Drilling Holes of Seashells - production of Seashell Jewelry

Seashell Jewelry Making

This article will retell some tips and advices how to drill holes of seashells in production of seashells jewelry. Drilling holes of seashells is quite difficult and shall be done very carefully. Seashells are often quite fragile. Be very faithful drilling holes in them and also try to pick shells that are not chipping or flaking at the edges. There are a few precautions that we should know and take in order to prevent the seashells from crack and damage.

Magnetic Jewelry

1 - Drilling bits

Use A Dremel. A Dremel tool works well also because it's higher speed than your regular drill. Especially good for delicate shells; use a very small bit. It wasn't potential to use a very fast speed because the hardness of the shell made the drill bit slip and mark the surface. Once the hole was started, continue with slow because even then the drill would overheat from the effort. We had to stop every 5 minutes and allow the drill to cool down for about 20 minutes to half an hour. Also suggested to use diamond points to drill.

2 - Water

When you drill with diamond points, all the time use water to cool the points or they will fail quickly. This also keeps the dust down, but wear a good potential filter mask or use a vacuum to catch any dust/spray. Seashell dust is toxic, and I don't mean a miniature bit toxic. You can genuinely hurt yourself if you breath it in, or get it into your eyes, a cut or sore, or ingest it. Sometimes the particulates are so small you don't perceive they're in the air around you. When you breathe this dust in, it gets embedded in your lungs and it won't come out. It will genuinely be there forever, and it's toxic. Obviously, don't put your drill in the water, just the tip of the bit doing the drilling.

3 - Start Drilling

Make sure the drill bit is sharp, and that you are using a high speed drill. Use the smallest drill bit that will adapt the chain or anyone you're putting through the shell. Get the shell firmly in a vise or other arrangement to make sure it cannot move while the drilling.If the shell is thin, I would suggest putting tape over the spot where you are drilling to help prevent the shell from splintering or cracking.Lay the shell with the top up so that if spintering does occur as the bit reaches the other side, any splintering will be on the bottom (back) of the shell.
If you're not comfortable using a drill, practice first on some scrap shells before drilling in those you want to use.

Now when you start to drill, you're going to do it like this: hold the drill in a level up and down position so that the hole will be straight. Hold the drill firmly so that the bit won't go skidding across the surface of the stone. (Now you know why you need practice pieces.) You're going to touch the drill bit down semi-firmly, like you mean it, but then lift the drill bit out of the hole so water can pool inside it. Repeat. You can do it pretty quickly, too. Touch down, lift, touch down, lift, etc. When you're roughly all the way though, Stop. Flip your stone over and begin to drill from the other side. This will prevent a "blow out" or chipping the stone or glass where the hole should be. It takes practice to do this, so don't be hard on yourself. Glass and stone will pretty much drill the same. anyone else may be unpredictable, so a practice piece is necessary.

Seashell Jewelry Making

Drilling Holes of Seashells - production of Seashell Jewelry