Berryb

I found it! Rainy day yesterday so I was going thru my junk jars and there it was. It's a corkscrew. I have not seen it in quite a while so I forgot. I'm a sucker for corkscrews, so I like it. Thanks Bruce

Just watched this for the 2nd time, now I gotta, er, get to go thru my marbles again. Bruce

That's the only pic I have of that marble. I took that photo at least 15 years ago. The handmade on the left is an onionskin lutz. I got it in a trade nearly 30 years ago at an antique show in Puyallup. That's where I met Larry (his last name escapes me) who was then president of the SeaTac marble club. I joined but have since moved back to Montana. sorry about rambling on. Thanks Bruce

I have been looking for this marble for a couple of weeks now. It's been driving me nuts (I'm a little obsessive). I think I have finally figured out where it is. Before I go to the effort and expense to get it back can anybody tell me what it is? I was going thru some old photos and found it there. It's the bubbly one between "Herbie" and the green and white swirl. Any ideas? Thanks Bruce

Good ideas bumblebee. I hadn't thought of a monetary limit but it makes sense. We need to get a few people interested in order for it to work. I think at least 10 to make it worthwhile, but who knows. Bruce

Preface; A knife site I go to does an annual pos exchange. Each entrant submits his or her name and address these are drawn so you know where to send. This year I sent to Alaska and got from S.Carolina. The rules are few and simple; no piles of parts, nothing rusted shut, and at least one functional blade . This is a lot of fun. The comments that fly back and forth are as good as the exchange itself. Proposal; we could try something similar. It could give everybody some new mibs to pick thru to help combat the stay at home doldrums. Don't know if it would work with mibs. I see a minimum number of marbles, 50? 100? flyin' around the country. I expect there would need to be other rules as well, couldn't send 100 vacors or Asian cat eyes, that's why I need input. Whaddya think. I'm gonna' post my gets from Chicago In 2017 to kinda show what the knife exchange is like.

I'm retired so I'm doing mostly what I would do anyway; yard work, working at my lathe, walking, going thru my collections etc. It's harder on my wife 'cause she's the one that's goin' all the time. I have an idea to beat the doldrums but I'll post it on another thread 'cause it will need a lot of input. Bruce

All 4 of these are naturally occurring stones that I pulled out of jars of marbles over the years. Bruce

Prob'ly an alchemist tryin' to make gold. those guys made all kinds of discoveries while mixing and cooking various ingredients in a quest for gold. Bruce

The background was an unfortunate choice. The base glass is slightly smokey grey. The colors are bright. I have a mib I'm sure is a sparkler that has the same colors but in a crystal clear base. Bruce

I guess that beats "chocolate chip cookie tiger'

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who keeps the heart breakers. Keep 'em comin' Bruce

display my eye, I'd be playin' with it. I can see it now: who does the dishes, mows the lawn, takes out the garbage.. let's roll for it. Bruce

I always understood that the dying process was pretty toxic. But If it could be done in an old crock pot with honey, salt water and maybe substitute vinegar for the acid..... Hmmmmm. I have a friend with lots of agate, I'll talk to him. What's the worst that could happen, maybe your rocks smell like pickles. Bruce

but how about marbles you have that you wish were in better shape, like round at least. There is a topic about marbles you wish you still had. But I'm talking about mibs that you have that are too bad to even be place holders. I have some pretty chewed up marbles, but this one is the top of my junk pile. In nice condition it would a cornerstone of my collection, but this 17/32nds green brick has an actual corner. Photos don't do justice to the tragedy that is this marble. Thanks Bruce

I have this one. I've always thought it was a sparkler that didn't quite turn out right. The colors are in a flat panel in the marble rather than spread out. The reasons it looks Akro; there are 5 distinct color ribbons (plus some blending), The poles look right. The reasons it does not look Akro; Size- 31/32nds (it would probably be a 64th more but my old calipers are not that accurate), The base glass is smokey grey not crystal clear. The size fits more with Vacor but the surface is not orange peely. It could be German but the ribbons are opaque not translucent. What do you folks think? Brruce

So it works then. If zipwax is a problem I expect windex or any other glass cleaner or eyeglass spray would work. All I'm sayin' is there is often 50, 75, or more years of crud built up that should come off. Bruce

Sometimes they just need a good cleaning. I use an eyeglass cleaner called Zipwax. Just roll the marble around in it, work it with your fingers, then wipe it clean with a micro fiber cloth. I just did a couple of blue slags, is what made me think of it. They both went from pretty dull to pretty nice. Does not always work, but when it does the results can be remarkable. Bruce

I have a hand cut agate, about 7/16ths. It looks too dark to be natural, but my reading tells me that dyed mibs were generally blue, green, yellow, or rarely, black. Is there any way to tell a dyed agate besides color? Thanks Bruce

Do animals count? I have a crane and a dog. Actually 2 dogs, an afghan inside the profile of a newfoundland. I think I spend too much time lookin' at marbles. Bruce

Wow great stuff you guys. Another question ; Did Pelt have a brand name for those early "miller machine" mibs?

That's a seriously cool machine. Seeing it helps me to visualize the process. The marbles were made upstream and rounded and sized, according to the size of the grooves, in the machine. So Miller Machine is not really a valid term for the Marbles in question, because that machine or something similar was used on most, if not all styles of Pelt mibs. Now I gotta wonder about Mr. Miller and his machine. Did he make marbles as well? What prompted him to make this machine? Was there another use, Ball Bearings maybe, or mill balls? Because even if he sold one to every marble maker in the country, which is doubtful, that's not enough machines to keep him in business. I guess the tool collector in me is what made me go off on this tangent. Thanks Bruce

The way I understand it; a few years ago it was discovered that The Miller Machine was for sizing only, and not to put glass together or form swirls or ribbons. This is when marbles of a certain type were no longer referred to as Miller Machines. I have scanned a page from Block's 5th edition, so as recently as 2012 at least Miller Machine was still a valid term. If it was only for sizing it seems to have a pretty limited scope. You can see from the bottom of the page these mibs were mostly 9 to 11 16ths. The page gives a description of what was once Miller Machines and now seem to be old pelt swirls. I guess the reason I'm so concerned is I think they are really nice marbles.

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Ok I know that Miller Machine is a term no longer used ( I saw someone get actually angry at someone for using it on another forum). But there was a specific type of Pelt made during that period. Has there ever been another term applied to these marbles? Here are some pics of some of mine. 2 questions; are these what were once Miller Machines? and what do I call them?