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Post by stoned outta my mind on Apr 5, 2012 0:06:39 GMT -5
We got a tumbler at Christmas and I've really been sucked in! Our boys are both off to college now and this is a good empty nest activity. My husband is regional manager with several rock pits, so the rock hunting is great fun! I've even found some nice agates in the landscape at my college. :nono:
I like the clean look of stones that have a hole drilled in the top and "Up Eyes" (is that the right name?) glued in the hole, then attached to a bail, etc. How is the hole drilled? Thanks in advance for the information.
Stoned (so to speak...)
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Post by catmandewe on Apr 5, 2012 0:09:26 GMT -5
LOL, Welcome!
Most people use diamond drill bits under water to drill holes.
There are other ways to do it, but that is the most common and is not terribly expensive.
Have a great day and welcome to the forum.....................Tony
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Post by paulshiroma on Apr 5, 2012 8:40:42 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum! Sounds like you're "set" with local hunting locations as well.
Paul
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peachfront
fully equipped rock polisher
Stones have begun to speak, because an ear is there to hear them.
Member since August 2010
Posts: 1,745
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Post by peachfront on Apr 5, 2012 8:59:50 GMT -5
What Tony said as far as the actual drilling, but I didn't have any success finding good "eye ups," just cheesy base metal ones, and it's too much work to spoil a good stone with cheesy base metal, so we switched to drilling the other way. Also, we drill the holes slightly larger. In that way, we can hang the pendant on a hemp cord or a leather thong...something natural and real, at least, instead of the base metal eye up! But I would still be interested in eye-ups if anyone could point me to any that were actually real.
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Post by Pat on Apr 5, 2012 12:09:05 GMT -5
???Umm, what is an eye-up?
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peachfront
fully equipped rock polisher
Stones have begun to speak, because an ear is there to hear them.
Member since August 2010
Posts: 1,745
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Post by peachfront on Apr 5, 2012 12:20:30 GMT -5
It's like a little metal screw with a fat needle's eye on top, so that you could string a chain or a cord through the eye.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2012 14:41:26 GMT -5
There is a tut on here somewhere that shows it all but I do not know where it is. herchenx (John) is pretty good at doing a search somehow using google. Contact him and he will probably find it for you. The tut also tells where to get the findings but I do not know how good they are. I drill all of mine through the front then put in jump rings. Personally I think they are quite elegant and could be worn with anything.    Just my two cents worth Jim |
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peachfront
fully equipped rock polisher
Stones have begun to speak, because an ear is there to hear them.
Member since August 2010
Posts: 1,745
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Post by peachfront on Apr 5, 2012 21:11:25 GMT -5
Yeah, what Jim's doing. Thanks for the great photos!!! That's the orientation of my holes as well. Only instead of doing jump rings, because jump rings hate me, right now I'm just using leather or hemp cord. Will practice with jump rings again soon because of their versatility. At the end of the day I think they're a better answer than eye-ups.
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Post by catmandewe on Apr 5, 2012 22:24:45 GMT -5
Have you tried Eloxite for eye ups?
They have a ton of stuff and at very good prices.
Tony
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2012 22:32:04 GMT -5
Are you opening your jump rings sideways or spreading them. Sideways is the only way to go because they turn back end to end just like before you opened them. I like to bend them into an oval with the ends of the wire on the side of the oval. That way the next ring or necklace is not riding on the two ends of the wire. The jump rings came from wally world because the hobby shop was not open and even though they look a little different than silver they make up for it in strength.
Jim
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peachfront
fully equipped rock polisher
Stones have begun to speak, because an ear is there to hear them.
Member since August 2010
Posts: 1,745
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Post by peachfront on Apr 6, 2012 15:16:02 GMT -5
I do open my jump rings sideways. This is the first thing everyone always suggests but it is just not enough. I think they need to be soldered because of the size of the stones I'm using. Not gonna mess with 'em for a couple, three weeks. Getting the holes drilled is keeping me busy enough!!!
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RocknCritter
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2008
Posts: 489
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Post by RocknCritter on Apr 8, 2012 20:10:11 GMT -5
I just posted a drilling tutorial on my lapidary blog - www.brightstargemstones.blogspot.com. I don't now if this will help yet thought I would point it out. It's probably a good idea to spend as much time as possible reading and talking to as many people as possible about drilling gemstones. There are a lot of different ideas and methods and everyone seems to have their favorite technique. Drill baby! Drill! |
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