You are here: >> > Drilling Polymer Clay

Drilling Polymer Clay Beads

Drilling holes in polymer clay
Drilling holes in polymer clay

In this tutorial I'll be comparing drilling polymer clay using a hand drill with piercing raw clay with a piercing pin. I hope to show you how easy it is to use the manual drill and the far superior results it delivers.

When I first started working with polymer clay, I made holes in my beads when they were raw, using a piercing pin. It was easy, but it tended to distort the shapes of my beads. I didn't want to drill when they were baked, because that meant I would have had to use a power drill and I found that intimidating.

You can imagine my relief when I found out about a manual or push drill. It is so easy to use and gives beautiful professional results.


You will need the following supplies:


Drilling Polymer Clay Beads With a Hand Drill

So to start I’ll give a run down on using the piercing pin, which is what you’ll tend to use to drill raw polymer clay.

What I like about it:
  • It’s faster to do it this way than when the bead is baked.
  • It’s less intimidating.
  • It's inexpensive.
What I don't like about it:
  • It doesn’t give a clean hole.
  • It will distort your shape.
  • It makes it more difficult to use resin.
Now for the manual drill, which is best used when the clay is baked.

What I like about it:
  • It leaves a clean hole.
  • It doesn’t distort your beads.
  • It's inexpensive.
  • It's not too intimidating.
  • You don't have to worry about resin getting into your bead holes.
What I don't like about it:
  • It takes a while to drill through the polymer clay beads.
  • If you make a mistake it can be hard to fix.
An electric or battery operated drill can also be used to make holes in polymer clay.

What I like about it:
  • It’s really fast to drill through.
  • It leaves a really clean hole.
  • It doesn't distort the shape of your bead.
  • You don't have to worry about resin getting into your bead holes.
What I don't like about it:
  • It's intimidating and takes a while to learn how to use.
  • It's more expensive than the other two options.
  • If you make a mistake you will likely be unable to salvage your piece.
Overall I recommend the manual drill. It’s easy to use, inexpensive and produces a professional result. Using a manual drill has made a massive difference to my work and I don’t know how I got along without one.


Drilling Polymer Clay Beads

please like and share!

suggested links

If you still have questions, please leave a comment below.


You can like my Facebook page to stay up to date with more polymer clay tutorials like this one as they are released.


other articles in this series

You may also like:



Please leave your comments below:

You are here: >> > Drilling Polymer Clay

TOP OF THE PAGE