Drilling Rocks at Twilight (sort of)

Last month, I blogged about my research into drilling rocks. I left off with having found info on how to do it, and the intention of trying it out myself. The big hurdle was getting over the ....um....fear of electrocution that goes along with placing part of an electrical power tool under water.

Right. So I did it...and survived. However, the whole experience was actually disappointing. I tried drilling through a pretty, blackish rock (a river stone) and, after several goes at it, I only got slightly into the rock. Worse still was this feeling of somehow, this whole process just wasn't right. How could I safely continue to drill under 1.5 inches of water? Even though only the drill bit was actually in the water (not the entire drill, of course!!), it still felt wrong.

Well, last Friday, I took a Glass Fusing class at Hot Flash Glass in Albuquerque. Karen, the wonderful glass artist who taught the class, showed me how she drills through glass. Instead of putting the whole thing underwater, she just tapes around the area where she will drill, and puts several drops of water inside the taped area, and drills away. It worked perfectly. You can add a drop or several as you go along, but amazingly, the water tends to kind of stay there, and go into the hole you are creating as you drill. The purpose of the water, after all, is to keep the drill bit and material cool, by, I would imagine, reducing friction. And it worked. 

A better method than putting a power tool, even partially, under water----eh?

On another topic, we finally saw Twilight. Oh my. Oh my oh my oh my. It was dreamily, beautifully, mesmerizingly wonderful. Just like Adam Lambert! :-) Count me in. Our website will be updated with our newest pendant designs very soon and I intend on making a Dazzle pendant for myself. And impatiently waiting a mere five months until...New Moon.