Help drilling amber

[frankydean]

Hi all
I want to drill amber to push in a small peg, and I am after some advice, still very much learning about jewellery making, but I am a retired toolmaker, would like some advice on cutting speeds and lubricant, also is it soft enough to use a carbon drill or must you use high speed, or carbide.
Frank

[CJ57]

Hi Frank , I've used a lot of amber in the past but never drilled I don't think. Remember it is a natural resin and is very soft, you can even polish it with toothpaste. I remember when polishing if it got to hot it got skid marks to has to be treated gently. I would drill by hand which gives control and won't take long, it just produces a white powder and is easily worked

[frankydean]

Hi Caroline,
Thank you for the reply, I will give that a go, I also didn't realise you could polish it with toothpaste, good tip,
Frank

[CJ57]

I carefully use rouge on a very soft mop not pressing too hard so itdoesn't overheat but it shows how abrasive toothpaste can be!

[SICraftDesigns]

I've no real experience with drilling stones however I would suggest steering clear of carbide and HSS-Co drill bits as they tend to be less resistant to bending than regular HSS drill bits. Last thing you would want is a snapped drill stuck in a stone!

From CJ57's post it sounds as though it may be fairly similar to drilling polycarbonate or other plastics - fairly easy to drill however heat build up and swarf extraction can be a problem. You can use water as a lubricant or just take it slow and retract frequently to allow the flutes of the drill to clear themselves. As I mentioned earlier though I've no experience with drilling stones so I could be barking up the wrong tree!