Drilling Gemstones
Who says gemstone drilling can only be done by experts? Thats fairly true but doing it on your own is possible. Not all gemstone wearers have the courage to put a hole through their priced possession. Its like an all or nothing kind of challenge. Some are very fragile that with one blow, they might break. Thats why you have to be very careful when drilling those precious gemstones.
Whats the purpose of drilling?
For one, you could create your very own jewelry for decoration and fashion. Drilling can enable you to mix and match or add up to your old and boring jewelries.
The basic and essential tip on drilling is practice. You could do it on ordinary stones or gems that are made of glass. Those are really cheap and you wouldnt regret the moment you break it.
What youll need is a drill press and a drill bit.
The first thing that you should do is to determine the part of the gem youll put a hole into. You can do this by knowing where youll hang or mount your gem. You have to realize that every hole drilled within the gem lessens its integrity by adding flaws to its surface.
Next, you have to fill in a container full of water. Drilling in water is the easiest and most acceptable way to for drill bits to be wet. This wouldnt be messy and wouldnt give you a hard time collecting and disposing fallen debris. Drills have built-in cooling feature that drips away water.
Let the drill stay still perpendicularly with the stone. Make the correct angle because if your angle is a bit off the grid, you might cause a crack either at the exit or entry point. So be accurate.
Maintain an up and down movement gently. This will enable water to move under the bit. Dont put so much hard pressure for this will cause knocking out the gemstone off the bit.
The advisable measurement for starters is to start drilling below an inch. This is highly recommended especially when dealing with softer gems. Furthermore, softer gemstones dont require a diamond bit.
Now thats all done, you could wipe away the particles around your gem and look at the drill made. If you found out that you made a clean drill, maybe you could start considering an entire course on manufacturing jewelries when passion strikes you. But other than that, you could now clean your gem and wipe it dry.
One popular drilling is laser drilling. This is usually applied to hard gemstones like diamonds. The materials used for this process differs from the ordinary drilling machine. You need a thin and strong laser beam and vacuum furnace. The purpose for this drilling is to remove the impurities that are seen in diamonds and generate clarity.
Bits of advice before, during and after the drilling process:
1. Do not compromise the quality and price of the drill. While alternative drills are quite cheap and is almost exactly the same result, you cant gamble such precious gems. Precision of clear drilling isnt assured therefore youre gem is at risk.
2. Use glasses that will protect your eyes from flying particles when drilling.
3. If youre too scared to drill a straight line, let the dealers do it.