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Drilling Holes


Tony N

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Not sure exactly your problem Tony, but I also use a drill press. I draw a dot with a pencil where i want the hole to go and make sure it's in the centre then. I then simply hold it with my hand and drill away. Not sure if this helps, but I don't think there's too much of a trick to it. Cheers, Billy.

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Tony, I have never worked bone but have drilled heaps of holes in soft and hard stone, so many options here, I use several types of drill bits, small cores, small ball ends, and another called a triple ripple, the core should hold its direction and not drift off, the small ball end bits work heaps better on hard stone, these all work for me in a drill press and by hand, most of my holes are now drilled manually with my air pencil grinder, medium speeds work well, hope this helps but bone may need a totally different process, I always drill at the later stages of carving to ensure the hole is placed in the exact position.

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Drilling a hole where you want is a basic skill in any workshop and the standard practice is to use a center punch or awl to give the drill bit a place to start.

 

Layout your hole with a marker of some sort, use an awl or other sharp object to create a starting point for the drill and then drill. You might try drilling your hole early and carve the design true to the hole. Or pick/create a design that doesn't need a hole.

 

Drills like to pull away from center in many materials. A drill press and some sort of solid tie for the object are the best bet in that case.

 

Try a different drill bit. Drill bit quality makes a big difference. Hardware store drill bits have been real hit and miss in my experience. Machine tool suppliers have much better drill bits.

 

Drill a small hole and enlarge to final size.

 

If it makes you feel better I've drilled thousands of holes and usually do just fine but the other day I made one off center in a pendant blank.

 

John

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