# other than tumblers?



## getaricerocket (Oct 11, 2005)

is there any other way to cure "sick" bottles than to spend an extravagant amount of money bothering with tumbling?

   -brendan


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## Gunsmoke47 (Oct 11, 2005)

Nope. Sorry.[&o]


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## Bottle tumbler (Oct 13, 2005)

15 to 20 dollars a bottle plus shipping both ways is not much if the bottle is a good one
 www.bottletumbling.com

 rick


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## WhiteLighting (Oct 20, 2005)

to remove the sickness,you auctually have to cut a thin "very thinn" layer of glass to remove bad sickness,sometimes it takes 3 or 4 weeks on slow mode to do this then you have to polish...

    im gonna post a question concerning cleaning.....


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## atticmint (Oct 28, 2005)

I found this acid jell once that was something like 20% hydrofluoric, worked great on some bottles. Its always a crap shoot this way [:'(]


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## Gunsmoke47 (Oct 29, 2005)

Hello atticmint,  welcome to the forum![] I would just like to add my 2 cents worth on Hydrofluric acid. This stuff can kill you a little bit more than dead. Even at 20%, you better know what you're doin. It is nothing I would screw around with, but that's just my humble opinion. Our friends in the UK use acid dipping with good results, but they will tell you to send it to someone who is highly trained. Happy Diggin,  Kelley


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## atticmint (Oct 29, 2005)

Sorry about that....I should mention I was using full chemical splash protection, including a respirator. I work as a chem tech.


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## Gunsmoke47 (Oct 29, 2005)

Well if my tumbler ever goes on the blink, and I want to see how good an acid dip works, I now know a chemist to get in touch with![] I just don't want to see anyone accidently get hurt do to lack of knowledge. When I was 17, I worked for a drilling mud co. and I was told one Saturday to go unload a boxcar of Formaldehyde. (1000  fifty # bags.)  Nobody told me to use a respirator, or even a paint mask. Lack of knowledge messed me up bad for awhile.[:'(]  Happy Diggin,  Kelley


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## atticmint (Oct 29, 2005)

ahhhg Formaldehyde. Bad shit. See it all the time with little critters in it. I hate dumping them out  [:'(]  We usually do it under air, since there really is no respirator worth using.
  As for the acid, its really hard to get the right strength, plus factor in the age, and the chemicals the bottle was made with at the time, everyone will react differently.
 I will post some before and after pics if I can find them.


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## atticmint (Oct 29, 2005)

Here are two bottles I experimented with a while ago. Both were dipped into hydroflouric acid for the same amount of time. Both had very bad ground stain.
 As you can hopefully see in the pic, the Canadian medicine bottle turned out perfect, didnt even break any of the long neck bubbles.....but the Minard's bottle frosted up worse than it was before I dipped it.
 Its a chemical crap shoot. [8|]


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## Gunsmoke47 (Oct 29, 2005)

You know, it can be a crap shoot tumbling them as well. I have had trouble with some of my aquas coming out frosty, or hazy. Some turn out great. I've tried more water, less oxide, more copper, less copper, ect.ect. That's one reason I don't usually tumble for other people. That and the fact that it's a whole lot of trouble for the going rate you get paid.  Kelley


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## atticmint (Oct 29, 2005)

Hi Kelly,  I have a friend with a tumbler (thats not set up now because he has moved) and I never talked about polishing compounds with him, but when you said copper you reminded me of something. I found 3 small bags of old copper powder a long time ago and stashed them away. Would this work in his tumbler? Its a very fine power/dust.


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## Gunsmoke47 (Oct 30, 2005)

No Atticmint that won't work. The copper used in tumbling isn't the polishing agent itself. It is a soft medium used to push the polishing (or cutting) oxide up against the glass. The copper needs to be in solid form.  Usually 12 gauge wire cut into 1/16" - 1/8" long pieces.  Kelley


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## atticmint (Oct 30, 2005)

Heh... I better do some reading up. I have never seen a tumbler in action, cant wait till my friend gets his up and running. []


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