How to Drill a Hole in a Cabochon for Jewelry

Cabbing or the making of Cabochons can be fun and challenging, heres the how to on drilling holes in Cabochons.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Electroplated Core Drill bits
• Lapidary Kit
• Hand drill or drill press

1. 
    
   Cabbing kit containing most supplies you will need to start making your own Cabs.

   First thing needed is to collect your supplies. Obtain the tools you need like the drill and bits these can be bought easily online or some hobby and craft shops may be able to order them or may have them in stock.
   
   To purchase them online search for lapidary supplies using your favorite search engine. Look for the drill bits and purchase the sizes you need depending on the application or the size gem you wish to drop into the Cab piece.
   
   Next get your cab piece that you want to drop a gem into. Look the piece over and determine where you want the gem to go. Beginners may want to try to use a smooth flat area at first until your skills build to allow for more advanced designs.

2. 
    
   Drill press meant for rocks and cabbing

   Next prepare the cab piece. Remove the chains or other things that may impede the drilling. Affix the Cab in to the lapidary vice located at the bottom of the drill press.
   
   Drilling should be done in a drill press. If you tweak the bit it may break and possibly damage your work piece. Holding the bit perfectly perpendicular to the Cab piece is very important.

3. Once you start drilling use gentle up and down motions to allow water to flow under the bit, this may not be needed if your drill press has a vibrataing feature which may preform this action for you. This can be verified in the manufacturers instructions.
   
   Note* If you bring the drill down on the rock to hard you can knock off the diamonds, rendering your bit useless and or damaging the work piece.
   
   Another way to keep the work piece wet is to have a irrigation system that continually trickles water on the point you are drilling. You can have someone with a spray bottle apply water at the point you are drilling at.
   
   Run the bit down into the piece as far as needed.

Tips & Warnings

• Diamond drill bits should be kept wet. The bit doesn’t need to be in a lot of water, just enough to wash away the rock mud and keep the bit wet to avoid heat build up and help lubricate.
• If the piece you want to drill has value it may be best to have a professional set the gem to avoid the possibility of damage.
• Care should be exercised when drilling to avoid damaging the work piece as well as the drill and accessories.
• Read the manufacturers instructions for your drill bits. They may recommend using an abrasive powder or specific lubricants. These instructions should be followed for best results.