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  #1  
Old September 12th 09, 09:06 AM posted to rec.crafts.jewelry
SteveB[_7_]
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Posts: 9
Default Newbie question

I'm helping a partially blind friend. He has some small pieces of polished
Brazilian quartz he wants to drill a hole into. I have found several
suppliers on line that will sell 1/16" and 1/8" diamond bits for reasonable
prices, around $15 per. Slightly less when bought in threes.

Is this what he needs to drill these holes? I know he needs to use coolant,
and set it up in a drill press. Info on what would be the best way to do
this appreciated.

Steve


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  #2  
Old September 12th 09, 09:15 AM posted to rec.crafts.jewelry
Peter W. Rowe[_2_]
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Posts: 115
Default Newbie question

On Sat, 12 Sep 2009 01:06:47 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry "SteveB"
wrote:

I'm helping a partially blind friend. He has some small pieces of polished
Brazilian quartz he wants to drill a hole into. I have found several
suppliers on line that will sell 1/16" and 1/8" diamond bits for reasonable
prices, around $15 per. Slightly less when bought in threes.

Is this what he needs to drill these holes?


Possibly. He/you do need diamond drills, but beware of the chinese made ones
which are an ordinary twist drill coated with diamonds. Those won't do the job.
What you need are either "wire" drills (small sizes) or "core" drills, which are
tubes coated on the front edge with diamond. The wire bits are steel wire
similarly coated at the end with diamond. Better ones are not coated, but
tipped with a piece of sintered meta/diamond mix, which means the diamonds go
into the metal a bit, rather than being just a surface electroplated coating.
Make sure that the drills you get are intended for lapidary use, or drilling
glass (similar, though easier).

I know he needs to use coolant,


Generally, water is fine. If you're doing a lot of this, you'd add a corrosion
inhibitor to the water. One way to do this is to use lapidary dop wax (like
sealing wax), or a glue, to affix the stones to the bottom of a glass ashtray,
or some similar vessel you can afford to damage. The stone then can be covered
in water, so the drilling takes place submerged. And being affixed to the glass
container helps prevent chipping when the drill breaks through the back side.

and set it up in a drill press. Info on what would be the best way to do
this appreciated.


High speed, but little pressure. You bring the drill down to work for a few
seconds, then briefly lift it up a tad, to allow coolant to flush out drillings
and keep the bottom of the hole cool, then come down again. Repeat till done.

Both Crystalite and Lapcraft corporations make good quality lapidary diamond
drills, and there are no doubt others too. Like I said, try to avoid the really
cheap chinese stuff. They just don't last so long on stone.

Peter

Steve

  #3  
Old September 12th 09, 08:49 PM posted to rec.crafts.jewelry
SteveB[_7_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 9
Default Newbie question


"Peter W. Rowe" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 12 Sep 2009 01:06:47 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry "SteveB"
wrote:

I'm helping a partially blind friend. He has some small pieces of polished
Brazilian quartz he wants to drill a hole into. I have found several
suppliers on line that will sell 1/16" and 1/8" diamond bits for reasonable
prices, around $15 per. Slightly less when bought in threes.

Is this what he needs to drill these holes?


Possibly. He/you do need diamond drills, but beware of the chinese made ones
which are an ordinary twist drill coated with diamonds. Those won't do the job.
What you need are either "wire" drills (small sizes) or "core" drills, which are
tubes coated on the front edge with diamond. The wire bits are steel wire
similarly coated at the end with diamond. Better ones are not coated, but
tipped with a piece of sintered meta/diamond mix, which means the diamonds go
into the metal a bit, rather than being just a surface electroplated coating.
Make sure that the drills you get are intended for lapidary use, or drilling
glass (similar, though easier).

I know he needs to use coolant,


Generally, water is fine. If you're doing a lot of this, you'd add a corrosion
inhibitor to the water. One way to do this is to use lapidary dop wax (like
sealing wax), or a glue, to affix the stones to the bottom of a glass ashtray,
or some similar vessel you can afford to damage. The stone then can be covered
in water, so the drilling takes place submerged. And being affixed to the glass
container helps prevent chipping when the drill breaks through the back side.

and set it up in a drill press. Info on what would be the best way to do
this appreciated.


High speed, but little pressure. You bring the drill down to work for a few
seconds, then briefly lift it up a tad, to allow coolant to flush out drillings
and keep the bottom of the hole cool, then come down again. Repeat till done.

Both Crystalite and Lapcraft corporations make good quality lapidary diamond
drills, and there are no doubt others too. Like I said, try to avoid the really
cheap chinese stuff. They just don't last so long on stone.

Peter

Steve


We went to the glass shop yesterday to get some glass cut. Fred asked the
man, and he brought out a bit that cut a 1/8" hole. It looked like a core
drill, just miniature. Straight shoulders on the end of the bit. He cut
the hole with a hand drill. So, I believe what I am looking for is straight
sided core drill bits, just smaller ones. I am now researching prices, and
will look at the places you mentioned. We are going to cut holes in thin
slabs of Brazilian agate to make wind chimes.

Steve


  #4  
Old September 12th 09, 08:56 PM posted to rec.crafts.jewelry
Peter W. Rowe[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 115
Default Newbie question

On Sat, 12 Sep 2009 12:49:06 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry "SteveB"
wrote:


We went to the glass shop yesterday to get some glass cut. Fred asked the
man, and he brought out a bit that cut a 1/8" hole. It looked like a core
drill, just miniature. Straight shoulders on the end of the bit. He cut
the hole with a hand drill. So, I believe what I am looking for is straight
sided core drill bits, just smaller ones. I am now researching prices, and
will look at the places you mentioned. We are going to cut holes in thin
slabs of Brazilian agate to make wind chimes.

Steve


Glass is softer than agate, and easier to drill, but the equipment is similar. A
hand drill will be quite tedius with agate, even if practical for glass, but it
would work if you don't have many holes to drill. Whether you will be using a
core bit (a tube) or a solid wire bit depends on the size of the hole you need.
Core bits are only made down to a certain size, and only offer an advantage in
sizes where leaving the center core intact instead of grinding it away, saves a
significant amount of grinding. The professional glass drilling rigs use a
drill press that can force water down through the core tube while drilling, thus
improving lubrication and removal of the grindings, but that's normally overkill
and not used for small holes such as you'd need to hang slabs of agate from a
wind chime design.

Also, Lapcraft and Crystalite are manufacturers, not places. they're generally
wholesale sellers, so what you'll likely find are resellers who carry those
brands.... They're primarily manufacturers of lapidary (stone cutting) diamond
tools of a number of sorts. Companies who's web sites you might check that
occur to me off hand, would be Kingsley North, Rio Grande, Gesswein, or others
who carry not just jewelry making, but lapidary supplies.

Peter
  #5  
Old September 13th 09, 12:31 AM posted to rec.crafts.jewelry
SteveB[_7_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 9
Default Newbie question


"Peter W. Rowe" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 12 Sep 2009 12:49:06 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry "SteveB"
wrote:

Also, Lapcraft and Crystalite are manufacturers, not places. they're generally
wholesale sellers, so what you'll likely find are resellers who carry those
brands.... They're primarily manufacturers of lapidary (stone cutting) diamond
tools of a number of sorts. Companies who's web sites you might check that
occur to me off hand, would be Kingsley North, Rio Grande, Gesswein, or others
who carry not just jewelry making, but lapidary supplies.


Thanks for the help. This is a simple deal, but as we live in a small rural
town, it will be much easier to mail order than go to town. Crystalite
doesn't even list a distributor in Utah.

Steve

The only sorts of retailers who'd carry this sort of thing would be jewelry or
lapidary supply shops. There aren't that many anyway, who are still "brick and
morter" shops in most cities. The internet is the place to look in any case,
which is what I was intending with those references.

Kinglsey North:
Core drills
http://www.kingsleynorth.com/skshop/....php?catID=192

Solid drills (I prefer the triple ripple ones from Crystalite, but all work.
Don't recommend the "twist drill" version for your use, at least not in my
experience...)
http://www.kingsleynorth.com/skshop/....php?catID=191

Interesting cheap, small core drill set from Rio. Don't know quality. They
also sell lots of the twist drills which I don't like so much for stone (fine
for glass and ceramic, but I find they dull too quickly with tough materials
like stone)
http://www.riogrande.com/MemberArea/ProductPage.aspx?assetname=349016&page=GRID&free_t ext|1252796012042=diamond+drills
(be sure you use the entire URL, including the bit after the word "text". My
mail program seems to want to break it there...)

More solid wire diamond drills
http://www.gesswein.com/catalog/cata...TOKEN=61888410

  #6  
Old September 13th 09, 07:41 PM posted to rec.crafts.jewelry
ted frater
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Posts: 133
Default Newbie question

SteveB wrote:
I'm helping a partially blind friend. He has some small pieces of polished
Brazilian quartz he wants to drill a hole into. I have found several
suppliers on line that will sell 1/16" and 1/8" diamond bits for reasonable
prices, around $15 per. Slightly less when bought in threes.

Is this what he needs to drill these holes? I know he needs to use coolant,
and set it up in a drill press. Info on what would be the best way to do
this appreciated.

Steve



Now you have mentioned what the holes are for, ie hanging up the agate
to make wind chimes,
Have you considered any other way of hanging said agate?
There are many other solutions to this question,
I list a few that come to mind
1. use some wire to make a "U" shaped loop with the wire ends bent back
on themselves to increase the contact area on the agate sides.
Then 2 part epoxy to the agate.
2. a similar idea but using some thin strip some 1/8 in wide by say 1/32
thick. Epoxy in place as in 1.
3. if the agate is say 1/2in wide by 1/8in thick, cut a groove each side
into the 1/8in edge. String up using the grooves to hold the agate.
Use the stone slitting saw to do this.
4. If you can do 3. above extend this idea to make a clip with rt/angle
ends indexing in the slots. epoxy in place.

My local glass works use arrow end tungsten carbide to drill holes.
Ive a set of diamond core drills the smallest is 1/6in od. Water is
pumped down the core via a oring sealed head. Otherwise it goes into an
ordinary drill press.

hope this helps.
Ted
Dorset
UK.
  #7  
Old September 15th 09, 03:43 AM posted to rec.crafts.jewelry
ted frater
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 133
Default Newbie question

SteveB wrote:
I'm helping a partially blind friend. He has some small pieces of polished
Brazilian quartz he wants to drill a hole into. I have found several
suppliers on line that will sell 1/16" and 1/8" diamond bits for reasonable
prices, around $15 per. Slightly less when bought in threes.

Is this what he needs to drill these holes? I know he needs to use coolant,
and set it up in a drill press. Info on what would be the best way to do
this appreciated.

Steve



Now you have mentioned what the holes are for, ie hanging up the agate
to make wind chimes,
Have you considered any other way of hanging said agate?
There are many other solutions to this question,
I list a few that come to mind
1. use some wire to make a "U" shaped loop with the wire ends bent back
on themselves to increase the contact area on the agate sides.
Then 2 part epoxy to the agate.
2. a similar idea but using some thin strip some 1/8 in wide by say 1/32
thick. Epoxy in place as in 1.
3. if the agate is say 1/2in wide by 1/8in thick, cut a groove each side
into the 1/8in edge. String up using the grooves to hold the agate.
Use the stone slitting saw to do this.
4. If you can do 3. above extend this idea to make a clip with rt/angle
ends indexing in the slots. epoxy in place.

My local glass works use arrow end tungsten carbide to drill holes.
Ive a set of diamond core drills the smallest is 1/6in od. Water is
pumped down the core via a oring sealed head. Otherwise it goes into an
ordinary drill press.

hope this helps.
Ted
Dorset
UK.
  #8  
Old September 15th 09, 03:46 AM posted to rec.crafts.jewelry
1 Lucky Texan
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 14
Default Newbie question

On Sep 13, 1:41=A0pm, Ted Frater wrote:

SteveB wrote:
I'm helping a partially blind friend. He has some small pieces of polished
Brazilian quartz he wants to drill a hole into. I have found several
suppliers on line that will sell 1/16" and 1/8" diamond bits for reasonable
prices, around $15 per. Slightly less when bought in threes.

Is this what he needs to drill these holes? I know he needs to use coolant,
and set it up in a drill press. Info on what would be the best way to do
this appreciated.

Steve



Now you have mentioned what the holes are for, ie hanging up the agate
to make wind chimes,
Have you considered any other way of hanging said agate?
There are many other solutions to this question,
I list a few that come to mind
1. use some wire to make a "U" shaped loop with the wire ends bent back
on themselves to increase the contact area on the agate sides.
Then 2 part epoxy to the agate.
2. a similar idea but using some thin strip some 1/8 in wide by say 1/32
thick. Epoxy in place as in 1.
3. if the agate is say 1/2in wide by 1/8in thick, cut a groove each side
into the 1/8in edge. String up using the grooves to hold the agate.
Use the stone slitting saw to do this.
4. If you can do 3. above extend this idea to make a clip with rt/angle
ends indexing in the slots. epoxy in place.

My local glass works use arrow end tungsten carbide to drill holes.
Ive a set of diamond core drills the smallest is 1/6in od. Water is
pumped down the core via a oring sealed head. Otherwise it goes into an
ordinary drill press.

hope this helps.
Ted
Dorset
UK.


We have made polished agate slab wind chimes in the past using 'leaf'
- type bails (basically a thin strip/rod with a leaf shape at each
end, fold into a 'U' shape to fit slab) and good epoxy (Hughes or
similar) We strung them with fishing line to some hobby/craft brass
rings. They have endured many seasons outdoors in Texas so far.

If you decide to drill, you may get better 'tone' by drilling the
holes 2/9 of the way down from the top. measure the long axis (in
millimeters) calculate 2/9 the distance and 'pinch' the slab there and
strike it - probably get a better tone that pinching it anywhere else.
They will work fine regardless - but try it and see what you think.

Carl
1 Lucky Texan
 




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