diff --git a/src/main/java/parallelai/spyglass/hbase/HBaseOperation.java b/src/main/java/parallelai/spyglass/hbase/HBaseOperation.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6f13596
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/parallelai/spyglass/hbase/HBaseOperation.java
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+package parallelai.spyglass.hbase;
+
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.io.ImmutableBytesWritable;
+
+public abstract class HBaseOperation {
+    public enum OperationType {
+        PUT_COLUMN, DELETE_COLUMN, DELETE_FAMILY, DELETE_ROW, NO_OP
+    }
+    
+    public static class PutColumn extends HBaseOperation {
+        private final ImmutableBytesWritable value;
+        
+        public PutColumn(final ImmutableBytesWritable value) { 
+            super(OperationType.PUT_COLUMN);
+            this.value = value; 
+        }
+
+        public byte[] getBytes() {
+            return value.get();
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static class DeleteColumn extends HBaseOperation {
+        private DeleteColumn() {
+            super(OperationType.DELETE_COLUMN);
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static class DeleteFamily extends HBaseOperation {
+        private DeleteFamily() {
+            super(OperationType.DELETE_FAMILY);
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static class DeleteRow extends HBaseOperation {
+        private DeleteRow() {
+            super(OperationType.DELETE_ROW);
+        }
+    }
+
+    static class NoOp extends HBaseOperation {
+        private NoOp() {
+            super(OperationType.NO_OP);
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static final DeleteColumn DELETE_COLUMN = new DeleteColumn();
+    public static final DeleteFamily DELETE_FAMILY = new DeleteFamily();
+    public static final DeleteRow DELETE_ROW = new DeleteRow();
+    public static final NoOp NO_OP = new NoOp();
+    
+    private final OperationType operationType;
+
+    private HBaseOperation(final OperationType operationType) {
+        this.operationType = operationType;
+    }
+
+    public OperationType getType() {
+        return operationType;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/parallelai/spyglass/hbase/HBaseOutputFormat.java b/src/main/java/parallelai/spyglass/hbase/HBaseOutputFormat.java
index 3c62f82..e907b93 100644
--- a/src/main/java/parallelai/spyglass/hbase/HBaseOutputFormat.java
+++ b/src/main/java/parallelai/spyglass/hbase/HBaseOutputFormat.java
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.FileSystem;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.HBaseConfiguration;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.client.HTable;
-import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.client.Put;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.client.Mutation;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.io.ImmutableBytesWritable;
 import org.apache.hadoop.mapred.*;
 import org.apache.hadoop.util.Progressable;
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
  * Convert Map/Reduce output and write it to an HBase table
  */
 public class HBaseOutputFormat extends
-FileOutputFormat<ImmutableBytesWritable, Put> implements JobConfigurable {
+FileOutputFormat<ImmutableBytesWritable, Mutation> implements JobConfigurable {
 
   /** JobConf parameter that specifies the output table */
   public static final String OUTPUT_TABLE = "hbase.mapred.outputtable";
@@ -68,4 +68,4 @@ public void checkOutputSpecs(FileSystem ignored, JobConf job)
       throw new IOException("Must specify table name");
     }
   }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/parallelai/spyglass/hbase/HBaseRecordWriter.java b/src/main/java/parallelai/spyglass/hbase/HBaseRecordWriter.java
index 50aa116..46129ed 100644
--- a/src/main/java/parallelai/spyglass/hbase/HBaseRecordWriter.java
+++ b/src/main/java/parallelai/spyglass/hbase/HBaseRecordWriter.java
@@ -1,12 +1,19 @@
 package parallelai.spyglass.hbase;
 
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.LinkedList;
 import java.io.IOException;
 
 import cascading.tap.SinkMode;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.KeyValue;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.client.Delete;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.client.HTable;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.client.Mutation;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.client.Put;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.io.ImmutableBytesWritable;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.util.Bytes;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.util.ClassSize;
 import org.apache.hadoop.mapred.RecordWriter;
 import org.apache.hadoop.mapred.Reporter;
 
@@ -15,9 +22,12 @@
  * and write to an HBase table
  */
 public class HBaseRecordWriter
-  implements RecordWriter<ImmutableBytesWritable, Put> {
+  implements RecordWriter<ImmutableBytesWritable, Mutation> {
   private HTable m_table;
   private SinkMode m_sinkMode = SinkMode.UPDATE;
+  private long deletesBufferSize;
+  private List<Delete> deletesBuffer = new LinkedList<Delete>();
+  private long currentDeletesBufferSize = 0; // in bytes
 
   /**
    * Instantiate a TableRecordWriter with the HBase HClient for writing.
@@ -26,30 +36,96 @@ public class HBaseRecordWriter
    */
   public HBaseRecordWriter(HTable table) {
     m_table = table;
+    deletesBufferSize = table.getConfiguration().getLong("spyglass.deletes.buffer", 524288);
   }
 
   public void close(Reporter reporter)
     throws IOException {
+    while (currentDeletesBufferSize > 0) {
+      flushDeletes();
+    }
     m_table.close();
   }
 
   public void setSinkMode(SinkMode sinkMode) {
-      m_sinkMode = sinkMode;
+    m_sinkMode = sinkMode;
   }
 
   public void write(ImmutableBytesWritable key,
-      Put value) throws IOException {
+      Mutation value) throws IOException {
     switch(m_sinkMode) {
-        case UPDATE:
-            m_table.put(new Put(value));
-            break;
+    case UPDATE:
+      if (value instanceof Put) {
+        m_table.put(new Put((Put) value));
+      } else if (value instanceof Delete) {
+        doDelete((Delete) value);
+      } else {
+        throw new RuntimeException("unsupported mutation"); // currently append is not supported
+      }
+      break;
+      
+    case REPLACE:
+      doDelete(new Delete(value.getRow()));
+      break;
+      
+    default:
+      throw new IOException("Unknown Sink Mode : " + m_sinkMode);
+    }
+  }
+
+  private void doDelete(Delete delete) throws IOException {
+    currentDeletesBufferSize += heapSizeOfDelete(delete); // currentDeletesBufferSize += delete.heapSize();
+    deletesBuffer.add(new Delete((Delete) delete));
+    while (currentDeletesBufferSize > deletesBufferSize) {
+      flushDeletes();
+    }
+  }
+
+  private void flushDeletes() throws IOException {
+    try {
+      m_table.delete(deletesBuffer); // successfull deletes are removed from deletesBuffer
+    } finally {
+      currentDeletesBufferSize = 0;
+      for (Delete delete: deletesBuffer) {
+        currentDeletesBufferSize += heapSizeOfDelete(delete); // currentDeletesBufferSize += delete.heapSize();
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  
+  // this all goes away in newer hbase version where delete has a heapSize
+  private static long heapSizeOfDelete(Delete delete) {
+    long heapsize = ClassSize.align(
+      // This
+      ClassSize.OBJECT +
+      // row + OperationWithAttributes.attributes
+      2 * ClassSize.REFERENCE +
+      // Timestamp
+      1 * Bytes.SIZEOF_LONG +
+      // durability
+      ClassSize.REFERENCE +
+      // familyMap
+      ClassSize.REFERENCE +
+      // familyMap
+      ClassSize.TREEMAP);
+
+    // Adding row
+    heapsize += ClassSize.align(ClassSize.ARRAY + delete.getRow().length);
 
-        case REPLACE:
-            m_table.delete(new Delete(value.getRow()));
-            break;
+    heapsize += ClassSize.align(delete.getFamilyMap().size() * ClassSize.MAP_ENTRY);
+    for(Map.Entry<byte [], List<KeyValue>> entry : delete.getFamilyMap().entrySet()) {
+      //Adding key overhead
+      heapsize += ClassSize.align(ClassSize.ARRAY + entry.getKey().length);
 
-        default:
-            throw new IOException("Unknown Sink Mode : " + m_sinkMode);
+      //This part is kinds tricky since the JVM can reuse references if you
+      //store the same value, but have a good match with SizeOf at the moment
+      //Adding value overhead
+      heapsize += ClassSize.align(ClassSize.ARRAYLIST);
+      int size = entry.getValue().size();
+      heapsize += ClassSize.align(ClassSize.ARRAY + size * ClassSize.REFERENCE);
+      for(KeyValue kv : entry.getValue()) {
+        heapsize += kv.heapSize();
+      }
     }
+    return heapsize;
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/parallelai/spyglass/hbase/HBaseScheme.java b/src/main/java/parallelai/spyglass/hbase/HBaseScheme.java
index 6f04f01..7045696 100644
--- a/src/main/java/parallelai/spyglass/hbase/HBaseScheme.java
+++ b/src/main/java/parallelai/spyglass/hbase/HBaseScheme.java
@@ -22,8 +22,10 @@
 import cascading.tuple.Tuple;
 import cascading.tuple.TupleEntry;
 import cascading.util.Util;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.client.Mutation;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.client.Put;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.client.Result;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.client.Delete;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.io.ImmutableBytesWritable;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.util.Bytes;
 import org.apache.hadoop.mapred.JobConf;
@@ -249,31 +251,68 @@ public void sink(FlowProcess<JobConf> flowProcess, SinkCall<Object[], OutputColl
     } else {
       put = new Put(keyBytes.get(), this.timeStamp);
     }
+
+    Delete delete;
+    if (this.timeStamp == 0L) {
+      delete = new Delete(keyBytes.get());
+    } else {
+      delete = new Delete(keyBytes.get(), this.timeStamp);
+    }
+    boolean deleteRow = false;
     
     for (int i = 0; i < valueFields.length; i++) {
       Fields fieldSelector = valueFields[i];
       TupleEntry values = tupleEntry.selectEntry(fieldSelector);
+      Fields fields = values.getFields();
+      Tuple tuple = values.getTuple();
 
       for (int j = 0; j < values.getFields().size(); j++) {
-        Fields fields = values.getFields();
-        Tuple tuple = values.getTuple();
-
-        ImmutableBytesWritable valueBytes = (ImmutableBytesWritable) tuple.getObject(j);
-        if (valueBytes != null)
-            put.add(Bytes.toBytes(familyNames[i]), Bytes.toBytes((String) fields.get(j)), valueBytes.get());
+        Object item = tuple.getObject(j);
+        if (item instanceof ImmutableBytesWritable) {
+          put.add(Bytes.toBytes(familyNames[i]), Bytes.toBytes((String) fields.get(j)), ((ImmutableBytesWritable) item).get());
+        } else if (item != null) {
+          HBaseOperation op = (HBaseOperation) item;
+          switch(op.getType()) {
+          case PUT_COLUMN:
+            put.add(Bytes.toBytes(familyNames[i]), Bytes.toBytes((String) fields.get(j)), ((HBaseOperation.PutColumn) item).getBytes());
+            break;
+          case DELETE_COLUMN:
+            delete.deleteColumns(Bytes.toBytes(familyNames[i]), Bytes.toBytes((String) fields.get(j)));
+            break;
+          case DELETE_FAMILY:
+            delete.deleteFamily(Bytes.toBytes(familyNames[i]));
+            break;
+          case DELETE_ROW:
+            deleteRow = true;
+            break;
+          case NO_OP:
+            break;
+          }
+        }
       }
     }
-
-    outputCollector.collect(null, put);
+    
+    if (put.size() > 0) {
+      outputCollector.collect(null, put);
+    }
+    if (delete.size() > 0) {
+      outputCollector.collect(null, delete);
+    }
+    if (deleteRow == true) {
+      if (put.size() > 0 || delete.size() > 0) {
+        throw new RuntimeException("can not combine row delete with any other operations on row");
+      }
+      outputCollector.collect(null, delete);
+    }
   }
-
+  
   @Override
   public void sinkConfInit(FlowProcess<JobConf> process,
       Tap<JobConf, RecordReader, OutputCollector> tap, JobConf conf) {
     conf.setOutputFormat(HBaseOutputFormat.class);
 
     conf.setOutputKeyClass(ImmutableBytesWritable.class);
-    conf.setOutputValueClass(Put.class);
+    conf.setOutputValueClass(Mutation.class);
     
     String tableName = conf.get(HBaseOutputFormat.OUTPUT_TABLE);
     useSalt = conf.getBoolean(String.format(HBaseConstants.USE_SALT, tableName), false);
diff --git a/src/main/scala/parallelai/spyglass/hbase/HBaseConversions.scala b/src/main/scala/parallelai/spyglass/hbase/HBaseConversions.scala
index 31ed3ea..70df798 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/parallelai/spyglass/hbase/HBaseConversions.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/parallelai/spyglass/hbase/HBaseConversions.scala
@@ -19,6 +19,19 @@ class HBasePipeWrapper (pipe: Pipe) {
       }
     }
 
+    def toHBaseOperation(f: Fields): Pipe = {
+      asList(f)
+        .foldLeft(pipe){ (p, f) => {
+          p.map(f.toString -> f.toString){ from: String => from match {
+            case "__DELETE_COLUMN__" => HBaseOperation.DELETE_COLUMN
+            case "__DELETE_FAMILY__" => HBaseOperation.DELETE_FAMILY
+            case "__DELETE_ROW__" => HBaseOperation.DELETE_ROW
+            case null => HBaseOperation.NO_OP
+            case x => new HBaseOperation.PutColumn(new ImmutableBytesWritable(Bytes.toBytes(x)))
+          }}
+        }}
+    }
+
 //   def toBytesWritable : Pipe = {
 //	  asList(Fields.ALL.asInstanceOf[TupleEntry].getFields()).foldLeft(pipe){ (p, f) => {
 //	    p.map(f.toString -> f.toString){ from: String => {