Pearl drill recommendations

I'm not planning to do much drilling; I'm just a hobbyist. If I consistently did a dozen per month, I'd be surprised. I would, however, want a drill that drills precisely. Based upon the responses, I'm going with a Chinese drill. What sorts of tips for technique should I familiarize myself with? Blowout was mentioned. I'll do an online search and will probably come up with some info. Are there any books that would address this? Thanks.
 
Katbran said:
I said I wanted a pearl drill for Christmas.....I opened this tiny little present and my DH said ... they told me these would fit in your Dremel I hope they are the right ones.... as I looked down at my two little pearl drill bits.....well...he tried...
Click to expand...
Aww... my husband is like yours... not quite getting the pearl thing. :/
 
In terms of price for quality, I still think the best drill is the one Yotsuba sells. You buy it direct from them in Japan. It costs about $550.00 which is cheaper than any of the Japanese drills mentioned above, and is of excellent quality. It is very precise with a good, strong motor. We sometimes drill hundreds of pearls a day and it just keeps on working well. I am sure I will have to replace it after several years of intense use, but so far, so good. You can buy it directly here: http://www.yotsuba.ne.jp/english/archives/2015/02/520.html
You will also need to purchase the set of pearl holders which are quit cheap. Get the ones with the rubber ring as they grip the pearl better. Happy drilling!
 
Drill bits? Really? Husband Fail! Oh well, he probably has many other charms!
 
Hubby here got so worked up about me asking for a pearl drill for Christmas ... for the first time ever, mostly all by himself and the help of the wonderful Sarah C at Kojima, got me ... pearls ... drilled, strung and ready to wear ... he said it would be cheaper LOL.
 
Oh Cathy great story and you scored pearls :) congratulations!!!!!!
 
Y'all have such nice husbands. I think I tainted mine. He only got me dog items (dog beds and doggie bags, as in poop bags!) for Christmas. I asked about a serious gift and he said he figured I already bought my own. In his defense, I did buy some things for myself, but nothing designated for Christmas, so I guess that means I get to go shopping!!! :D

Cathy, your hubby is right... once you get a pearl drill, you will always be buying pearls. There is no end in sight because you can buy any kind of pearl and drill it any way you like! There have been quite a few times I didn't buy a pearl because it wasn't drilled.
 
Hi Mostawesomecoffee
Wise choice I think, given you will not be using it a lot. Pearl drilling is not some mystical art, success comes with experience really, although always be prepared to be surprised.
I did a short video on drilling a pearl which you can find here . To my surprise it went perfectly straightforwardly. I've mentioned a couple of speed bumps you can encounter earlier.
Katbran. Oh no! I suppose he tried..but only a bit....
 
pearlescence said:
Hi Mostawesomecoffee
Wise choice I think, given you will not be using it a lot. Pearl drilling is not some mystical art, success comes with experience really, although always be prepared to be surprised.
I did a short video on drilling a pearl which you can find here . To my surprise it went perfectly straightforwardly. I've mentioned a couple of speed bumps you can encounter earlier.
Katbran. Oh no! I suppose he tried..but only a bit....
Click to expand...

Now I'm going to watch that video! This forum is the best!
 
Thanks for the vid. I purchased a Chinese drill (with the black motor, found on Ebay). It cost me about $100 (including shipping). Knockoffs of the Otto Frei are available on Ebay also for about $300. I assumed either would be just as good as the other, which is why I went with the cheaper one. As the drill is now, it's unusable. The chuck is press-fit to the motor spindle, and is mis-aligned. There is a machine shop near me that might be able to fix it, but maybe not. I don't know if it's even worth fixing. There are other issues. When flipping the pearl from one side to the other, there is not perfect alignment. In the process of flipping, I can see that the pearl is held off-axis. The problem is with the holder; it's not centered properly. I don't know if this can be fixed.

Finally, the whole assembly that holds the pearl slides in grooves. There is play between the assembly and the base, and between the part that holds the pearl and the rest of the sliding assembly. These problems can be overcome simply by holding the sliding parts hard to one side, making sure that there is no wobble once drilling starts. Returning the drill is not an option, as it would cost $50 in shipping. I might just resell it.

I wonder if the Otto Frei knockoffs are any better. I sort of doubt it. The Yotsuba drill looks like it might be better. There are fewer moving parts in the sliding assembly, and it moves on rails. Of course, the rail configuration will only be superior if the tolerance is tight.

I'm looking at the following options. Maybe someone can offer some advice:

1. I'll try to fix this machine, leaving the re-pressing of the chuck until last, since that will require calling in a favor.
2. I'll buy the Yotsuba drill.
3. I wonder if a standard machine lathe would be able to drill pearls. If so, I can get one used for the price of the Yotsuba, as well as perform many other tasks. I'd think that a lathe would at least be built with tight tolerances. The only issue here (other than increased cost) is whether a lathe is capable of flipping a pearl over to drill from the other side.
4. Maybe someone here with a properly working drill could drill a few for me. I'd pay, of course. Please PM me if interested. I'd also want some non-pearl beads drilled (soda glass and marble stone). If I have a hole drilled by someone else, and later decide that I want a larger hole, would it be easy to ream the hole out with a hand twist-drill, or would I still need some sort of proper "pearl" drill?

Thanks.
 
As the drill you received seems to be "defective" there may be some recourse if you paid via paypal. Yotsuba has an excellent reputation. I wanted that brand, but think the price was higher because of the exchange when I bought my pearl drill, so I went with a cheaper one, which also had alignment issues, which may be fixed. (I need to practice with it again.) But I mostly purchase drilled pearls or have my suppliers custom drill for me, which they do for free.

You likely can find info & techniques on how to drill stones and glass if you do a google and youtube search.

Pearls are simple to ream out as they are soft on the Mohs scale. Some use a dremel or drill; I have an inexpensive electric reamer with diamond coated bit.

Flipping the pearl and having the holes align is certainly the issue!!
 
If you paid with paypal send it back immediately. Buy the proper thing from the manufacturer in China. I can look up the name for you. they can also supply bits by the 100s
This is clearly a 'you get what you pay for' situation. Probably not wise to try to over-economise
 
Hi Mostawesomecoffee,

I would go ahead and buy the Yotsuba drill. It's a high quality Japanese drill with a strong motor and does not have any alignment issues. We use this drill a lot - and it has been holding up great for us. And it's less expensive than the other Japanese ones sold in the USA, for comparable quality.
I would stay away from the lathe as it will not be able to align both sides like the Japanese pearl drill does. Yotsuba's rail mechanism works really well and seems very reliable and precise every single time.

For the drilling, I'll send you a PM now.
 
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Regarding paypal and returning the drill, I did buy it from the Chinese manufacturer, not a dealer in the U.S. I'll certainly contact paypal and see what can be done. When purchased, the terms were that returns are acceptable within 30 days, however I must pay return shipping (to China). The drill probably weighs about 8 lbs. I can imagine this will cost quite a bit.

As for the Yotsuba drill, a descriptor says: "available 20mm wide drilling at maximum." Does this mean that the bead size maximum is 20mm, or the cup size? I'd like to drill beads of greater than 20mm. Thanks.
 
Hi
What sort of beads? Phew..pearls over 20mm or didn't you mention glass beads? They can't be drilled with a pearl drill. They need a diamond bit and underwater. Totally different set up. Probably different again for precious and semi precious stones.
 
Check on your Pay Pal as they have some sort of Shipping return refund thingy for situations like this where something is defective. You'll need to sign up for it .. I got an email from them a week ago or so about it.

As for the redrilling .. It's really easy to redrill. I've got a dremel...and now I have Pearl Drill Bits ...(yes I got your joke Wendy...he did try "a bit" l0l ) it's pretty easy. I think it's worth having a small drill with a small pen like hand piece so you don't have the weight of a hand drill to deal with.

And yes...drilling Glass is pretty tricky. You need a proper set up ... water + electricity ... the rotation of the bit can draw water up into the drill and it has to be drilled with water or the glass will break... it can break and chip easily anyway. Definitely read up on how to do it..I have drilled Sea Glass and believe me it's not easy when you don't know what you're doing ! ha Lots of youtube stuff on how to do it .

And just a warning...do be very careful on buying cheap electrical goods from China. Make sure you have it plugged into a surge outlet.
 
OK, so now I have officially gone off the deep end, eating my words....I bought the Japanese pearl drill recommended by Jacques in the post above. Now I just need a cheap source for "practice pearls" to test out if I've really lost my marbles. BTW, Yotsuba sells a double pearl drill, the kind that can drill both ends at one time!
 
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