[PA-NJ Glassblowers] 12 Things You should Know about Diamond Drill Bits

Sun Sep 9 12:59:24 EDT 2012

I really like this tutorial article, wanted to share it with you, from
Eternal Tools: "Precision Tools for Hard Materials".

http://www.eternaltools.com/12-things-you-should-know-about-diamond-drill-bi
ts/?goback=%2Egde_113423_member_150057120#
<http://www.eternaltools.com/12-things-you-should-know-about-diamond-drill-b
its/?goback=%2Egde_113423_member_150057120> 

The facts and fiction about Diamond Drill Bits

 1. What Material to use them on.
<http://www.eternaltools.com/diamond-drill-bits/> Diamond drill bits are
perfect for drilling through glass, sea glass, stone, gemstones, ceramic,
porcelain and shell. DO NOT use Diamond drill bits on metal or wood. Metal
and wood are too soft a material and will cause the diamonds to clog up on
your drill bit.  <http://www.eternaltools.com/carbide-spade-drills/> Carbide
drill bits are an excellent choice for metal and wood.

2. Diamond Core Drills.
<http://www.eternaltools.com/small-diamond-core-drills/> Diamond core drills
allow the water to flow up inside the drill as you're drilling helping to
prolong the life of your drill bit plus helping to prevent any cracking or
shattering of the material you're drilling. If you find debris gets stuck
inside your core drill, drill up and down into the water a few times to
remove this excess. Water is ideal to use as your lubricant when drilling.
There are oil based lubricants out there but it's not necessary to go to the
expense of buying these.

3. Coated Versus Sintered. Electroplated, coated or bonded means the
diamonds are coated onto the steel shaft/shank in a single layer, therefore
once this layer has worn away the drill bit will need to be replaced.
<http://www.eternaltools.com/diamond-sintered-burs/> Sintered diamond drill
bits or burs have several layers of diamonds and therefore last a very long
time but will also be more expensive than
<http://www.eternaltools.com/diamond-ball-burs/> coated diamond drill bits.
The sintered diamond bits can be cleaned/dressed using an aluminium oxide
stone  before use and during, thus revealing a fresh layer of diamonds each
time.

4. The life of your drill bit is dependent on many factors. Your diamond
drill bits lifetime will depend on certain factors: speed, lubricant,
pressure and the density of the material you're using. Take a look at our
<http://www.eternaltools.com/mohs-scale-of-hardness/> Mohs Scale of Hardness
to see the comparisons between different materials. Be aware that drilling
through hard gemstones can take a long time, be patient, you'll get there in
the end.

5. Attaching Diamond Drill bits to your Drill. Very small diamond drill bits
ranging in sizes between 0.75mm - 3mm won't fit into a rotary hand piece
drill or DIY drill without the appropriate collet or chuck to hold them.
Dremel has a couple of attachments which will fix to your drill: The
<http://www.eternaltools.com/dremel-4485-collet-nut-kit/> Dremel Collet Nut
Kit and the  <http://www.eternaltools.com/dremel-4486-multi-chuck/> Dremel
Multi Chuck.

6. Overheating/Speed/Pressure/Diamonds coming away. If you smell burning,
back off!  You're speed is too high or the pressure you're applying is too
much. You're drill bit should never be hot to the touch, not even warm.
Start your speed off slow and increase as the drill bit goes through your
material too higher speed will cause the drill bit to overheat and your
material to crack. If the diamonds chip away from the shaft it is probably
due to too much pressure - let the drill do the work and apply very little
pressure.  Feel your way through your material. If in doubt, practice on a
garden pebble until you get used to the technique. The general rule is the
smaller the diameter of your drill bit, the faster you can go.  However, the
harder your material the slower you should go.

7. Is it Safe to use Water near the Drill?  When drilling any kind of
material you should wear goggles and gloves to prevent any flying bits of
debris from causing injury and the same care should be applied if you're
using water near your drill.  It's safe to do so but with care.  Water can
either be fed onto your material via pump, a running tap, a drip feed or to
immerse your material in the water ensuring about 1cm of water covers your
material.

8. How to Start Drilling your Hole. Angle your drill to start off the
drilling to prevent the drill bit from skittering over the surface of your
material, once the initial hole is made you can drill from a vertical
position. To see more tips on how to drill various materials take a look at
our Tutorials section.
<http://www.eternaltools.com/how-to-drill-sea-glass/> How to Drill Sea Glass
is a popular one.

9. Opening up Holes.
<http://www.eternaltools.com/small-diamond-twist-drills/> Diamond twist
drills are intended to open up holes.  Very popular with bead artists to
increase the size of holes in glass beads. Also handy to prevent
condensation build up in the windows of your house.

10. Tempered Glass. Do not attempt to drill tempered glass with diamond
drills, you will end up with cracked glass

11. Obtaining a Core. Diamond core drills are intended to make a hole, not
to obtain a core.  However, many of our customers use them for just this
purpose to extract a core of fossil let's say for DNA testing and do so with
great success, although we can't guarantee the precision of the core.

12. Speed to use drill bits at. Use your diamond drill bits at slow speeds,
especially when making the initial hole.  This will prevent any breakages of
your material and help maintain the life of your drill bit.

Now you know what to do with your diamond drill bits and how to use them,
you have no excuse not to start that project you've been meaning to.  Enjoy!

Small diamond coated 'tipped' drill bits

Small Diamond coated 'tipped' Drill bits 0.75mm - 3mm

 <http://www.eternaltools.com/diamond-sintered-burs/> Diamond Sintered Burs,
in various shapes and sizes

Diamond Sintered Burs, various shapes

 <http://www.eternaltools.com/diamond-core-drills/> Large Diamond Coated
Core Drills from 4mm - 50mm

Large Diamond Coated Core Drills from 4mm - 50mm

Tony Patti

 <http://www.glassblower.info> www.glassblower.info

 <mailto:gaffer at glassblower.info> gaffer at glassblower.info

 <http://www.glassblower.info/qr-code.html> QR Code for Tony Patti -
www.glassblower.info

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