“How do you make those holes in the sea glass?” This is a question Bruce and I are often asked at art shows.  Our usual response is, “Very carefully”.  As there seemed to be a lot of interest in making sea glass jewelry, we decided, with the encouragement of a fellow artist and the use of her studio, to teach Sea Glass Jewelry Making Techniques.  Over 300 students have gone through our classes. However, there came a point when we could no longer keep up the teaching schedule and still produce our jewelry line. As much as we loved teaching, we made the decision to discontinue our classes. We still get requests for classes from former students who want to take a refresher course.

We made this video, which will hopefully help you learn the techniques to make sea glass jewelry from your sea glass collection.

Important things you need to know about drilling sea glass:

1. Do not attempt to drill you favorite piece of sea glass until you have Practiced, Practiced, Practiced on your “almost cooked” sea glass.
2. If you are blowing out the backside of the glass, you are either pushing down too hard on the glass when drilling or you need to replace the drill bit.  You should get about 50 holes drilled with a good quality drill bit.
3. Not all glass is created equal.  Whites and greens are easiest to drill.  Cornflower and cobalt blues are fragile and break easily.
4. Make sure you are not drilling on a stress line in the glass.
5. Always wear safety glasses.
6. Do not let go of the sea glass while drilling!

We hope these tips will help you to enjoy creating your own lovely pieces of sea glass jewelry. Please feel free to contact us with any questions regarding drilling sea glass.  Our contact information is on our website.