Interesting conversation fellas.

I was able to take some silversminthing classes from a very able silversmith a few years ago. He had come up with a way to do the piercing with a different twist.

He did some very small and intricut cut outs that required very small holes. He first took a awl sharpened to a very sharp fine point and did a center punch with it. Next he used a drill press however he rolated the arbor by hand so that he could cut very slow. He backed out repeatedly to clear chips. He also lubed bit with WD40 but I asume bur life would be better or any other lubricant would work.

Seems like there are multiple ways to do the same thing. I am not even close to any of your craftmanship folks so I do not mean to say this is the best way, but it does work. I learn a lot by reading your info on this web site. Thank you for sharing your hard earned experience!

Best reguards
Frank