Your Questions

We would love to be able to answer any questions that you might have.  If there is a question that you have that one of our members is able to answer, we will post both the questions and answers once a month.  Please send us an email with a question regarding any technique that you have seen used here.  If you question involves a technique that you have seen used by a guest author, we will do our best to get those answers as well.

Our questions with answers will be updated here monthly.  The Love My Art Jewelry members thank-you for your interest in creating handmade with handmade. 

Question:  Could you give me a few tips on drilling holes in sea gems?

How to Drill Sea GlassWhat you will need:

1. A shallow glass dish of water with a drop of dish soap
2. A CORDLESS dremel, with a diamond drill bit
3. pliers to hold your glass and tiny wood shims
4. a pencil
5. sea glass

What you do:

1. Take your pencil and mark where you would like your hole to be.
2. Place the sea glass in the pliers with the little shims in between the jaws and glass to keep it from getting scratched. Some people hold it with their fingers, I don’t like to do this, in case I slip with the drill
3. Take your Dremel with the diamond drill bit, and put it to medium speed.
4. Submerge the glass just below the surface of the water, so that the glass is in the water, but the drill won’t be (only the bit should be in the water) I have a flat piece of wood that goes under the glass for support.
5. Start to drill with the bit at a slight angle until it starts to catch and drill the surface. Hold it very steady to start, or else it may jump across the surface, scratching your glass
6. Keep the piece under water while you drill. Do not put too much pressure on your drill; you actually want it to grind its way through the glass. Too much pressure may create heat, crack the glass or wear your drill bit out faster.
7. Before you are completely through the glass, flip it over and finish drilling from the opposite side. This will prevent the drill from breaking a section of glass off the back when it breaks through the other side.
8. You are done!
Please note: This also works for drilling shells, but they MUST be done in water. Some shells can be poisonous when drilled, if the dust is inhaled.

Links:
sea glass drilling video http://stacilouise.blogspot.com/2011/06/btw-drilling-sea-glass-tutorial.html
buy diamond drill bits http://diamondburs.net/

QUESTION

Please explain the technique used in capturing a cabochon without wire and seed beads like the one used in this post.

I've made a few seed bead cabochons years ago and so time consuming and my eyes now having trouble...I'm been trying to find a more simple approach to capturing a cabochon without wire and seed beads...

last photo - looks like knotting around the stone...


Thanks so much for your assistance!!!

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