A.W. -
I've used fossil coral quite a bit and love it, I know you will too if you follow these directions....
1) Prepare to drill by getting a "new" piece of wood to back up the coral when drilling. I'll explain in a second.
2) Use a new sharp bit. In your press, drop your bit all the way down until it just touches the wood. Adjust your drill press table to this height. You only want the very tip of the bit to exit the other side - enough so you can see it to drill back through the other direction.
3) Have a clean sheet of paper handy. You will be gathering up the coral dust created when drilling. This is why you need a new board. Previously drilled "backer boards" have holes and saw dust that will catch the coral dust and/or mix wood dust with it. Not good.
4) Drill with only light pressure until your bit stops where it was set. Gather the coral dust.
5) Flip the coral and drill the other direction. This should give you clean holes. Catch the dust.
Now fold up the paper and save the dust. When you pin the coral, you have a greater chance of "chip out" so be careful. Mix the dust with a small amount of epoxy and spread it around the pins and the holes. Let it set up. If you did it all correctly, it should look perfect. Last note - don't peen the pins - don't even give them that last "just to be sure" whack - just get them in place. Let the epoxy do the job and you will be fine.
Grinding - no big deal other than the coral will grind away much faster than wood or any other material that you use for handles so be careful.
Sanding and Buffing - coat the area with super glue when you get above 220 grit to seal the pores. Reapply coats of glue between grits. When buffing, refrain from buffing it too much, it doesn't take much to get it shiny with a good super glue finish. Good luck!
Oh yeah, one last thing....post a pic when you're done - I'd love to see it!
__________________
Best regards,
Wayne
Full Time Maker
Member of the Professional Knifemakers Association
www.jarrettknives.com
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