crystals in tumbler?

I would think not - the shot would chip/break all the facets in the crystal.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong...

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "Barbara Forbes-Lyons" :

]I would think not - the shot would chip/break all the facets in the crystal. ] ]Someone correct me if I'm wrong...

well, SO FAR all of my glass has gone through the tumbler okay.

but i admit i haven't tried it with the Swarovski. crystal is more fragile than glass.

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

Bill of Rights - Void where prohibited by Law.Regime Change in 2004 - The life you save may be your own.

I thought crystal was definitely stronger.

Tina

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "Christina Peterson" :

]I thought crystal was definitely stronger.

i can's swear to it - but in my experience, it's much more "brittle".

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

Bill of Rights - Void where prohibited by Law.Regime Change in 2004 - The life you save may be your own.

OK, I'm ignorant, but why would you want to? I understand putting raw gems in a tumbler, or rocks, but why would you want to put silver or crystal in it?

CLP

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "CLP" :

]OK, I'm ignorant, but why would you want to? I understand putting raw gems ]in a tumbler, or rocks, but why would you want to put silver or crystal in ]it?

you put completed "wire work" pieced in a tumbler to work-harden the silver. everything else gets polished at the same time.

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

Bill of Rights - Void where prohibited by Law.Regime Change in 2004 - The life you save may be your own.

Thanks - I guess the only thing to do is try it and see what happens.

I think fused glass can stand maybe an hour of shot tumbling.

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "Christina Peterson" :

]My only question is whether a rotory tumbler would be any harder ]on it than a vibrating tumbler was.

ah - okay, in one of the other groups where they were discussing tumblers, they said that "vibrating tumblers work for polishing, but not for work-hardening".

personally, i would probably put crystal in a vibrating tumbler, but probably not chance it in a rotary.

lead would make the crystal harder, but i thought that also made it brittle. and admittedly, i'm thinking of the crystal i have [ovals and snowflakes] that chip VERY easily, just trying to wire wrap them!

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

Bill of Rights - Void where prohibited by Law.Regime Change in 2004 - The life you save may be your own.

We were using the vibrating tumblers for work hardening as well, in the PMC class, though it was an expensive one and may have had another motion besides the vibration.

Tina

Are the crystals you have that chip easily also Swarovski?

You know, one caution about tumbling that I didn't think of before, pertains to ABs. The finishes applied to crystals are just a thin coating. I think those would be easily damaged by tumbling.

Tina

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "Christina Peterson" :

]We were using the vibrating tumblers for work hardening as well, in the PMC ]class, though it was an expensive one and may have had another motion ]besides the vibration.

uhm - okay. but - i'm getting confuzzled. i can understand how it would work on PMC [from the items of PMC i've seen] but "wire wrapped items" aren't shaped like PMC, if i am understanding correctly - which may be the difference.

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

Bill of Rights - Void where prohibited by Law.Regime Change in 2004 - The life you save may be your own.

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "Christina Peterson" :

]Are the crystals you have that chip easily also Swarovski?

they sure are! especially the snowflakes.

]You know, one caution about tumbling that I didn't think of before, pertains ]to ABs. The finishes applied to crystals are just a thin coating. I think ]those would be easily damaged by tumbling.

now, i do put all of my beads through the tumbler, with the shot, if they have wire work that needs to be hardened. and i've never had a problem with the finishes. 95% of what i have is relatively expensive Czech glass. so far, it has all held up VERY well in the tumbler.

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

Bill of Rights - Void where prohibited by Law.Regime Change in 2004 - The life you save may be your own.

A vibrating tumbler polishes much faster than a rotary tumbler. I have a rotary tumbler and only put the uncapped dichroic glass (fused) & PMC in for

1 hour and it was OK. I don't know about little beads, probably bad news for AB or luster coatings.

much stronger.<

I have often had Swarovski crystals chip when wire wrapping them. This doesn't happen unless the wire is next to the cystal itself, so I try to put something else, even just a seed bead, next to where the wire wrap will be. But having them chip at all illustrates to me they are more fragile than they appear. I would never try to tumple them with shot.

Carol in SLC My eBay auctions:

Hi Carol, I've been tumbling my chains with crystals with no problems at all. In fact, I just finished tumbling some ....1 of them has crystals and a lampwork bead and the other 2 have crystals and porcelain beads. They were all tumbled for about 21/2 hours. They came out of the tumbler all pretty and sparkly. I don't tumble AB for sure. Cisco

would never try to tumple them with shot

I tumble almost all of my jewelry as a final finish. If the stones are relatively hard, they get set first and tumbled with everything else. Crystals too. Remember, you're just tumbling. It's a rubber barrel making slow turns, just rolling and rolling. Just like sea glass in the ocean. Only the sand gives the glass a matte finish. The steel gives the metal a shiny finish. I have set faceted gems and tumble polished the finished piece. Why? Because the metal is still flexible from the soldering. After tumbling it's work-hardened and much harder to set stones. Especially if you are bezel setting. Barbara Dream Master

"We've got two lives, one we're given, the other one we make." Mary Chapin Carpenter

I want to learn to bezel set stones. Any suggestions for sources of info or training?

Deirdre

Bezel setting is the simplest form of setting. Get Tim McCreight's book "The Complete Metalsmith". It tells you everything you need to know. You don't even need a class for it. Or, If you're ever in St. Louis, stop by for half an hour and I'll teach you how. Barbara Dream Master

"We've got two lives, one we're given, the other one we make." Mary Chapin Carpenter