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Post by rockjunquie on May 16, 2019 18:21:28 GMT -5
What is the most common size for drilling holes in cabs?
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Post by stonemon on May 16, 2019 20:12:05 GMT -5
It depends on what you are going to do with the bead. If a jump ring or bail is what you want, go small. 1.5 to 2 mm. If you are looking for a lanyard, go out to 2.5 to 3 mm. Maybe even bigger. I will not even attempt to state the most common drill size.
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Tommy
Administrator 
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,993
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Post by Tommy on May 16, 2019 20:19:17 GMT -5
I start every hole at 1mm all the way through from front to rear. When I'm done with that I dry it off and inspect the hole and if it looks great I stop there and it will accommodate a pinch bail nicely. If the back is jagged (slightly blown out) I will then clamp it back down and hit it from the back with a 2mm and go about half way through. I then flip the piece over and finish the 2mm from the other side. The goal of this is to hopefully give the piece a nice clean square edge hole on both sides.
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Post by rockjunquie on May 16, 2019 20:38:54 GMT -5
I was thinking of using diamond ball burs to countersink the holes and clean them up. So, I reckon I outta get an assortment. I have some already, but I don't remember the size. Good idea Tommy, to start small. |
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Post by stonemon on May 16, 2019 22:18:03 GMT -5
I use ball burs to ease the bore most of the time. Pendants swing better, earrings dangle better and such. Here is a live edge pet wood that shows the impact of the ball burr. Makes the metal work better. |
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on May 24, 2019 7:29:29 GMT -5
Have you dealt with blow out on the back of a preform yet? For drilling preforms you can use a wood backer with a small pin, nail or dowel sticking up about 2 mm. Drill the hole from one side of the preform to about half way then flip it over and place the hole over top of the pin and continue drilling. The wood has to be held in place for this to work though. I think Jugglerguy uses this method. Might be another good Youtube video idea. Blue is the pin and orange is the drill bit  Chuck |
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Post by HankRocks on May 24, 2019 8:50:46 GMT -5
For some reason I have had very little problem with blowouts while drilling 300 to 400 pendant stones, maybe just lucky. The first 100 were by hand until my wife got me a Dremel Drill Press stand. I do drill mine after polishing(tumble) but don't see that as a reason for lack of Blowouts. I do keep the stone pressed down by hand on to a submerged piece of wood, maybe the solid backing helps.
The biggest hassle for me is the drill bits themselves. If I go with the cheap bits, I can drill 2 to 3 pendants, the more expensive bits, maybe 8 or 9. Calculating the cost per hole works out about the same with either bit. The only savings is the time changing the bits out more frequently with the cheaper ones.
Henry
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Post by Jugglerguy on May 24, 2019 14:08:11 GMT -5
I do use the method Chuck described. Puddingstones blow out somewhat otherwise. I don’t have much experience drilling other types of stones.
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Post by grumpybill on May 27, 2019 8:23:31 GMT -5
I use 1mm bits for up-eyes and pinch bails. 1.5mm for jump rings.
When drilling material that's prone to blowouts (such as slag glass) I drill a 1mm hole, then enlarge it with a needle bit. I've also used ball bits to the edge if the blowout is large.
Lately, I've been putting metal grommets in the holes. Mainly to dress up the pendants, but they also hide small blowouts.
One thing to keep in mind with grommets is that the stated size is the inside diameter. A 1.5mm grommet requires a 2mm hole.
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Post by rockjunquie on May 27, 2019 11:24:27 GMT -5
I'm not doing so great. Broke 2 bits off in the preform and ruined them.  Learning... |
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Post by Rockindad on May 27, 2019 11:46:17 GMT -5
I'm not doing so great. Broke 2 bits off in the preform and ruined them. Learning... Not sure what the chuck capacities are for your Foredom but we have had a lot of success with these bits. I know they also have single size packs for at least some of the sizes as well. We had one 1.5mm bit that did 35 holes in mostly agates/jaspers before we retired it because it was getting dull for the harder stuff. Could still use it on the softer materials. Al www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BRMPPUA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 |
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Post by rockjunquie on May 27, 2019 13:04:59 GMT -5
I'm not doing so great. Broke 2 bits off in the preform and ruined them. Learning... Not sure what the chuck capacities are for your Foredom but we have had a lot of success with these bits. I know they also have single size packs for at least some of the sizes as well. We had one 1.5mm bit that did 35 holes in mostly agates/jaspers before we retired it because it was getting dull for the harder stuff. Could still use it on the softer materials. Al www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BRMPPUA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1Interesting. Most people use hollow core bits. Have you used both? |
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Post by Rockindad on May 27, 2019 16:07:37 GMT -5
Not sure what the chuck capacities are for your Foredom but we have had a lot of success with these bits. I know they also have single size packs for at least some of the sizes as well. We had one 1.5mm bit that did 35 holes in mostly agates/jaspers before we retired it because it was getting dull for the harder stuff. Could still use it on the softer materials. Al www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BRMPPUA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1Interesting. Most people use hollow core bits. Have you used both? Yep. We experimented with wire bits, core bits and these. These were the best by a considerable margin, followed by the core bits. We run these in a conventional drill press that tops out at 3400 rpm's so perhaps that is a factor, though it seemed to do the job just as fast or faster than some times I have seen from people using Dremels, etc. where the rpm's are in the tens of thousands. The extra stability of a press can only help the longevity of the bits for sure. Al |
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Learning...
