Hello everybody, I have lovely rough faceted diamond beads that I am having difficulty working with because of the ultra small holes. I can use 26 gauge wire in many but have learned they cut right through that gauge. Does anyone know how I can ream these beads? I have used diamond drill bits and reamers but it just wears the bit, not the bead.
Thanks very much in advance for your reply.
well, you can use a technique called EDM (Electronic discharge machining), but that is beyond the scope of most jewelry sized studios. Most likely this is how the hole was drilled to start with, or perhaps it was done with a laser
although I have never tried it, you could try burning the diamond away, after all, a diamond is pure carbon. So, a needle flame directed towards the hole opening, should ablate some of the material around the circumference of the hole. If a flame develops on the stone, extinguish by smothering (with sand)
Diamonds are not drilled with sintered burrs or drills but with diamond grit mixed into a paste with water or oil, usually water for ease of clean up, and driven by a rod or tube as the drill.
Thank you, Mark.
Thanks, Elliot.
Maybe you could put a piece of wire through each one and make loops on either side, snugging them up to the beads, maybe with tiny gold washers on either side, so the diamond didn’t get to move against the wire inside. (That action is probably what causes an ordinary bead cord to fail, since there’s no way it could stand up to the abrasion from the diamond rubbing against it.) Then link the loops together to make a necklace or whatever. It would be a a bit of a hassle to do, but probably easier than trying to ream (or burn) out the holes.
Thank you, awerby. It also adds a design element with possibilities.