material without removing the iron.
Thanks,
opmustard

There are plenty of threads posted on this subject on this site. Do a search on tumbling iron pontils and a number of options are discussed. Good luck.
ROBBYBOBBY64.

 

[UncleBruce]

Maybe graphite colored on some of them

 

[hemihampton]

there does seem to be different colors, some blackish grayish & some kinda reddish?