RolleyHoleMan

Been working on some marbles today. A lot of them ended up a bit smaller than I’d like. Another issue is how the material is always unpredictable. I have some classic faults like mineral deposits and fissures, which is unfortunate. If I get around to making an Etsy shop for selling marbles, I may divide them up as art and playing marbles. Marbles free of cracks will be playing marbles. If anyone is interested in a marble send me a message and let me know your thoughts. I don’t have the assortment of colors some are after, especially when it comes to butter scotch/ brown. But there’s going to be some good shooting marbles if my setup behaves. My setup is, well, interesting to say the least. It’s a lot like driving an old car. It may get you where you need to go, but it’ll be sketchy and wild.

What kind of marble are you looking for (size, finish, material)? I have a lot of cubes but many are a bit odd compared to the plain solid white many people play with. All my material is at home so I don't know what all I have at the moment. When it comes to making marbles, I have not sold one yet. I made a few as gifts for locals who have done a lot for the game. I made one for Bobby Fulcher, the father of the tournament (for his retirement) for example, but have not had a marble used for the tournament yet. I don't have the standard white material most marbles are, but have found material that was used to make marbles that were used in the tournament this year. Selling marbles is a new territory for me and I would like to do the craft justice, so I always have worries there. I was refusing to sell them local since I'm not local and didn't think it was right for some guy from East TN to pop into the area and suddenly become competition, but online it's a new territory, especially since now I'm off finding my own material away from the park. If you're interested send me a message and when I get back home I'll wet up some materials and send some photos. I have a decent mix of materials but some I will have to look at. Without a proper saw I have some odd cuts that may need some extra love. If anyone else is after a marble let me know and I'll see what I can do. Time is a bit limited but if my rig holds up, I would like to make a couple of marbles a day.

Here's another update. I have been working on making my own setup for marble making, and have built a very chaotic setup that makes rocks tremble in fear. The setup is not complete and has its quirks and bugs. I have two bench grinder arbors on this setup, one has a 60 grit diamond wheel which eats rocks (hopefully it holds up since it is a cheap wheel), and the other grinder has a rubber wheel, ping pong table wheel (both for spinning marbles), and a stone wheel I don't know much about, but due to its low rate of cutting it does just fine for the nice little touchup work needed on some marbles while spinning them. Now where things get fun... This is a belt drive setup. I could have gotten an electric bench grinder and called it good, but what's the fun in that? When poking around one of my favorite junk shops I've gone to since I was a kid, I noticed a funky little engine sitting on the floor under a shelf, covered in dust. I picked it up as the elderly owner watched me, and he said "Son do you know what that is?". I told him I thought it was a washing machine engine (which it was). Because I knew what it was, I got it for $20.00. So what use is an engine if you have nothing to do with it? I see these online all the times and the demo videos are basically "here is my engine, it is mounted to a board. Here it is running. Thanks for watching!". That won't do. So I got to planning and building. This engine spins my grinders at around 2000 RPM, and I can speed it up to 2800 or so. Whatever RPM the motor was set at was not full throttle, but way too fast. So using this setup I made a marble in around 30 minutes. Usually this takes me many hours. So here is a video of the chaotic setup. The electric motor in the setup is an old washing machine motor (as is tradition), and it is mostly used as an axle. It can spin the one grinder but not very fast. The gas engine is a 1948 Briggs and Stratton WMB, cast iron grinder is a "CS" grinder (maybe craftsman sears?), the smaller grinder is a Millers Falls (I think), and the belts are a combo of Volvo alternator belts and lawn mower belts. I need to get these belts to flop less but overall it's a fun setup. Enjoy!

For those who may have missed it, I make marbles for the game of "Rolley Hole" . I have a few threads floating around here about me going on and on about Rolley Hole that may be found by searching the forum.

Hey all, I had a thread about making my first marble a few months ago. My seasonal job ends here October 31st so it’ll be the end of the line for me making marbles until I get my own setup going. I have some belt driven bench grinders ready (need wheels) , a couple electric motors, and a Brigs and Stratton WMB washing machine gas engine for this setup. I have made around 40 marbles now, though it’s hard to keep up. It’s taken a lot of trial and error plus time cutting material to really get into it, but here’s some photos. Many marbles I kept on making even though they really aren’t the best for game play, which includes materials with cracks, sand pits, etc. When learning and also finding/cutting your own material it can be difficult to always get and use the best. In my collection of material I do have a quite a few very good looking cubes though it’ll be a long time until I can get to them, and that’s if I keep up with marble making. Back home the geology is also not the best for this however I have a property full of Tennessee Agate, but that’s an awful material for Rolley Hole. It makes a pretty (but soft) marble though. Enjoy!

I do find myself guilty of talking a bit much about Rolley Hole, though very few people play that game and even fewer find it relatable to what they play/ have played. I go around middle and east Tennessee doing a lot of talk about marbles, but very few people really want to play. They do very much like seeing my handmade marbles and they always like the stories and folklore aspects of the game, but it usually ends there. Here we have to focus on the cultural and historic significance of the game, and those coming to learn about it are city folks who saw it on CBS. There's nothing wrong with that, but that demographic would rather enjoy demonstration over participation. So often times I will be on the yard talking to a very interactive audience, but when it comes to the point in the program where it's time to play, they usually clear out. When it comes to kids, if they do show up their parents made them, and they aren't happy about it. They try to quickly get the program over with so they can go back to the more fun stuff like cabins, campgrounds, playground, or the pool. All that being said, if you know where to go around here, there isn't a shortage of people to play with. I am awful at marbles so typically I stay at the park and make marbles instead of going around trying to play marbles. I do know of 2 indoor yards that have heat for the winter and fans for the summer, but that's about it. The marble players I have talked to about this forum really don't have an interest in it. Kinda a lengthy thing I know, so I will say what I play. I play Rolley Hole, Georgia Rolley Hole, ringer, schoolyard, and once played "British". I do not play Tennessee Square (would like to learn), or anything else. I probably haven't played any marble game in over a month since it just isn't enjoyable without the community, and that's what marbles in most areas will and always will lack.

That looks very nice! The size and shape of your yard is very similar to our Georgia Rolley Hole yard, which at one time was a regular Rolley Hole yard that was cut in half I believe. If I recall correctly, everyone wanted to play at the main yard so over time the yard we use for Georgia Rolley Hole was cut in half. Georgia is basically like scaled down Cherokee Marbles and keeps many of the same rules. In one of my threads I think I have the rules posted for it. Anyways what you have looks just fine. What our players do when practicing is they take a bucket of rolley hole dirt over to the Georgia yard and they dip their hands in it for shooting. You may be able to do similar if you find a material you like. Unfortunately I have not really ventured into yard making and dirt hunting so I won't be able to help there. I have found similar dirt in old unused barns when out hunting for junk, so that may be something to look into. Really I'd imaging if you dig down past topsoil you may be able to find something that'll do.

The dirt we never did end up getting, but we certainly need to. There was too much worry this year about potentially putting dirt on the yard that the players would be upset about, as they're picky. No matter how nice the yard is, people will complain. I had a man sitting with me who kept going on and on, and asked who was taking care of the yard. I told him that for the first few months it was me, and he got very quiet, then I told him several players came by for a month to work on the yard. From what I have been told, this is sifted loam soil from the banks of rivers/streams, and sometimes roadsides. I have never gotten to go dirt hunting, but have heard stories about this process. Some people would keep pantyhose in their trucks and would bag up dirt they saw and liked. Some players were working for TDOT so on their travels along roadsides they would pick up dirt and even nodules. What is just as important and often overlooked is yard maintenance and proper building. I've talked with a few people about this and of course opinions vary, but at Fall Creek Falls State Park they thought it was ideal to roll a layer of red clay on the yard, which wasn't right. The main thing to try is the finest sifted light brown loam you can get. Walk around your yard tossing it like a flower girl at a wedding, then wet the yard slightly to make it all form together. Keep on doing this and then allow the yard to dry. Take an old wagon wheel rim or vehicle rim, weigh it down, and drag it like a mule. This will even it out and the scrape will bring a fine layer of dirt up. The ideal yard has this fine layer, and if you rub your hand on it you will bring up more powder. The yards are often compared to the felt of a pool table. In the end it is your yard and you make the rules, so you can adapt and make the game your own. Similar dirt marble games were once played in New York and New Jersey cities before paving of alleyways and driveways. Little is known about this and what they wanted in a yard. The best thing for any dirt patch for marbles is to just play on it. They need a lot of time to settle down and mesh together. Hopefully this helps. If you have any more questions please ask.

The tournament went very well and was a blast! I don't know if anyone from here attended, but if not, there's always next year! My time at this park is coming to an end, but I will still be around and have email notifications set up for questions about Rolley Hole. I also plan to get my own gear to hopefully make some more marbles, though I don't know what the extent of this will be. Only time will tell but I will be hitting some local junk shops for old tools and such that can be used for this. I will be cutting down cubes into spheres using a bench grinder, and will be spinning the marbles (probably) by using an old Yamaha moped. So in November keep an eye out for marble mayhem and possible injuries.

Here are some more photos of marbles I’ve made and materials used. As of now I’ve made over 20 marbles and have learned quite a bit. I had some issues with cracking which have been resolved, but there’s always issues with the material sometimes not being the best. There will be live demonstrations September 16th at Standing Stone State Park, and live demonstrations September 30th at Cove Lake State Park.

Here is the official flier and itinerary for Rolley Hole!

Today I spent many hours working on organizing hundreds of marbles to be sold at Rolley Hole, so here are some updates. Standing Stone State Park's gift shop has finally restocked Rolley Hole flint/quartz/agate marbles with around 20 to choose from for $15.00 each. They may be purchased at the park office, though I do not think we ever figured out any way to ship marbles because of needing a state account to purchase shipping labels. I myself have kept on making marbles and have gotten better at the process and I learned that my getting the marbles too hot was causing them to crack. After learning more from Matthew (marble gems on youtube), I have stopped cracking them and have made a few more. So far I have made 17 marbles! During the Pioneer Folk Festival at Fall Creek Falls State Park I will be there running the marbles pit on the 9th and 10th of September. The game will be schoolyard and variants of it so it may not be all that exciting if anyone on here can attend. I believe most members are a good distance off. On September 30th there will be a Rolley Hole Marble making demonstration at Cove Lake State Park that I will be at. This is put on by the Tennessee Arts Commission featuring artisans trained/taught through their programs and grants. I was not trained this way but will be there to do the interpretative side of this demonstration, so as the marble makers work, I will be there to explain what is happening. There may be a chance I will be making marbles, but this is not very likely. Regardless this may give members here another chance to experience Rolley Hole in this way. Fliers have been designed for the 40th but have not been printed. When they are, I will scan one in front and back and then post it here. These fliers have the itinerary such as food, music, vendors, and most importantly, ROLLEY HOLE. This is the prime time to get marbles, and to truly experience Rolley Hole. There will be people hanging around to interoperate the games to those who are confused (don't worry, most people are), along with marble makers set up to teach the process. As for accommodations, anyone interested in staying with us will have to contact the park or check the website for reservations of campgrounds and cabins. Cabins are likely booked, but last year I remember many open campsites with many campers who showed up not knowing Rolley Hole was happening. Another thing is we are supposed to have a shuttle van to shuttle people between different parking areas. This has not been done in many years so that part is still a little up in the air. If anyone has any questions, please let me know!

Good read. The marble tournament in Tinsley Green is actually where our players went, and dominated, in 1992.

As a small update just in case anyone is around the park and decides to stop. At the moment the Rolley Hole yard will be closed for repairs and will be fenced off. For gameplay, the Marble Super Dome of Monroe County Ky is where anyone interested should go for gameplay. They are located behind the National Guard Armory.

Work has begun on the marbles yard. So far the yard looks rough, but it is step 1 in a bigger process. The yard has been heavily wetted which causes all that fine powder to become one with the yard. When this is done, you can really see the imperfections in the yard like holes, ditches, etc. Coming up more material will be added. I will try to start adding photos of the process but the local players are the ones fixing it up, so when they will be here is not scheduled so steps in the process may be missed. Today I was out in the streams finding more flint for marbles, though nothing is all that great so far.

It truly is one of the best places Tennessee has to offer, and it has a great community centered around Rolley Hole. Every day lately we have been working hard in regards to Rolley Hole. Soon I will have to stop all Rolley Hole programs as we are about to do a hardcore renovation/repair of the marbles yard which I will update everyone on. I know some of the process for yard repair, but this will be a big undertaking with many people working on the yard. We will be adding a lot of material which is a process of adding, wetting the yard, and surfacing the yard. The biggest thing about yard work is that all players must be very very happy with what we do from surface to the dirt itself. People are very picky and for good reason. People are so picky that when we used chalk to mark holes, they said it messed up shots. The chalk interfered with how the marble left the hand, or so they say.

Polishing a marble is something I hear different things on. What I’m going to try is steel wool. I’ve heard other similar things.

Here’s another update from todays work. Over the last few days I have been in the waterways at the park hunting for flint, and found some very promising pieces that will need to be cut. I did find one piece small enough to chip away at, then make into a marble. This is the first of hopefully many true Standing Stone Marbles. I have been told the darker flint is less sought after because it is harder and breaks easily, but got more clarity on dark flint today from a marbles maker. He said that you do have to be careful because the flint will have more sand in it. It also has more organic matter. Because of this you may be grinding a marble and POP a big piece has come off because of a pocket of sand. I had this happen early on but whittled it down to what seems like a suitable piece. It does have some worry spots but since I’m not a powerful shot, it shouldn’t be a problem. The main reason darker flint is not used is because… it’s common. That’s right. Common. I found a lot of it. The players want the harder to find stuff because it makes a prettier marble, or a marble that blends with the yard. You want white or butterscotch flint. The chert I used on a tan marble got the marble maker today excited and he approved of my marbles. Here’s some photos. I ended up slicking this marble up a little and plan to look into how to do this even better. Players like different things. Our hands are all different and size of the marble can vary. Some can’t shoot a bigger or larger marble. Some want more grit for control, and some like a slick marble that eases out of the hand. If anyone comes and meets any players, note their marbles. There will likely be a recurring theme. When a marble is lost it sometimes can be tracked back to who lost it by another skilled player. “That looks like something X would use” was something I was told at the last Rolley Hole when I handed a marble to the wrong player.

Another small update regarding Rolley Hole, or a couple. Firstly an interesting thing I learned today is that our yard is actually slightly smaller than what you will usually see in a Rolley Hole yard. I do not know the exact dimensions, but typically a yard has the holes 10ft apart, while ours are 9ft apart. It was an interesting thing to learn though I have only been to one other yard, which is the "marbles super dome" in Monroe county, Kentucky. My next update is we are supposed to get more dirt for the yard next week, so we will see what can be done. The yard is in pretty rough shape though it is better than it was last year around this time. The yard mostly is unused by the locals who play at their own yards or yards closer to the bigger Rolley Hole communities. Marble yards are a social hotspot for the locals so our yard is a little out of the way. I have been keeping the yard up best I can since I play on it. Lately we have also had an increase of kids digging on the yard and throwing dirt at each other, so it is what it is. I've also been getting more lessons from both champion players and local kids on shooting marbles, but it's one of those things that they do well but it's hard to teach people who didn't grow up doing it. I'm no good. I can't hit well and when I do hit, the power is lacking. Not too big of a deal since I'm not a true Rolley Hole player, but an outsider to the area who now teaches the game in a more historical and folklore way. I'm a teacher, not a player. However after many have inspected the marbles I've made, I am gaining some mild reputation as a marble maker. Coming up on the agenda I will be spending time searching Standing Stone State Park for material for making marbles in the hopes of making a 100% Standing Stone made Rolley Hole marble. The flint found in the park (I've been told) is supposed to make a pretty marble, but not the best marble. I'll keep on updating. Lately the days have been blazing hot, but the nights have been some good Rolley Hole nights. More visitors are coming to the park and asking for some Rolley Hole, and when the storms come in the marble yard is always open. There's nothing to do on those night but settle down with a bottle of SKI and shoot some marbles, or at least talk marbles. Hopefully some of you will come on by Rolley Hole this year. After this year I will be moving to another park since my position is seasonal with the condition you can only work the same park twice, and I worked last year. My Rolley Hole posts will stop at that point. Tennessee has 57 State Parks with plenty to offer, but only 1 that has Rolley Hole. None in my opinion have anything this special or ever will, so come on by!

Another thing I have considered for fun is trying to buy some of those decorative orbs from China made of different materials to see what I can whittle down. I looked up their Agate orbs and to my surprise there was a lot about the size of Rolley Hole marbles already. I used to work in a record shop that also sold crystals and the like, so I'm familiar with orbs made of Agate, Jasper, and quartz. The idea came from seeing a cut up piece of material that was once a decorative egg. I couldn't get a lot of info about what quality of marble this makes, but have heard about them making marbles from this type of stuff along with pieces of granite and similar from counter top installs. My main thing though is I have never seen anyone play with these marbles. I have a Dalmatian Jasper marble I use for programming and with my skill it does fine, but in the hands of a true shooter I don't know about durability. When teaching Rolley Hole, my students do not have a marble themselves and do not have the personal connection. Players will learn their marble and can pick it out from a group of seemingly identical marbles. So when I teach people, I use one purplish Agate that has been polished, one Dalmatian, one white flint, and one yellowish/white flint. With Georgia Rolley Hole it can get chaotic with 10 or so people playing, so I break into the stash of "forbidden marbles" which are glass marbles with odds and ends printed on them that either have defects, or unusual subject matter that either doesn't sell, or would be questionable to sell. Stuff like marbles with United Nations, Scudbuster missiles, 9/11, weird unknown cartoon characters, etc. This way everyone can usually have a different color, and if duplicate colors are used we can have different prints. My favorite is a marble that says "Shoot marbles, not drugs" .

As a general update, I did talk to my boss some about the idea of making marbles. He was more caught up on the lack of materials than anything. It isn't hard to find the materials, but is hard to get it cut into cubes. I have considered knapping the material as was the original process. The original process was find material, knapp it into shape, then place the marble in a hole in a stream or under a waterfall where it can spin and be worn down. This process can take years though. Some people would take a portable hole made of sandstone and place it under a water source to spin their marbles, and one of these portables is at the Museum of Appalachia in East Tennessee. I have not seen one in person yet. They also used bow drills and the Cherokee used a split stick with the marble inserted in the end, then deer tendon would be wrapped around to tighten the stick around the marble for it to be ground on a rock. This is for larger marbles of course, about the size of billiard balls. My boss is supposed to give me some contact info for a couple local marbles makers which I can share. He said that would probably be done through Facebook. He will also reach out to the marbles maker who supplies the gift shop for some more to be sold there. I did talk to him again about the possibility of shipping marbles but he said I would have to ask someone in the office about that, and they were not working today so I was not able to ask. But I did not get a solid "no".

Matthew's videos are actually what I used to learn how to make marbles. I have seen some live demos but his videos were my main source. I was going to ask him if he sells raw materials but got the idea of making a marble from material found in the park. I may be weird, but I want to make a 100% Standing Stone marble right in the home of Rolley Hole. I mostly need someone who can cut the material into cubes for me but there's some locals who might be able to do that. This park was built (like many parks) with local materials. The materials for our original structures have a lot of American Chestnut cut and milled here in the park, and all stones from the guard rails on the road to the stones cladding the dam are all local. It kinda adds to the park theme. Matthew does great work but I'd love to provide a locally made marble straight from the source. That sure would be cool.

I would have to ask my boss about this. If this is a possibility, it would have to be done through the office of Standing Stone State Park as I am using state tools, materials, and time. We have been flat out of marbles for a while and the maker we have has not restocked us yet. There's a lot of state and government things going on but I will ask my boss and report back. I myself am not a marbles maker, just a guy who loves teaching people about Rolley Hole. The best but hardest way for many to get a marble is to come out to the championship or any other marbles demonstration which I know for many would be expensive and impossible.

Today I got the process down very well and made a marble in just a couple hours. I did not time how long it took as I did some small bursts throughout the day. This marble is made from “buffalo river TN churt” according to the bag. This material is from a good ways away from the land of Rolley Hole but it is a material type I am familiar with. The color is meant to blend in with the Rolley Hole yard and it supposed to make your marble harder to aim for. Since this game is played by older guys mostly it does do its job when compared to the white marbles you see. White marbles are considered “cheaper” and less thrills. Regardless that doesn’t amount to much since some of the best will massacre opponents with a white marble. Its an oddly therapeutic craft. Many players in their retirement have made marbles to stay in the game in a way. Some players just can’t shoot anymore or get up and down to make shots, but they’ll craft a marble that’ll last generations. As for making more marbles, I’m not sure as there’s not much materials and many pieces I have aren’t suitable. We can make these pieces into marbles, but they have fault lines that would increase the chances of chipping and breaking. Many of the marbles we sell to guests are like this, though we make sure they know that. Many want a little souvenir and there’s nothing like a Tennessee flint marble. I have likely said it before, but many players have marbles that are passed down through generations. It’s not uncommon to have a marble played with by your grandfather who was given to him by his grandfather and so on. Many people here have these marbles still tucked away though no one in their family has played for years.

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