Drilling advice for beginner

[mrsmccawber]

Hello All
At the risk of sounding a fool, I'm wanting to drill holes in pendants and earrings, not too difficult? I've purchased a fairly cheap mini grinder which incorporates small chucks to insert the type of narrow gauge drill bits required. My problem is that it seems to take forever, the metal getting hotter and hotter. Is this normal? I thought I'd be able to drill through silver fairly quickly with a small drill bit anywhere between a diameter of 0.7 to 1mm. The quickest method seems to be to start with the smallest drill bit which goes through fairly quickly and work up to the required diameter. It's driving me mad, should it be this difficult?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks

[enigma]

It could be that your grinder doesn't have enough torque.
You need to drill slowly to prevent overheating which blunts your drill bits so unless you have a drill with enough torque you may find you are constantly blunting them very quickly?

[mrsmccawber]

Thanks for that, I've noticed when I use a new drill bit it works quicker, so it sounds like a new grinder is on the agenda!

[Goldsmith]

Do you lubricate the drill point? when drilling 1mm. holes I use a wax candle as lubricant, I just drill the candle before each hole in metal and that lubricates the drill. You can also use a small pot of oil to dip the drill in, I use one of these when I am drilling hundreds of holes, but for single drill holes the wax candle works well, I also use the same candle to lubricate the backs of my piercing saw blades when piercing. I buy boxes of standard white wax candles, cheap and useful, you can see well used bits of candle behind the saw frame on my workbench.



James

[pearlescence]

The small drill bits blunt in seconds. I reckon one bit per six pearls
Buy in huge bulk off the internet and don't attempt to economise

[caroleallen]

Do you lubricate the drill point? when drilling 1mm. holes I use a wax candle as lubricant, I just drill the candle before each hole in metal and that lubricates the drill. You can also use a small pot of oil to dip the drill in, I use one of these when I am drilling hundreds of holes, but for single drill holes the wax candle works well, I also use the same candle to lubricate the backs of my piercing saw blades when piercing. I buy boxes of standard white wax candles, cheap and useful, you can see well used bits of candle behind the saw frame on my workbench



James

What's the perspex thing for James?

[ps_bond]

Shielding from chips.

[Goldsmith]

Yes Carole, as Peter said it's a shield I use when grinding agates and metals when using a flex shaft, it's also good when polishing at the bench as it keeps everything away from your face.



James

[enigma]

My drill bits ast for ages if drilling silver/gold now I have a decent pendant motor, don't know about pearls though!

[Dennis]

Whatever you do, don't throw the blunt ones away. In another thread here today, you will read about diamond sharpening plates.

You will notice that the ends of drill bits have two sloping facets and two cutting edges. Hold your bits as accurately as possible and give them two or three rubs for each facet on a medium or fine diamond plate, preferably wet, and they will be sharp again. Use a drawing action, rather than a pushing action. Dennis.