Customer Spotlight - Sara Marsh

Our customer (and employee), Sara Marsh, recently shared some of her artwork with us and we thought we could share it with you.



Sara collects assorted pieces of glassware and china from thrift shops. Then, she stacks them, making a tower or garden totem.

The bottom piece of her garden totem is always a flower vase turned upside down. This “vase at the base” slides over the stake or stand that she uses to support and display her sculpture.

She drills one hole through the center of each piece of glass and china. A single wood screw and washer hold everything together and fastens the totem to stand.


She has used a variety of china pieces as the toppers for her garden totems. The one pictured here is a decorative teapot. 



Great idea. Thank you Sara!!!


For a detailed list of materials and tools needed to complete this project, as well as a step-by-step guide, please visit the How to Make a Glass Garden Totem page on our website.

If you have any original work featuring drilled glass, ceramics or tile, we’d love to feature it in our blog. Email us a short description of what you do, how you do it and a few pictures. Please keep in mind that we can only show original work.

Giving Back to Our Community - Shop with a Cop Program

This month we donated $100 to DeKalb Fraternal Order of Police's "Shop with a Cop" program. School children in the foster care system shop for back to school supplies and school clothing with a police officer. Several merchants in the area, including Walmart, recognize the program and give a 50% discount. Lets hear it for the men and women in blue, going above and beyond. All officers that help these kids do so on their own time, off-duty. We're glad to help this worthy cause!

Customer Spotlight - Monica Hancock

Our customer, Monica Hancock, was nice enough to share pictures of her work.

She collects glass chargers, dinner plates, salad plates, bread plates and small bowls from local thrift shops. She then layers them in an appealing color combination and drills a 1/8” or 3/16” hole through the plates and bowls.


The center of her flower is a glass drawer or cabinet pull. The threaded stem of the pull goes through the glass and through a wooden stake. The stake acts as the stem of the flower. The stems can also be made from copper pipes or electrical conduit. A washer and hex nut on the back of the stake hold everything in place.

To hold everything in place, you can either glue the glass pieces together or let the pressure from the drawer pull and nut hold everything in place. Place the “stem” in the ground and you’re done!

These flowers can also be mounted on fences, walls or anywhere you want some extra color in your home or yard.

Great idea. Thank you Monica!!!

If you have any original work, we’d love to feature it in our blog. Email us a short description of what you do, how you do it and a few pictures. We are only interested in original work.

Diamond Core Bits For Your Dremel Tool

“They’re Here! They’re Here!” Trumpets blare. Drums roll.

For years, one of the most common questions that we get is: “Can I use my Dremel tool to drill a hole, so I can put Christmas lights inside a wine bottle (or glass block)?”

For 10 years our answer had to be “No.” No one that we could find made a diamond core bit that would fit a rotary tool (such as Dremel) and would drill a hole large enough for Christmas lights.

One of our manufacturers just came out with a line of diamond core bits with a 1/8” shank. These core bits will fit your rotary tool. The bit sizes range from 1/8”, up to 15/32”.

½” seems to be just beyond the upper safety limit for a diamond core bit that can be used in a rotary tool, such as Dremel.

The 15/32” diamond core bit will fit in your rotary tool (such as Dremel) and drills a hole that is almost ½” in diameter. The miniature Christmas lights will fit through that hole. It’s tight, but they do fit.

If you’re making a large number of the lighted wine bottles or glass block you’ll still want to use a traditional 1/2” diamond core bit or 5/8” diamond core bit with your drill or drill press.

If you’re trying this for the first time and don’t want to go out and buy a new drill or drill press, then these new bits are for you.

You also have other sizes. The 1/4” diamond core bit and the 3/8” diamond core bit are good sizes for lamp cords and other electrical cords. I know that a lot of you drill holes in the bottom of decorative bottles to make lamps.

The 1/8” diamond core bit bit is a good size for hemp or leather cording.

Remember, you can always download a free copy of “How to Drill Glass, Tile and Stone.” Click here for your FREE copy.

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.