Guest post tutorial by Jenny Hoople of Authentic Arts.

Desire to learn how to drill holes in embankment stones? Well, I've got good news for yous: it's pretty piece of cake and I'd dear to tell you how information technology'south done.

I've been making this natural stone jewelry for several months with pre-drilled pebbles that I purchased from fellow Etsy artisans. It took a little fleck of internet enquiry and guessing to effigy out the best style to go about drilling my own, ethnic Wisconsin stones. Some sites said one thing, some said another. I took the all-time advice from several different sources and did some experimenting and establish that drilling my own, small river rocks is non just possible, but pretty easy! I've gotten a lot of questions from people asking how to drill their own stones and I'd be more than happy to share with all of you.

Choosing the Right Stone for Drilling

Almost any stone that yous find CAN be drilled, simply I really recommend starting with softer sedimentary rocks (sandstone, mudstone, limestone, etc). If a pebble you find on the embankment isn't rounded like the other ones around information technology, that's a good clue that it'due south a harder igneous or metamorphic rock and would take a long long time to drill. Other ways to tell if a rock is besides hard to drill is past checking whether you can see crystals in the stone or whether the stone is shiny or glossy like quartz (ah, those magical wishing stones of my babyhood!) Sedimentary rocks volition be much easier to drill, and so start with those. Only, don't worry if you tin can't tell what kind of rock it is. If it takes significantly longer to drill than the other pebbles, it's probably igneous or metamorphic.

Equipment You Demand to Drill Your Own Beach Stones

1. High speed rotary tool – (ie. a Dremel. I got the Dremel 4000, loftier functioning, I figure that since drilling stone is heavy duty work, it's a expert thought to have a heavy duty tool!)

2. Hollow, diamond-tipped coring bits – These are much faster and constructive for drilling holes in pebbles than a solid drill flake. At that place'due south besides less hazard that you'll break the stone when drilling and it'southward much much faster! Not but do solid drill $.25 drill more slowly, you'd need to drill a pocket-size hole and then change to an ever larger flake until you lot widened the hole to the diameter that you wanted. Ridiculous! For drilling holes in small beach pebbles to use in jewelry, a 2.5mm diameter hollow coring bit works well. The bits they sell that are officially for Dremels are fashion also expensive, I highly recommend getting your bits from Rio Grande Jewelry Supply. They have dainty packs of 5 for $xiv as opposed to one official Dremel bit for more than $twenty! You'll exist using all 5 of those bits eventually as they do article of clothing out relatively quickly.

3. Dremel Collet Nut – The Dremel rotary tool comes with a Collet Nut (that'south the thing that holds the drill bit in place) but the 2.5mm coring bit is a different size, so yous'll need a Collet Nut that'south the right diameter. I bought the set of Collet Nuts they had right there at the hardware store and used the one that the coring bit fit into! (The other ones in the set will come in handy for all the other projects I dream upwardly to utilize this Dremel for. It tin do and then many things, my next experiment will be engraving poems on stones!!)

4. Small Plastic Container – This is to hold a fiddling h2o so you can drill your embankment stone under water. Drilling underwater cools off the flake and lubricates everything which will make the drilling go faster, keep your stone from heating up and keep those fiddling diamond crumbs from getting ground off of the drill bit too quickly. I like to utilise the little plastic container that my lunch meat came in (cleaned out and sans luncheon meat, of form!)

v. Trivial Piece of Wood – Like a shim or whatsoever, to have under your pebble and then that you don't drill through the bottom of your water container!

half-dozen. Goggles – Please ever vesture goggles when drilling! I always vesture them even though I've got spectacles. Real danger is minimal, it's non like at that place are shards of rock shooting out all over the place, but it'd be a shame to lose your eyesight over some natural embankment stone jewelry! Better safe than deplorable!!

7. Rocks – Aye, don't forget your embankment stones, river rocks or what have you! Small (~1″) pebbles are ideal. Information technology's easier to make necklaces like my Rock Collection Necklaces when the stones are small and thin (~ane/4″ thick). That way they lay next to each other ameliorate.

Lets First Drilling!

1. Put on your goggles.

2. Firmly hold your beach stone on top of the piece of wood and simply under the water.

3. Turn on the Rotary Tool with your other hand and hold it perpendicular to the pebble. – Please be careful when working with the Rotary Tool around h2o! Don't get any part of the tool moisture that'southward non absolutely necessary and don't grasp the tool with moisture easily.

4. Begin Drilling. – Let the weight of the tool do the drilling for you. Exist certain to keep lifting the drill up and down. (This lets cooling water become into the hole and lets the sediment from the rock to flow out.) The water volition get cloudy, that's ok, just keep drilling.

v. You'll feel when information technology breaks through to the other side. You're done! – With these small beach stones, I've institute that drilling ane takes about ii-3 minutes. (I'm sure information technology'll be faster when I'm not and so new at it!)

The simply way that I modify these unique stones other than drilling a hole in them is to rub them with my easily after I've merely put on some unscented Eucerin lotion (after the stones are dry out, of course!). That helps to status the stones so that the natural oils from your peel won't exit uneven dark spots and enriches the natural color of the stone so they aren't all dusty looking. Afterwards the lotion gets a run a risk to exist absorbed by the rock, any excess should be wiped off with a clean, dry towel so you don't have to worry near whether information technology will marking your habiliment with an oil spot!

Now get out in that location and start making some fabled beach stone creations! All you lot need are a couple of basic jewelry supplies to complete the project once y'all have the stones drilled. Very easy.

Most Jenny: Jenny Hoople makes natural stone jewelry and beaded gemstone jewelry that is as natural, colorful and accurate as the people it's given to. She lives about Madison, Wisconsin with her little Mexican husband and memories of their wonderful bunny companion (who crossed over the rainbow span after 7 happy, bun-filled years). She's passionate about colour combinations, the handmade motility and living closer to the "real business of life". Follow her on Facebook and Twitter @Jennyhoople.

Thanks so much Jenny for sharing your projection!

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