Fish Hook with a problem

[jackd]

I don't know how I can drill hole, I think I should have drilled the hole before I removed the material around it. I guess it will go to the scrap pile and start all over..
Open for suggestions...

[mick B]

Jack, Don,t throw away, easy fix, all my drilling is done at around the 400 grit sanding stage, mark both sides of the hole position, find a carving bit with a ball end around 1.5 to 2mm dia NEW, with your handpiece, hold below water and drill through both sides. Make sure your pen marks each side line up, you can also use a core drill , or another one called a triple ripple, you could also dop to some stone and brill through from one side, this stops it blowing out on the bottom, speed needs to be 20 to 30,000 rpm. This does work as I have drilled hundreds of holes like this, my black jade fish hook was drilled like this, I drill after carving so I can position the hole in the best spot, practice on some off cuts before you drill hook , another method is to carve a groove around the top for the cord to sit in, spliced - plated up the top like some NZ carvers.

Best of luck mick B

[southerly]

Jack, as the material is nephrite you should have no problem drilling a hole now, it is tough and holds together well. Like Michael I use small ball heads for drilling, I have a couple of good quality ball heads that I use exclusively for drilling the cord hole in narrow bits of stone. I look after them and as soon as they loose their sharpness they are no longer any good for this purpose and go into the general bur collection. With translucent material like jade I drill one side deeply then hold it up to the light to see where the hole is from the other side and then drill that side to meet up the holes, works a treat and stops any chipping. I also use a larger size ball head to create a small flange or bevel at the hole entry points, it creates a nice neat flange, the only downside is it creates a concave edge that is a bugger to sand.

You fish hook is a nice looking shape, I look forward to seeing the finished project.

David

Cheers,
David

[jackd]

Mick,David

The head if 8mm, I do have some small 3/32 ball, my air  drill 500,00 is, that to fast?, I have elect RAM carver I think it 25,000 rpm.

Thanks for the tip, I will give it a try.

jack..