Practice Drilling Holes in Glass Bottles

If you've never drilled holes in glass before, or are looking for a way to practice, the above video shows a way to build up some skill before you begin working on your project.

The person drilling appears to be an expert. For those who aren't, you may want to take some precautions before mimicking the actions in the video.

First, as a beginner, you should seriously consider wearing gloves. While gloves may seem inconvenient or unnecessary, they will come in handy if the glass accidentally breaks. You can ditch the gloves once you feel confident that you have a good handle on what you're doing, but until then, it's better to be safe, than sorry.

Second, you'll notice that the person is using a plugged-in electric drill under running water. This should be done with extreme care. Don't attempt this if your electric cord is too short or if you have any distractions going on in the background.

When taking the proper precautions, this method can be a good way to fine tune your drilling. Whether you wish to fine tune your drilling technique or determine which drill bit would produce the exact hole you desire, practice makes perfect! Please keep in mind that this can be dangerous, so proceed with caution. If you don't feel comfortable doing this, then the best thing is to not do it.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave us a comment, or check out our free guide, "How to Drill Glass, Tile and Stone."

Granite Drill Bits vs. Glass Drill Bits and Pilot Bits

We usually only address one issue or question with each post, but this week we were asked two very good questions in the same e-mail. So, we thought that we would take a shot at answering both questions.

1. What’s the difference between Granite Drill Bits and Glass Drill Bit?

Glass drill bits are electroplated, while drill bits for granite and concrete are sintered. With glass bits, the diamonds are electroplated to the surface of a stainless steel blank, using a nickel bonding material. The diamonds are just on the surface.

Granite drill bits are sintered. The diamonds are mixed in a softer metal. As this metal wears away, new diamonds are constantly being exposed.

Glass drill bits will drill granite and concrete, but will wear out very quickly, maybe before the first hole is drilled.

Granite drill bits will drill glass, but they leave a hole with very rough edges. With most applications, additional smoothing and polishing would probably be necessary and the "blowout" on the back side of the glass is more common and more extensive.

2.) Shouldn’t these ”diamond core bits” have a pilot bit?

We've seen a few diamond core bits with pilot bits, but it's simply a marketing issue, because most people think that the bits should have a pilot bit, so one manufacturer puts a pilot bit in. Most manufacturers do not.

The pilot bit would have to be centered in the same way that the core bit has to be centered: Using a notched piece of scrap wood, plastic etc.,  or used in a drill press or started at a 45 degree angle. If you have to do that with the pilot bit, you might as well just do it with the diamond core bit.

In addition, the pilot bits will also wear out much more quickly and will have to be replaced more often. In our blog post from April 4th, we tackled the question about using pointed (pilot) bits: "Do Pointed Drill Bits Work Better?"

For more answers to your questions, you can always download a free copy of “How to Drill Glass, Tile and Stone." Click here for your FREE copy.

Do Pointed Drill Bits Work Better?

A good question. Seems intuitive. Drill bits for wood come to a point. Knives work better when they’re sharp; Scissors too.

Why don’t we sell glass drill bits that are pointed and sharp? We do recommend pointed drill bits, but they’re for special uses, such as reaming out the clogged holes in beads.

Pointed bits are easy to use for one or two holes, or maybe only half of a hole. But as soon as the point wears out, they stop drilling.

The real problem with pointed drill bits is… the point. The point goes in first and the rest of the drill bit follows. The point is the smallest and narrowest part of the drill bit: that means fewer diamonds.  There’s just less room at the point. The point will wear out first.

Remember those yellow number 2 pencils in school? The point of those pencils always wore out first.  If the point of your pencil wore out or was broken it really didn’t matter how much lead was in the rest of the pencil. Like those pencils, when the point wears, the rest of the drill bit won’t matter either.

For drilling holes in glass, stone and tile, we suggest that you use a diamond drill bit with a round end or a diamond core bit — neither of which is pointed or sharp.

The point is: always use a diamond core bit or a round end bit. You’ll get a lot more holes drilled for your money.

For more on drilling, read our guide, “How to Drill Glass, Tile and Stone.” Click here for your FREE copy.

Giving Back at DiamondBurs

In February, DiamondBurs bought $175 of Girl Scout cookies and had them sent to US troops stationed overseas. We're glad that we could help bring a little bit of "home" to our servicemen and servicewomen away from their families. The bonus was that we were also able to help the Girl Scouts, a terrific organization helping young girls become community service minded young women. Thank you for your business. We know that your business makes this possible!

Can I Drill Sea Glass?

I’ve collected tons of sea glass. Now I want to do something with it.

Can I drill holes in it and make jewelry?

This is one of the most common questions that we get and it’s really a “twofer.” The second question that always comes with it is, “which drill bit do I use to drill holes in my sea glass?”

Two great questions! Two very popular questions! Unfortunately, with no right answer.

It’s a matter of personal preference. We recommend that you use a drill bit with a rounded end, either a round ball or a round end cylinder.  

The rounded (spherical) end puts twice as many diamonds in contact with the glass as a flat end cylinder.  

If I could find my 9^th grade Geometry teacher, I would like to tell him that those formulas for finding the area of a circle and a sphere came in handy. Took a long time but I finally did use them. Who would have thought?

The two most popular bits for drilling sea glass are the 1/16” and 1/20” bits. The holes they drill are a good size for almost all beading wires, fishing line, jump rings and earring findings. The 1/20” is just a little smaller. Both will fit in a drill, drill press, Dremel tool or rotary tool.  

You can see them both at the Drill Sea Glass section of our website. They’re also both included in the ”Beginner’s Sea Glass Set.”

So, no right answer but two answers that are a lot more popular for drilling sea glass. If you want more information about drilling sea glass and sea shells, you can download a copy of "How to Drill Sea Glass" from our website.

Can I Drill Glass Without Using Water?

Yes, you can drill glass without using water, but you probably shouldn’t. I agree, setting up a water bath or a spray bottle can be a pain and it can make drilling messier.

You can drill “dry” with any diamond drill bit. But, the bit will burn up - Guaranteed!

Diamonds are incredibly hard. Much harder than the glass, tile or stone that you’re drilling. However, the friction created by drilling heats up the glass or tile and the diamond bit. So hot that they can actually turn red and glow.

We’ve had customers tell us that they use WD-40, brake fluid, mineral oil, antifreeze and kerosene as coolant/lubricants. All are interesting choices but none work as well as water with a drop or two of dishwashing soap. Not enough soap to make it sudsy, but just enough to break the surface tension of the water.  

Water is also the easiest to clean up afterwards. Have you ever tried getting WD-40 out of a glass block or a wine bottle? You don’t want to!

Using a water bath or spray will pay off. You trade 30 seconds of extra drilling time for a bit that will last two or three times as long. It’s a bargain. You don’t want your drill bits to end up like the picture above.

You can download a free copy of “How to Drill Glass, Tile and Stone” by clicking here.

How Fast Should I Drill?

One of the most common questions we receive from our customers regards the speed of your drilling:
“I’m drilling glass, how fast should I drill?” or “I read that I can drill at 450,000 revolutions per minute (RPM). My Dremel tool will only go to 35,000 RPM.  Can I still drill glass?”

You can find all sorts of information and more importantly, misinformation on the web about drilling glass, tile and stone.

The right drilling speed for one application doesn’t always carry over to another. Circumstances, materials and tools all make a difference. Your family dentist uses diamond drill bits in his dental drill at extremely high speeds up to 450,000 RPM.

We recommend a much, much slower drill speed for sea glass, shells, tile, etc. If you’re drilling small holes, only about 1500-3000 RPM.

Diamond core bits for drilling wine bottles, glass bottles and glass block, even slower. Usually in the range of 600-1000 RPM. That’s usually the slowest setting on a drill press. Or, about one-quarter to one-half of the top speed of a hand-held power drill.

By using a slower drill speed and lots of coolant, you minimize the amount of heat created from friction. Your bits will last considerably longer than drilling at a high speed.

True; you will drill holes faster at high speeds, but only a little faster and you will wear out the bits 10 times as fast because of the extra heat.

So, what if your drill, rotary tool or air tool doesn’t have a speed that slow?

Then we adjust to the tool. Use an “up and down” motion while drilling. Drill for 4-5 seconds, then lift up for 4-5 seconds to let coolant flood the drill hole and allow the bit to cool. Then, drill for 4-5 seconds, and lift up. You’ll minimize the heat from friction, just like drilling at a slower speed.

Many of the bits that are returned to us as "defective" have black, brown, blue and yellow "burn" marks on them. This is actually the result of too much heat from drilling too fast. We honor the guarantee, but very few of the bits are actually defective. Most were accidentally misused. It's a new experience for most of our customers. Drilling glass is a little bit different than drilling into a wooden 2 by 4. 

For more detailed information about drilling, download your copy of our FREE drilling guide by clicking here.

Good luck with your project! Let us know of any topics or questions you would like us to cover in future blog posts. And as always, we love project photos from our customers.