# Tumbling bottle with crack



## hemihampton (Oct 24, 2013)

A guy wants to sell me a hutch bottle with crack in top. Bottle is very dirty, stained, sic, ect. & needs a tumble. Can you tumble a bottle with a crack in top or in neck or will it disentergrate into peices? Would epoxy repair help it any? THANKS, LEON.


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## epackage (Oct 24, 2013)

As thick and sturdy as hutches are I'd say it all depends on the crack and the person tumbling it and their expertise.. I hope you do before & after pics, good luck.


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## justanolddigger (Oct 24, 2013)

> Would epoxy repair help it any


 
 The epoxy won't hold up to tumbling. One trick I learned was to completely fill the bottle with copper, and totally fill the outside with copper also. Sounds wrong with the extra weight, but it keeps the copper from sloshing & jarring the bottle. I tumbled a cathedral pickle this way with a hole in the neck, and it worked fine. Think of the bottle as being nestled inside all that copper instead of holding that weight by the stopples....Bill


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## cowseatmaize (Oct 24, 2013)

I don't tumble myself except by falling, steep hills are the worst.

 I wound guess that since they aren't doing something like that than heat caused by friction would be the big problem.  Maybe a lower speed and longer duration or shorter blasts at normal speed might avoid too much heat? IDK

 I'd be willing to bet that, like Jim said, they can withstand a lot. I'm sure some of those have rolled down rivers for many miles and survived the heat of summer and the frozen winters.


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## cowseatmaize (Oct 24, 2013)

I forgot you said the top and neck so where the stopple would be might be an issue. I'll have to find out what a stopple is but I think two are used, one at each end.
 I really just like say stopple, that's another fun word to me. 
 The above may be true though so wait for some more opinions.


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## AntiqueMeds (Oct 24, 2013)

the only thing that you can predict for certain about cracks in glass is that they never get smaller.


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## blade (Oct 24, 2013)

Crack is Whack[] !


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## chosi (Oct 24, 2013)

If it's a good bottle, I'd learn to live with the crack, rather than risk tumbling it.

 That being said, the few times I've tempted fate and tumbled cracked bottles, they have survived without any noticable increase in the crack size.  These were all thick soda bottles by the way, with cracks that weren't particularly large.

 If only the inside of the bottle is dirty, then you can wrap the outside of the bottle up in electrical tape and tumble the inside-only.  Still no guarantee it will survive, but the chances are good that it will.


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## T D (Oct 24, 2013)

If all or most of the strain is on the inside, just tumble the inside.  Put the normal amount on the inside and plug it with a whittled down cork taped down.  I also like the packing it on the inside and outside with copper and free tumbling it.  I use a test plug on each end when free tumbling


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## stlouisbottles (Oct 30, 2013)

*Re:  RE: Tumbling bottle with crack*

I have tumbled bottles before with cracks in them and 99% percent success rate. You just got to make sure you have the bottle secure in the tumbler and turning slow.


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## goodolebottles (Oct 31, 2013)

*Re:  RE: Tumbling bottle with crack*

I've tumbled many bottles with cracks, some severe, some not so much.  I'm happy to say that all were successfully cleaned with no further damage to the effected area.  There's a lot of variables to consider before attempting tumbling.       [ol][*]Are you prepared to accept the risk no matter the outcome?[*]Is the bottle tumble worthy? (Are there other factors that would add additional or excessive risk to the bottle?)[*]Is there a chip, gouge, or other damage associated with the crack?  [*]Is the crack completely through the glass on both inside and out, just one side, or not at all?[*]What result are you looking for in the end?   [/ol]The answers should be the guide to determine what method to use for tumbling.   There's a couple to choose from. Without having seen the bottle, it's a little hard to be specific.   So, I took some time to write up some general cleaning instructions for a case such as this.  They're a little lengthy because of the detail and formatting.    If anyone would like a copy, I'll be glad to send them, or if you'd like I can always post them here. Happy tumbling, Cindy


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## hemihampton (Oct 31, 2013)

*Re:  RE: Tumbling bottle with crack*

Thanks Cindy & everybody else, Much Appreciated. LEON.


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## hemihampton (Nov 15, 2013)

*Re:  RE: Tumbling bottle with crack*

Heres the bottle in Question. I aquired for the collection. Being a rare espensive bottle I was afraid to risk a tumble. SO, I cleaned manually with my little rubbing wheel & compound. Clean up a littlle but I was totally dissatisfied with results compared to a tumble. SO, Like playing Russian Roulette I gave it a tumble, crack & all & crossed my fingers. Here's before it went in, was extremely rough condition. LEON.


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## hemihampton (Nov 15, 2013)

*Re:  RE: Tumbling bottle with crack*

Here's after week in tumbler & after 3 different polish's. Did not disentergrate into little peices but crack in neck appears to be a little longer possibly & rougher inside neck. It did end up cleaning up good. Still has a little case wear at very bottom. Whatcha think? LEON.


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## lblackvelvet (Nov 15, 2013)

*Re:  RE: Tumbling bottle with crack*

Great job!!!  Very nice looking Hutch!!


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## acls (Nov 22, 2013)

*Re:  RE: Tumbling bottle with crack*

Most people use various oxides for tumbling.  I would think crack would not be very cost effective or do as good of a job.  Not to mention the legality of it all.


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