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Post by Jugglerguy on Mar 24, 2015 20:29:33 GMT -5
A friend of mine who makes lots of jewelry hired me to make puddingstone beads for her. I finished them up this weekend. There are about 230 in this batch. I sent her a test batch of about 80 a couple months ago. I went through 31 one millimeter drill bits in this latest batch. I thought that was pretty good. I have about 20 beads with drill bits stuck in them in the basement. I haven't figured out how to remove those yet, but I'm pretty sure it requires breaking the stone.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Mar 24, 2015 21:59:14 GMT -5
I take on a lot of crazy projects but mass drilling is not one of them. Those look really great Rob. Did you supply all the pudding stone or just have to drill all the holes? Your customer should be a happy camper and that pile will make them a bunch of money in jewelry for sure.
Drilling through the matrix in pudding stone is like drilling butter but the holes that go right through the jasper can be a real pain.
Chuck
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Post by Jugglerguy on Mar 24, 2015 22:12:34 GMT -5
They gave me slab scraps. I cut the good parts out, tumbled them, and drilled them. The worst part of the whole project was changing drill bits in the Dremel while it was in the drill press. A third hand would be useful for that task.
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Post by iant on Mar 25, 2015 2:08:06 GMT -5
Nice job!
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Post by snowmom on Mar 25, 2015 6:27:55 GMT -5
wow, huge pile O' beads. Hope you'll be able to show us a few after she works them into jewelry. You must have a pretty strong will. I would probably have screamed and thrown things after about the 3rd bit getting stuck. Patience and persistence paid off. They look great. Love the little puddin's.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Mar 25, 2015 6:41:11 GMT -5
They gave me slab scraps. I cut the good parts out, tumbled them, and drilled them. The worst part of the whole project was changing drill bits in the Dremel while it was in the drill press. A third hand would be useful for that task. How much of the drill bit was extended out of the dremel. With those real small diameter bits if I am drilling through a 1/4" thick slab I will only have about 5/16" to 3/8" sticking out. The further it extends out the more likely it will break from not being supported. I have even cut the shank on a few that would not go into the drill chuck (or dremel) far enough. Chuck
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Post by Jugglerguy on Mar 25, 2015 8:56:38 GMT -5
I had them sticking out about an inch. I needed the length to get the drill under water and into the rock without dipping the chuck in the water and spraying me. Most broke right at the rock, so I don't think the length was the problem.
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Post by drocknut on Mar 25, 2015 10:56:14 GMT -5
Those are really cool. Definitely unique and thus rare beads.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2015 17:59:36 GMT -5
Dear Jugglerguy,I know nothing about drilling holes in rock.I work in a machine shop and used drills for a long time now.If I was breaking them soon in process too fast of a feed rate would be answer.first contact with drill and item needs to be very slow dont bump into it let drill do it.Lots of coolant to wash chips away.The best drills made of best materials can go bad loose sharp edges fast if not careful....Steve
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Post by Jugglerguy on Mar 25, 2015 19:21:48 GMT -5
Steve, I was actually pretty happy with the number of drills I used. There were frustrations, but I don't think these drills are designed to last long. Kingsley sells them in packages of 10, 25, or 100 which tells me that they expect people to go through a lot of them. Many just stop working after a while. Some are pretty much useless after a rock or two. The drills that broke didn't do so at first contact, but after they were into the rock a bit. KIngsley 1 mm Drills
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Post by Rockoonz on Mar 25, 2015 23:14:03 GMT -5
We use our trim saw water additive at about half strength in our drilling water and it increased our drill life quite a bit.
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Post by MrP on Mar 26, 2015 4:08:59 GMT -5
Steve, I was actually pretty happy with the number of drills I used. There were frustrations, but I don't think these drills are designed to last long. Kingsley sells them in packages of 10, 25, or 100 which tells me that they expect people to go through a lot of them. Many just stop working after a while. Some are pretty much useless after a rock or two. The drills that broke didn't do so at first contact, but after they were into the rock a bit. KIngsley 1 mm Drills
Jugglerguy I looked at the bits you were using and was going to tell you to use there Crystalite Triple Ripple until I saw the price. I found the Crystalite Triple Ripple to be a much better bit but I only paid $125 per 100 bits. Wow has the price gone up, $219 per 100. They are not that much better. Sure makes me glad I bought an Ultrasonic drill........................................MrP
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,681
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Post by Fossilman on Mar 26, 2015 9:35:19 GMT -5
Really nice tumbles Rob...
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