Tumbling with Ceramic Pellets

[lblackvelvet]

Hi all, Sorry it took me so long to reply, I have been out of town with very poor internet connection. What I meant Leon by saying that was the 1000 grit with ceramic pellets worked great to remove fine scratches and small defects and made the bottle very smooth. I added 1500 grit and pellets and tumbled the bottle for two Days with no sign of polishing to a shine. It did wear a very small bit of embossing during this tumble. That is why I said I should have stopped after the first tumble and used copper, But I had no way of knowing this till I tried it. It did not hurt the bottle that much, It was a junk bottle when I started and I feel that using copper now will make it look great. Thanks to all who have added advise to help me in learning the tumbling process. Kevin...

 

[sandchip]

Kevin, the reason I asked about the size of the pellets is that about 10 minutes from where I live is a factory that makes ceramic pellets from the kaolin mined in our area. They are tiny, probably only about 1/50" to 1/32" in diameter. They are made to be used in the oil shale extraction process (fracking), pumped into the fissures to hold them open, but being spherical, allow the oil to flow between them. I was just wondering how they'd perform in bottle tumbling. Thought their tiny size might better polish the tight spots around the embossing.

 

[chosi]

> ... I should have stopped after the first tumble and used copper... My understanding (and what I've learned from my own experience), is that the polish or grit you use is what does the actual cleaning & polishing. The delivery material (copper, plastic beads, ceramic pellets, etc) is just there to rub the polish into the glass. In a sense, the copper is like a "bottle brush". If you tumble a bottle with just copper and water (no polish), you'll get no change at all to the bottle - I've done that before by accident. But as I mentioned on an earlier post, I've never used ceramic pellets, so maybe they have some abrasive cleaning power that copper doesn't have.

 

[lblackvelvet]

Hi Chosi, Thanks for always offering your help, This forum is been great to me for obtaining information. I try to add any information I have from my experiences working with bottles. I agree with you as far as the copper does not make the bottle shine, The difference here was the ceramic pellets are not abrasive pellets, but much harder than copper causing the wear to the bottle even with 3 micron aluminum oxide. I really like them for the first tumble to remove scratches and other minor defects if that is your goal. I know many people don't want to remove such defects prior to polishing a bottle in a tumbler. I am the kinda person who strives for perfection even if it costs me a junk bottle or two. If you don't try different things you will never know if they work or not ! I plan to use the ceramic pellets on bottles with scratches and such for about 8 hours with 1000 grit , then add copper with 1200 or 1500 grit to bring back the shine to the glass. I ordered copper today and will post some before and after pic's soon I complete the tumble with copper. Here is a picture of the pellets I use. Thanks again for everyone who has helped. Kevin....

 

[lblackvelvet]

Hello Members, I received my copper over the Holidays and just finished 72 hour tumble with copper and 1500 grit silicone carbide on the Lemon - Kola bottle posted earlier in this thread that I tumbled with 1000 grit and ceramic pellets for about 12 hours. Here is a current picture. I am going to put it back in for 1 day with 3 micron aluminum oxide to see if it makes any difference. Thanks, Kevin..

 

[hemihampton]

Still looks like it may have a slight frosting. Do the 3 microns for 3 days. You'll be glad you did, trust me. LEON.

 

[lblackvelvet]

Thanks Leon, I have purchased some 1200 grit but didn't have it when I tumbled this bottle. I will put this one back in like you say, It does have a very slight haze. Thanks again. Kevin...

 

[lblackvelvet]

Hello all, Well Leon I followed your advise and put this bottle back on for 2 days with the 3-micron and it made a huge difference!! My biggest problem here is that I have a hard time waiting to see how the bottles are doing in the tumbler as I am just learning the process of tumbling. I am starting to be able to look at a bottle and choose the correct grit compound and the time it will take to tumble. Still have a long way to go, but having fun with it. My tumbler is in my barn which is not heated and the temps were below zero at night. So I built a cover over the tumbler and installed a small ceramic heater inside to maintain about 50 degrees. Here is a picture of the same bottle above after 2 more days. Thanks so much to everyone for all the help. Kevin...... And yes I am still using the ceramic pellets for the cut tumble.!!!!

 

[hemihampton]

Looks good. Practice makes perfect as they say. LEON.

 

[lblackvelvet]

Hello all, I removed a green bottle from my tumbler today that still needs the final 3-micron tumble to complete the process of removing a very small amount of cloudiness. It looks to me that the bottle is a darker shade of green now. Has anyone else noticed a color change to their bottle after tumbling ? And after the final tumble with 3-micron will the original color be more apparent ? Or what else could cause a minor color change ? It was a darker shade of green. Thanks, Kevin...