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Thread: Help drilling amber

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
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    Hove
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    32

    Default Help drilling amber

    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

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Scotland
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    3,392

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    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

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Hove
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    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

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
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    Scotland
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    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!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
    Location
    Aberdeenshire
    Posts
    66

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    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!

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