Pearl drill recommendations

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Mostawesomecoffee

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I am thinking of buying a pearl drill. I am talking about the horizontal kind with the holder. I have seen some on ebay for as low as $150. Some by a brand that I can't remember off the top of my head (LOWE, maybe?) sells for over $800. What's the difference? longevity? method of operation? quality of the hole drilled? Thanks.
 
The cheaper ones are going to be from China and they should be suitable if you don't intend to do a lot of drilling. They are not nearly as powerful as the more expensive ones.

If you are going to be doing serious drilling, this is the one I recommend.
http://www.aajewelry.com/pearl-drilling-machine-japanese.html

It's the one we use. Even this one has to be replaced every 1-2 years though.
 
pearlescence said:
The basics of pearl drilling are easy, when it all goes by the book. But sometimes the pearls haven't read the book
Click to expand...

Agreed.

The cheaper drills are suitable for casual use, but come with warnings. Some drills and bits are not very precise in alignment and cause them to stray from center. It's problematic when "through" drilling. It's also an issue with baroque or off-round pearls, because the holes can ream too wide or bits break too often. It leaves you with unfinished pieces while you wait for more to ship. Worse yet, broken bits in pearls or broken pearls themselves offset the drill cost.

Practice with shell beads or cheap pearls before digging into valuable ones.
 
JerseyPearl said:
But I am curious as to how difficult it is...videos on line seem to make it look so easy.
Click to expand...

It's not difficult, but diligence is important. I drill tiny naturals more than big culturals. Every pearl needs it's own special attention.

If a bit appears to stray, I'll re-align the pearl slightly. I also tend to "choke up" on the bit a lot. Leaving only as much length needed to complete the drilling, without the chuck touching the pearl. I seem to break fewer bits and get straighter holes, but there's more heat created that can damage a pearl.

It's good to get sets with both nylon and brass collets. Nylon tends to slip if not firmly secured. Securing too firmly with brass can mark a pearl or not firm enough will destroy the surface if it slips.
 
Lagoon Island Pearls said:
It's not difficult, but diligence is important. I drill tiny naturals more than big culturals. Every pearl needs it's own special attention.

If a bit appears to stray, I'll re-align the pearl slightly. I also tend to "choke up" on the bit a lot. Leaving only as much length needed to complete the drilling, without the chuck touching the pearl. I seem to break fewer bits and get straighter holes, but there's more heat created that can damage a pearl.

It's good to get sets with both nylon and brass collets. Nylon tends to slip if not firmly secured. Securing too firmly with brass can mark a pearl or not firm enough will destroy the surface if it slips.
Click to expand...
Thank you for responding! I have no plans to begin drilling pearls, but curious nonetheless.
 
Also its worth looking at Otto Frey as they sell a Japanese brand .. I don't know if it's the same as Jeremy recommended .. and it goes without saying (tho Im saying it anyways lol ) that he would know which is the most reliable. The one that they sell used to be around 850$ but then they often do a 10% off sale. So it is something to compare the more expensive one to...
 
I use the Otto Frei Pepe Pearl & Bead Drilling Machine along with my Foredom power drill. It does work well if I'm careful and allows me to use my drill for other jewelry design purposes. That being said, I would still love to have the expensive professional Japanese pearl drills.
 
Two issues to watch are making sure the bit is sharp - they go blunt after about three pearls and that is when they heat up overmuch and break and the pearl cracks from the heat
Also a couple of years ago there was a spate of rock hard nuclei in freshwaters, and they were horrible to drill. Had to bounce the bit in and out and stop to let everything cool. Happily that seems to have stopped pretty much..probably due to the complaints from buyers and pearl factories.
 
You don't need to buy the most expensive. I'm on my second Chinese one in 12 or so years. I use the brass collets but put a course material Band aid over each one. I enjoyed reading your line Wendy.
 
Thanks, great advice. My biggest concern would be accuracy of the hole, i.e., the ability of the drill to stay on center. It is my understanding from the posts that the more expensive drills are more precise than the less expensive ones. Is there likely to be a difference in precision between the $800 Otto Frei Pepe and the $1,100 A&A Japanese drill?

Also, what brands of bits are worth looking at? Can/should bits be resharpened, or should they be discarded when dull?

Lagoon Island Pearls said:
"Securing too firmly with brass can mark a pearl..."
I don't understand this. In what way would a pearl be marked by a bit secured to firmly?

Finally, could a water-drip be used to mitigate heat build up, or would the water ruin the drill?

Thanks
 
I treat bits as disposable because they cost oence against the price of a pearl.
You just have to make sure the pearl is flipped right over 180degrees and not a smidge short. I've never had a problem and we have a chinese drill in use every day.
Not a great idea to put water near a mains device really. If the pearl gets hot just stop for a few minutes.
You'll damage the pearl if it isn't held firm by the cups. It will spin with the bit
 
Pearlescence,

So, You're saying that you use an inexpensive drill of $150 or so, and you can drill precise holes?

One more question: Is there a hole style that's considered ideal? Straight through? Angled to some degree?

I think I'm getting close to buying one!

Thanks.
 
Yes...and yes. Unless I wanted an angled one for some reason.
How much drilling are you planning?
(btw the real industrial strength ones have two drills which move into the pearl and meet in the middle, which is why you sometimes get that burr inside a pearl.. you know, the one which catches the needle until you turn the pearl then the needle will go through. The drills didn't quite make a clean right through hole)
 
In regards to the expensive versus the cheap one, if you're going to do a lot of drilling, I suggest spending the money to get the expensive one. If not, go with the Chinese. They both work, and sure the Chinese can last you for years, but they are very different machines. We use the expensive ones at the office and have an inexpensive Chinese machine at home.

I've used drill bits from Japan and China. Strangely enough, while the Japanese drill is superior, Chinese steel drill bits tend to last longer than the Japanese. They are also much cheaper.

You can sharpen drill bits. A lot of drills come with a sharpening wheel. You just have to be careful and make certain you're sharpening at the right angle so you don't sharpen to a point. When we drill large holes for leather, bits dull really quickly. Those large bits are the most expensive so it would be foolish not to re-sharpen them. You can dull a bit on just one pearl.
 
Last edited:
Another option just occurred to me. I have a full-sized drill press that is very precise, with absolutely no wobble. Does anyone make a jig so that this can be used for drilling pearls? I've looked around online but haven't found anything. thanks.
 
The thing is that you can't go right through in one go - because the nacre will split off very messily around the exit hole. Unless you mean some sort of a jig which can rotate the pearl
While not completely shooting down your idea I will point out that everyone, without exception drills horizontally and in two half operations or permutation thereof.
Again, are you planning to drill a lot of pearls? You haven't said. If not more than, say, five or ten a day, I'd say go with the chinese version. We're happy with ours.
 
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