Expert: Sam Kelly - 12/30/2008

Question
Hi! I made a ring bowl for a friend, and it has two small holes (about 1/4 inch in diameter)for me to pull a string through it. The problem is, after glazing and firing it, one of the holes was sealed with the glaze. I tried to poke it with everything, but the hole is still sealed.

Is there any way I can poke a hole through the glaze without breaking the bowl?

Thanks!

Answer
Hi Munyee(strange name, is it a traditional name matched to culture).

there is only one way to do it, and that's with a masonry drill.

http://www.sutton.com.au/Consumer/MasonryDrills

they are drill bits used to drill into cement etc.

the trick is to go as slow as possible, because as the drill breaks through the other side the bit tends to grab and thats when things break, at this stage its better to do it by hand, the drill bit between your fingers.

Sam