turning a piece of fossilized coral into a charm?

Hokay, so I just got back from Eilat (resort town on the Red Sea), and I always add a charm to my bracelet when I travel somewhere. This time I found a piece of fossilized coral, and want to make it into a charm. I'm not sure how to go about doing it, though; I don't want to risk breaking the piece by drilling or punching a hole through it, but I'm not sure if I trust glue in this instance, since I REALLY don't want it to fall off.

What would you all do? Advice from jewelry vets is deeply appreciated!!!


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6 replies since 22nd April 2010 • Last reply 22nd April 2010

Usually you would use an Archimedes drill for drilling through stuff like that, thay are very cheap as they are a hand tool. You can buy them online, I used to collect seashells and one of my books suggested one for drilling through shells to make them into jewellery so I'm sure one would work on your coral=)

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You could always try wire wrapping it...

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i did consider wire-wrapping. ill probably do that if nobody else can come up with anything interesting or that im able to do. Happy

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Hi Rachie. It depends on the size and shape of the piece. There are wire cages that you can get in the shape of a ball to put a stone in.

Most glues that you mix like Araldite (two part glues), where there is a hardener, would work well for fitting a bell cap or similar. It's like a cone shaped piece of metal which you can thread a head pin through to make a loop attachment. If it's not quite the right shape it can be flatterned.

There are also some cement glues which work well. Any that are suitable for fixing pottery or ceramics would work. Sorry I don't have names.

Archimedes drill would work ok for drilling as Laurel suggested. You would need to use something like a scriber to make a mark first so it doesn't slip around. If you do drill use a drill bit wax so it doesn't get stuck or cause too much friction as it could crack the fossil. Be careful where you drill too as there will be fault lines in the rock that may split.
Hope this helps Happy

Ps I have a fossil egg cup which I managed to break part of the base off. I used super glue to fix it. It's been used and washed so many times and is still together Happy

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So, I decided that I want to do a wire-wrap, since I already have the wire, etc. Turns out, though, that it's harder than it looks!!! :-P I want to do something with beads in it, too....

What do you all think?

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Hi Rachie, there's a really good tutorial on this site for wire wrapping. It would be easy to put beads with it. If you use a wire attachment method it would look great.

Make a loop on your wire, thread through the bead and trim the wire to leave about 1cm. Then make another loop. That way you can keep the metal theme going throughout your design.

I sometimes put a smaller bead either side of a large one so I don't have to make too many links for a necklace. You can also just use the beads for the front length and add chain for the bit that goes round your neck.

Hope this helps Happy

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/stone_pendants

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