What You Will Need:
- Water dish
- Small Diamond Core Drill bits
- Rotary drill with Flex shaft or drill press
- Safety goggles
Disclaimer. Using rotary tools near water has never been, to the best of our knowledge, endorsed by any of the rotary tool manufacturers. If you do choose to drill near water or with attachments under water connected to your drill then you do so at your own risk. Please be aware that mixing electricity and water can be very dangerous.
Shell & Pebble Earrings by Infinity Stop drilled with diamond core drills
Step 1
If collected from the beach, wash your sea shells well in soapy water to remove any grit and sand and leave to dry.
Step 2
Mark your sea shell with where you want to begin drilling your hole. Set up your water dish, either an ice cream tub, sandwich box or some form of solid tray with a piece of wood or blu-tac to hold the shell in place whilst drilling. It will need to be deep enough to immerse your shell in. Select your drill bit, say 1mm and attach it to your flex shaft/drill press. If you would prefer, you can start off smaller, say 0.75mm and increase your drill bit size until you reach your desired hole size.
Step 3
Whilst holding and keeping your shell immersed in water, start your drilling. Go slowly to prevent the drill bit from skittering across the surface. Once your initial starter hole has been created begin to move the drill bit up and down to allow water to flush in and out of the hole to remove the drilling debris and to keep the area and the drill bit cool. Overheating can cause the diamonds to come off the drill bit and your shell to crack.
Drilling a hole through shell using a Dremel Drill and a Bottle Neck Core Drill
For further help, you might also like to read our article: 12 Things You Should Know about Diamond Drill Bits
