How to Drill Shells for Jewelry
A beach vacation is the perfect opportunity to start a collection of seashells. Once home, these shells can be used for a variety of crafts such as jewelry-making. Learning how to drill shells for jewelry is useful in that it will allow you to turn these beautiful pieces of nature into unique pieces of jewelry. Once a hole is made, colorful string or fabric can then be thread through the holes and formed into necklaces, bracelets, earrings and more.
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Things You'll Need
- Bucket
- Soapy water
- Toothbrush
- Pencil
- Vise or clamp
- Dremel
- Assorted bit sizes
Instructions
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1
Wash the shells in a bucket with soapy water to remove and sand or debris. If needed, use a toothbrush to gently scrub away any debris. Let the shells air dry.
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2
Draw a dot on the shell where you'd like to drill the hole. The spot selected should be approximately the thickness of a quarter.
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3
Place the shell in a vise or a clamp so that it stays stationary beneath the drill bit. Start with the smallest drill bit in the dremel.
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4
Drill slowly, stopping and starting to release pressure and being sure to hold the drill upright.
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5
Switch to a thicker drill bit and repeat Step 4. This step can be repeated as many times as needed with thicker drill bits until a hole with desired width has been reached.
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References
- Photo Credit A necklace made of shells. image by Saskia Massink from Fotolia.com
