Drilling Gemstones

[mehoose]

Patrick,
I've never drilled a hole but a chap from the club would use the diamond drill bits, not the cheap ones tho. Also, the ones that make a core are meant to be good. Will have a look for the brand names and sizes if you want me too.
Merryn.

[geriatricgipsy]

Hi Merryn,  Yes, I would appreciate any advice on drills.  I only want to drill holes about 2mm (1/16th")..  big enough to pop a jump ring through. luv &kisses, Patrick.

[mehoose]

Ok, my friend's still away but I've had a look around. Peppertown (on the net) has some diamond drill bits with 3 flutes which could do the trick.
Just remember with agate it is going to take a while.
My suggestion is this.
Immerse your stone in water as you've tried,
use a diamond burr first to position where you want the hole,
Then start with the drill bit. Don't push hard this will blunt the drill bit super fast.
Use gentle pressure but continually raise and lower the drill bit, this stops heat which will also dull the bit and it allows the crudd to be removed from the hole.
Agate is hard, 7 on the Moh's scale it will take time. Might I suggest you try it first on malachite or some other softer stone to get the hang of it.
Just remember, gentle and continual up and down motion.
When he gets back I'll find out the brand he uses.
Hope this helped.

Merryn

[geriatricgipsy]

Thanks Merryn,  Since my last entry I have spoken to stone carvers, and similar lapidaries.  It appears that Slow and Steady wins the race, with a quality diamond drill.  I apparently have all the gear, drill presses, etc. but just need to up grade from my El-Cheapo drills and then apply water and PATIENCE.  When I get to it, I will report back to the Forum... Luv & kisses, Patrick.

[mehoose]

Excellent 

[Barrett]

When I was wire wrapping stones i used to drill holes quite often..I tried a regular drill press and one i modified to work underwater and  found them not to my liking..you don't have a feel for the stone or the bit and it's easy to put to much pressure or not enough pressure on the hole you are drilling..I liked to use a plain old dremel with diamond bits I ordered from any lapidary supply company..you can easily tell how much pressure you are placing on the bit and the stone..the only catch is you need to have some water off hand and either spray of dunk the stone into to keep the bit wet..after you get a little way into the stone the hole will hold water a little longer so will not need to be sprayed/dunked as much..so it's a trade off..you can order like 25 or 50 small diamond bits for real cheap from some of these companies so it doesn't really matter if you burn one or two up on a stone as you have many more waiting to be used for cheap

[geriatricgipsy]

Thanks Amethystguy.  I see your point on the benefits of hand held drills.  As a matter of interest, some of our gem club members use this method.  To solve the water problem, they build a small dam wall around the intended hole with blue tack.  It only holds about a thimble full of water, but enough to keep the bit cool. This exchange of ideas is really cool, too.  Luv & kisses, Patrick.

[Barrett]

Great idea..never thought of that..wow..will have to try that..it will hold just enough so you don't have to keep spraying or dunking all the time..sweet..thanks

[geriatricgipsy]

Hi all.. I have been away for a few months up in the gemfields.  I have conquered the stone drilling thing-o.  I bought hollow core drill bits from Gemcuts in ballina, only a few dollars each.  Still using my little water bath made of cut down ice cream container, I position my block of wood under the drill press and drilled a small hole in it.  Start slowly drilling from one side of the rock to about half way.  Then remove rock, place a small bead or similar in the hole in the wood,then turn the rock over to that the hole you have drilled sits over the bead, holding it in place so that when you begin to drill the opposite site, you are positioned correctly sso that you then drill down to meet the other hole.  this prevents any fracture of rock.  If you merely try to drill straight through a rock, chances are that you will chip the rock as the bit comes through the other side... sounds complicated, but quite easy.  Luv & kisses, Patrick.

[mehoose]

PATRICK!!! Was wondrin where you got to? Excellent idea about putting a bead there for positioning. LOL, I've forgotten now, what are you drilling?

[harryopal]

After the generous response to my lapidary show query I thought I might pass on an idea for the gem driller which I use for drilling holes in stones and helps stop spraying.
I use a cardboard box about 20 cms by 20 cms and 14 cms across the base. (Exact size not important.)
Stand the box upright, open the top flaps and then remove the front flap and cut down the front of the box leaving an inch or so at the sides and bottom. Assuming you are right handed, then turn the box on its side with the open panel towards you and the `top flaps' now on the left side. If you have a small desk lamp, place the of face of the lamp at the top right hand corner and trace around it and then cut out that section so that the lamp can throw light inside.
I use one of those cheap plastic, take away noodle boxes in which I have a piece of 2" x 2" wood about 4" long and the top angled at 45o in which a hole is bored in the centre. I put enough water to just cover the hole and then place the stone over the hole with the tray now in the bottom of the box while using a dremmel to slowly make the hole. Water then just sprays against the top and back of the box so that there is minimal mess. 
Does that make sense or is it like those put your own cupboard together following the simple instructions....`Place dowelling A inside panel D. Use 4 screw G and place panels X and Z at right angles... ' etc.?
Harry

[pete]

 
 Most Gemstone Beads today are drilled by laser
   

Sorry to revive an old thread but I've been looking for modern methods of drilling gemstones and can't find anything about laser drilling of bead holes.
The laser drilling seems to refer to the drilling out of inclusions in diamond by heating/burning the inclusion to create a fracture then drawing the fracture to the closest surface etc etc blah blah blah.
Just the other day, my jeweller friend in the big smoke, showed me some blood-stone he sent OS to be carved by laser but was sent back because the machine couldn't do it. I can certainly say the result was less than useless and the pattern was not even started. Seeing that, it made me wonder how the laser machine could possibly drill a bead hole when it could barely scratch the surface of the bloodstone.
So far I've found the ultrasonic method can actually drill bead holes and apparently even carve cameos.
If someone can refer me to more info on this subject...
Pete

[Gearloose]

So far I've found the ultrasonic method can actually drill bead holes and apparently even carve cameos.

Yes, years ago I was talking to a company that made sonic mills, for one of our industrial operations.
They told me in in the rear rooms of several adobe huts there are Sonic Mills turning out "authentic Navajo jewelry" (I guess it IS because Navajos are running the machines...), and not just drilling turquoise and shell beads, but cutting out inlay materials with what they called "Cookie Cutters".  Saw a shape out of brass, braze flat wire like a bezel wire to the outline, attach it to a sonic mill, and until the tool wears out, just stamp out one after another of "Lovingly handcrafted parts".
Saw agate into slices about parallel to the bands, and use a 3D tool, and you have cameos.

[rprhodes]

If anyone is interested I have an ultrasonic drilling machine for sale, which I bought in India a few years ago, but I have had trouble getting it to work properly. I originally went to the factory in India to see the machine for myself, and drilled a few stones there with this machine and it worked beautifully. (eg. I cut through a 5 mm thick Amethyst slab in about ten seconds). When I got the machine back to Australia it wouldn't work efficiently. I finally found the reason it wouldn't work properly. India's electricity works at 60 cycles (hertz) per second, whereas Australia electricity works at 50 per second. This makes a difference with an ultrasonic machine. However, I am winding my cutting activities down, so would like to sell the machine. I haven't fixed the machine, so it will have to be sorted out by whoever buys it. But if you get this machine to work properly it is very cheap to run. It works on wire (for the drill) and 220# grit. The wire that I have for this machine will last at least a year. I will let it go for $500.00 for this machine. It cost me a lot more. I live in WA.

[Gearloose]

If that is the older type of magnetostrictive unit, the tuning would require more mass on the horn or tool to make it work...But an easier answer is a 60Hz inverter.  They have gotten quite cheap.
Run the inverter from a 12VDC source, and you have 60Hz.