Tumble etching Beads

[artwhim]

I have the silicon carbide and the extra Lortone barrel, but I have a few questions.

-How much silicon carbide should I add? Water?

-Is a mixture of seed beads and pony beads best, or just one size?

-Will it etch boro?

[Donna J]

Hi Kathy

I use 1 tablespoon of sc more or less- I didn't measure, just eyeballed it. I add water until it is approx 1/2" above the glass.

I don't use pony beads (only because I don't have any). I use some glass globs (the mini size, about 15 or 20 of them).

Seems to work well for soft glass, I can't give input about boro because I don't use it.

I've only had my tumbler for a few months but I like the results... hope this helps~

[cc2]

Same here, only 1 Tablespoon of the gray stuff.......... there used to be a tutorial on Corina's website about it. It has a different feel than the acid etched and has a more satin feel I think.

[VivianLampwork]

I used pony beads only in mine & they work fine. I put a bag of them in there.

[artwhim]

Wow, only 1 Tab of SC. Will I need to replace it each time or does it stay in the tumbler from batch to batch?

[Natsprat]

I have been using my tumbler to grind down a little and polish murrini slices and threw in a few "others" for fun. Sort of moving them from rough to smooth rather than shiny to etched, but still possibly relevant!

I put in roughly a loaded tablespoon of SC into each batch but also popped in some cut up bits of leather as a filler and that seemed to speed up the process and stopped the banging about you get with the plastic beads. Here's a pic just before they go into the Cerium for polishing, so they looked quite etched, but smooth and silky to feel!

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4107/4962550339_2fb8f97ba3.jpg

Oh, I don't replace mine each time I do a new batch. Just every once in a while I add some more . I run a different barrel for each grade of SC so it is much easier to leave it in and just write on the top of the lid with a texta which barrel has which stuff in it!

I threw a couple boro slices in also and it etched and smoothed them off perfectly, so I would assume that the boro will also etch for you, just perhaps a little bit slower.

I hope this helps and doesn't just confuse!

Nat :-)

[Donna J]

I read that you don't need to change the water and sc - but I did the first time because I didn't like the idea of leaving the water in there too long. I was very surprised to find the sc sitting like sludge on the bottom...this stuff gets THICK!!!! Because of this I just leave it in there now, like I said I haven't had mine very long and I suppose I will change it from time to time. Just a warning- DON'T dump it down the drain!!! This stuff becomes thick like cement and you'll clog your pipes!

Here is a link to a thread I found useful, post #34 is where I found the info I use:

http://lampworketc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=138057

[artwhim]

Thanks everyone!! I'm excited to replace my etching solution. That stuff has always scared me.

[FishBulb]

This is very interesting! I just might have to put a tumbler on my Christmas list.