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How to Make Holes in Quartz Jewelry

Quartz is an extremely hard mineral that requires the use of a diamond drill bit to make a hole for jewelry. If you use a standard steel drill bit on quartz, the result is undesirable cracking and chipping. Since drilling holes for jewelry is precision work, ideally, you should use a drill press since it's stationary, and it doesn't wobble horizontally and make a crooked hole. The press can only spin the drill bit and move in a perfect vertical line. If you don't have a drill press, use a handheld drill, but it will be more difficult to create a perfectly straight hole.

Things You'll Need

Drill press (or handheld drill)
Diamond drill bit
Disposable container (i.e., aluminum baking tin or a disposable plastic container)
Water
Drill clamp
Safety goggles
Rag

Instructions

- 1
  Unplug the drill press. Insert the drill bit and tighten the chuck.
- 2
  Plug in the drill press. Fill a small disposable container halfway with warm water into which you have placed a clamp. Place your quartz jewelry piece inside the container; clamp it securely; and set it on the drill press platform. Alternatively, use a drip system that drips water continually on the point you are drilling. Or, have someone with a spray bottle next to you and squirt the quartz with water as you drill.
- 3
  Align your quartz piece with the grind mark on the drill press platform. Position the quartz so the drill bit will enter about an inch from the edge of your piece.
- 4
  Put on your safety goggles. Insert the drill press safety key and turn on the drill, holding the clamped quartz piece as you drill with one hand.
- 5
  Use your other hand to spin the lever on the drill press, which slowly lowers the spinning drill bit. Drill through your quartz piece. Raise up the spinning drill press into its original position by turning the drill press lever in the opposite direction.
- 6
  Remove the safety key and turn your drill press off. Take the quartz piece out of the water and wipe it down with a rag to remove fragments.

Gemology