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Post by Rockindad on May 2, 2019 20:00:16 GMT -5
For those of you who sell your cabs. Do you drill them for customers who request it (Is there an additional fee?) or do you try to avoid it all together? If you are in the no drill camp is it because you find drilling to be a hassle or that you do not want to take the risk of damaging a finished product? Or is there another reason I have not thought of?
Reason for asking is that my son and I drilled about 50 of his pendants for his Arts & Crafts Fair and I thought it went very well. Was just wondering how those of you that are producing a higher end product (and in many cases working with some pretty pricey rough) handle this.
Thanks, Al
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Post by stonemon on May 2, 2019 20:38:37 GMT -5
I will drill a stone if I feel like it will not break. I do not charge for it as I try to price my stones in a way that allows for an extra 10 minutes of time to drill. If one were to break I would choose to re-cut and let the customer choose whether or not to stay involved.
In my world, this is supposed to be fun and creative. If the customer wants a bead, a bead they shall have.
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Post by rockjunquie on May 2, 2019 21:49:21 GMT -5
No. I get requests to do it so it sometimes, but I am just not setup to do it I have zero room to set up a drill press. Plus, I don't believe that the risks are worth it. I may eventually drill holes, but only on ones I feel it's safe and then I will offer them, but not by request.
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Post by stephan on May 3, 2019 0:40:43 GMT -5
Pretty much exactly what Tela said.
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Post by Rockindad on May 3, 2019 9:40:58 GMT -5
I will drill a stone if I feel like it will not break. I do not charge for it as I try to price my stones in a way that allows for an extra 10 minutes of time to drill. If one were to break I would choose to re-cut and let the customer choose whether or not to stay involved. In my world, this is supposed to be fun and creative. If the customer wants a bead, a bead they shall have. That's more than fair. Al |
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Post by stonemon on May 3, 2019 9:55:28 GMT -5
I have drilled quite a few for my customers and have never broken one. It has generated return business and 5 star reviews for me.
Knock on wood, it seems inevitable that at some point I will break one but I enjoy the custom aspect of this work and always try to satisfy the client.
I have an old drill press left over from my contracting days and it works well with cheap diamond bits. There are limits to what I can do and I have declined several requests as it seemed too risky or difficult for my set up.
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Post by Rockindad on May 3, 2019 11:18:52 GMT -5
I have drilled quite a few for my customers and have never broken one. It has generated return business and 5 star reviews for me. Knock on wood, it seems inevitable that at some point I will break one but I enjoy the custom aspect of this work and always try to satisfy the client. I have an old drill press left over from my contracting days and it works well with cheap diamond bits. There are limits to what I can do and I have declined several requests as it seemed too risky or difficult for my set up. To be honest I thought the drilling was going to be a lot more challenging. We are also using a drill press, a full size one from my woodworking shop, with an assortment of reasonably priced bits. A few have only lasted 2-3 stones but the bit that is still in the chuck has done over 30 with most of them being agates and jaspers. Out of the 50 only two broke and I was the one who did it. My ten year old said I shouldn't even try to drill them as they were pretty fragile and at the point of narrow triangles of Fireworks Obsidian. I should of listened. Al |
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Tommy
Administrator 
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,993
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Post by Tommy on May 3, 2019 13:14:52 GMT -5
I will drill on occasion depending on my mood, who the customer is, and if I've made a sale recently ... Mostly I say no or once in a while I drill a stone before listing it. When a cab is domed already, depending on the dome angle, it makes for a much tougher drill. If you drill from the dome side the bit will have a tendency to slip off the slick angled surface if you haven't scored the surface properly. If you drill a domed stone from the back it is tougher to securly clamp the stone without it rocking on the dome AND it will almost always blow the hole out on the front of the stone. I typically tell people what I just wrote above and I add that if I ruin the stone the risk is all mine because I don't have the heart to charge someone even a portion of a stone I just broke. Not going to happen. I recently said yes for a young lady in our military, drilled it from the dome side. I did not charge her for the drilling but I fitted it with custom length loop-tied leather cord with sterling connectors at a cost of $12 and she was a seriously happy camper. This is the exception rather than the rule but it was a feel good event overall.  |
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Tommy
Administrator
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,993
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Post by Tommy on May 3, 2019 13:28:12 GMT -5
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Post by rockjunquie on May 3, 2019 14:04:29 GMT -5
PS. a couple of years ago I created a poplar wood jig that holds stones down against a sacrificial surface and makes pulse drilling by hand with a foredom a breeze. It also greatly reduces the occurrences of blown out backside holes because of the stone being pressed down flat. It will also work with domed cabs as long as I drill from the domed side.    That looks like it should be a tute. What a novel approach! |
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Tommy
Administrator
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,993
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Post by Tommy on May 3, 2019 14:09:05 GMT -5
That looks like it should be a tute. What a novel approach! Well, I've done enough tooting around here for now  ... but I did just now add it to the DIY equipment page under Misc. |
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Post by rockjunquie on May 3, 2019 14:21:47 GMT -5
That looks like it should be a tute. What a novel approach! Well, I've done enough tooting around here for now  ... but I did just now add it to the DIY equipment page under Misc. You can toot all you want- you deserve it! |
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Post by Rockindad on May 3, 2019 15:51:52 GMT -5
I will drill on occasion depending on my mood, who the customer is, and if I've made a sale recently ... Mostly I say no or once in a while I drill a stone before listing it. When a cab is domed already, depending on the dome angle, it makes for a much tougher drill. If you drill from the dome side the bit will have a tendency to slip off the slick angled surface if you haven't scored the surface properly. If you drill a domed stone from the back it is tougher to securly clamp the stone without it rocking on the dome AND it will almost always blow the hole out on the front of the stone. I typically tell people what I just wrote above and I add that if I ruin the stone the risk is all mine because I don't have the heart to charge someone even a portion of a stone I just broke. Not going to happen. I recently said yes for a young lady in our military, drilled it from the dome side. I did not charge her for the drilling but I fitted it with custom length loop-tied leather cord with sterling connectors at a cost of $12 and she was a seriously happy camper. This is the exception rather than the rule but it was a feel good event overall. About 80% of the pendants he has are domed and these definitely take a little more finesse. As I was first watching him and seeing the bit slide I thought he was using way too much pressure. In reality he just needed to start with a couple of very light touches to create an indentation in the stone for the bit to bite into. The same as people who start with a burr, just saves a bit change. Al |
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... but I did just now add it to the 
... but I did just now add it to the 
