Lets find the better ways how to drill our rocks.

[lithicbeads]

For advice on drilling with diamond bits in a rotary machine there are two legitimate sources that I know about. The first is Daniel Lopacki who recently stated that he drilled in excess of 200,000 beads with diamond bits in his lifetime , yes almost 1/4 million holes. His tutorial is on the Lopacki company website . The other very experienced diamond bit driller is David Van Horst . David faced a much different challenge apparently as he has drilled pendants , very large ones , almost exclusively if the stones he has sold on the internet over the years is a true representation. David had a tutorial on his facebook page in the past, it may still be there. These are very experienced people and their advice is first rate if you are going this route.

[lonelygems]

That's an awsome explainations Frank(lithic), i thought i did a little different, i almost sure i have a low performance ultrasonic. I payed for above 800 US$ for mine and no packaging moreover without any instruction with it. I should try your way to clean a flux on liquid solder, i will ask you if i got any problems.....thank you so much.

I was up at the Gem Shop a few weeks ago and met an old time lapidarist who told me that the way to drill a hole is to get some modeling clay and build up a mound around where you want to drill so that it will hold water. Spray it and drill a bit with a dremel, spray again, drill a bit, spray again, drill a bit until you are done.

This all sounds very reasonable to me. But what I didn't ask him is whether this was done by hand or with the dremel drill press which I do have.

I tried drilling under water but this was difficult because I couldn't see what I was doing. But if there is a way to keep the cab steady in one place (would duct tape hold it) then I imagine I could make it happen with my dremel drill press.

Hi Bob, i believed it works, i did it in in a little different way too, i used a plastis pan filled with water and silliconcarbide, i hold slab by my left hand up or on pan and drilled with right hand, this is took 20 mnt for 5mm depth, soon i'll post my video plus my specal bit wich one i made my self, it is quite interesting i guessed, easy to make and work faster than ordinary one, i still uploading my video to youtube......damn slower than snail.

[rocknroll]

  i'm no expert but here's how i do it do it

[lonelygems]

Woow, thank's Jon. It seems like i'm the only one who worked so slow with computer    


Frank(3rdRok) i know Daniel Lopacki site but haven't look for his tutorial, and i'll find David Van Horst too. My goal for this thread is...each of us in the forum can find many ways to drill our gems for any purposed and we can choose the best trick for each of us.









Nex three video is how i made my special bit for drilling, i should spend another hours to upload them.

[3rdRockFromTheFun]

  i'm no expert but here's how i do it do it

Nice! I could not see the shape of the burrs at all - either my eyes or it was blurry. I'm also surprised that the dremel press used moves so straight. I have to presses - both are 3rd party because I read so much bad press about the dremel press - maybe I should re-think that?

Anyway I'd be thrilled as the dicken's if I could make holes that fast!

-- update --

I just noticed the website on youtube and in your sig - that's actually YOU doing that yes?! Very good job! So are you using a ball-burr (doesn't look like it), a cylindrical flat top burr, a cylindrical round top burr or a tapered burr (round or flat tipped)? Also, I like the idea of using a chamois or cloth rather than the block I've been using (the block always wants to float around). Well done!

--

[3rdRockFromTheFun]

Daniel, your method is interesting but slow as my own. I have not had good luck adding grit to a diamond burr - the grit likes to eat the burr before the stone.

Bob - the dam method I have seen used extensively in drilling glass. They use a flat topped cylindrical burr with no grit on it. They make a dam around the target area and add grit (SiC grit I believe). Then they fill the dam with water or oil and apply gentle pressure. They keep adding grit (and oil/water if necessary) until they make it through. I saw some nice jobs done this way and some really questionable jobs as well - I think it depends on the patience of the driller. In any event that method of using a dam, with grit or just using a diamond burr, should work as well for stone - I don't see any reason why not.

[lonelygems]

Daniel, your method is interesting but slow as my own. I have not had good luck adding grit to a diamond burr - the grit likes to eat the burr before the stone.

Yes it is slow, i'm adding grit because my diamond burr is not a good one, without adding grit on it i just can go to 3mm depth with it, i didn't like this method much.
I tried a simillar method with dam method, i only use a small stainlessteel pipe( i used on my ultrasonic bur) on my foredom, and drilling cab under grit and water. I adopt this method from a book of Korean Master carver, he did all cutting or drilling only by grit, he used dull bit. I failled with this method....

[3rdRockFromTheFun]

Daniel, this is interesting as I had seen a tutorial somewhere on the web on carving. The carver was using copper bits and diamond powder mixed with olive oil. I think the idea was that copper is soft enough to pick up diamond (diamond gets embedded in the copper) but not sure because they did not explain much.

Another idea for grit is olive oil and the use of wood for a burr. I have had some success (not much because I haven't tried it much) using bamboo burrs with diamond/olive oil. Not sure if it would make a hole or not but it works very well for polishing the inside of a small dip made using a ball tipped burr. I did this to see if I could get the lense effect that Pete uses often. I did it on tigers eye and though it wouldn't be called a lense (because tigers eye is opaque) it worked very well and gave a superb polish to the small dish I'd made in the rock using the ball burr.

Right now I'm pretty sold on Jon's method and I shall try myself using my own drill press (I will have to tweak it quite a bit to try and get the least amount of play). I am curious as to the burrs he was using but I will try a variety unless I hear from him first. All I can say is that he cut a hole in that rock in a matter of seconds - it was most impressive!

[lonelygems]

Yes, i understand to all you mean, copper, bambbo or wood works good for carving and also i used stainlessteel to curve my carvings, you can see a result on my 'Mask" but i can't drill with it. I can't show you the book but this Master carver worked without electricity........

Well, Jon's method is looks great for me, i should try too. Maybe i can use most high quality diamond bit, dental quality but it is very expensive, will up my cost.

[lonelygems]

I made this bit, i used broken saw to made it i'm not finish yet uploading 3rd video wich i demanstrated how it works, i'll add later....

[rocknroll]

  yep, that's me =) here's a link to the small bit used for the initial hole (super coarse). sometimes they last a few stones, but i'd expect 1 hole per bit.
Then continue with pretty much any tapered 150 grit tapered burr i can find (they last a long time).
 Ends up about $1 per hole. good luck!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/25-Diamond-Dental-Burs-Glass-Drill-Bits-1-6mm-Taper-/251044327042?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a73686e82#ht_1092wt_907

[lonelygems]

Thank's for info Jon, i really need those quality burr in reasonable price...

[ScarlettoSara]

REally good info in this thread:) Thank you:)
Jon, I love that apron you are wearing:)

[3rdRockFromTheFun]

  yep, that's me =) here's a link to the small bit used for the initial hole (super coarse). sometimes they last a few stones, but i'd expect 1 hole per bit.
Then continue with pretty much any tapered 150 grit tapered burr i can find (they last a long time).
 Ends up about $1 per hole. good luck!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/25-Diamond-Dental-Burs-Glass-Drill-Bits-1-6mm-Taper-/251044327042?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a73686e82#ht_1092wt_907

Thanks Jon - that's right in the budget zone I like to pay for burrs - just bought a 25 lot from your link!

[rocknroll]

  i usually wait for the auction to end and save the $10 difference versus the buy it now price...and the link i supplied was for the coarse grit (which i've used) but i prefer the super coarse. happy drilling!