How to hole a conker safely
There are several techniques for making a hole in a conker so you can string your conker, ready for a game. The best technique for holing a conker safely is to drill a hole rather using a hand drill (gimlet), rather than punching a hole using something like a BBQ skewer (a classic approach!).
The reason why drilling a hole in your conker is safer than punching a hole is two-fold. First, drilling is more controlled than punching a hole with a skewer, so you’re less likely to spear your hand; secondly, because the action of drilling is more controlled you’re less likely to split your conker - weakening it, and making it easier to beat.
Best & easiest way to hole a conker - use a hand drill
The best way to hole a conker is to use a hand drill as this gives you a high amount of control, and allows you to easily and safely make a hole in your conker.
You essentially use your hand drill like a cork screw, screwing the drill bit into the conker - making a hole as you do.
Key steps to holing a conker using a hand drill are:
Hold the conker in one hand and the hand drill in the other
Line up point of the drill to the centre of the conker, making sure the hand holding the conker isn’t covering the centre of the other side of the conker (so when the drill exits the conker, you don’t drill your hand at the same time!)
Screw the drill - similar to a cork screw action - so that the drill bit slowly drills into the conker
As you reach the the other side (exit point) of the conker but, make sure you take care so as not to damage / split the conker’s husk.
Once you’ve made the initial hole, push the drill bit back and forth to clear out any additional conker material so you make a clean and clear hole
How to drill to hole a conker
If you don’t have a hand drill, you can use a power drill - however this is a lot more dangerous, and is only recommended if you have experience using power tools.
Here’s a quick guide to drilling a conker with a power drill:
Correct drill bit size: we’d recommend using a size 4.5 or 5 drill bit for making a hole in your conker. This will give a large enough hole to thread your string through - but not too big to damage the integrity of your conker.
Protective gloves: we recommend you wear protective leather gloves to hold the conker, so that if the drill bit slips you protect your hands from the whirring drill.
Hand position: make sure you hold the conker in such a way that when the drill exits the far size it doesn’t go through your hand. No matter how good your protective gloves are, you don’t want to drill your hand whilst holing your conker!
Conker drill technique
Bradawl technique - punching a hole in a conker
Bradawls are designed to make holes / indentations in wood, so are a good fit with making a hole in a conker - as the husk of a conker has the same hardness as a piece of wood.
The technique for using a bradawl is similar to using a hand drill, however rather than a drilling action, you need to push / punch the bradawl through the conker. As a tip, turning the bradawl’s point through the conker will make it easier and give you more control, than just using pure physical strength!
As with the drilling technique, one key safety tip is to make sure you’re not covering the ‘exit side’ with your hand, as you’ll end up skewering your hand with the bradawl - which will be very painful ;-(
N.B. if you have the option, we’d recommend using a hand drill over a bradawl - as ‘drilling' a hole is much better than ‘punching a hole’.
Hammer & nail technique for holing a conker
A common technique for holing a conker is using a hammer & nail - however this is a technique we wouldn’t advise, as 1) Generally the hole created by a nail won’t be big enough to thread string through 2) Hitting a nail through a conker is dangerous, with a high likelihood of hitting your hand
That said, if you want to try to hit a nail through a conker, then we’d advise:
Size of nail: choose a thick nail, so that the hole you make is big enough to thread a piece of string
Solid bench: make sure the surface you place the conker on is firm - and also not precious - as the nail will come out the other side and puncture the surface. Using an old piece of wood under the conker is a useful tip.
Protective gloves: to hold the conker we’d advise wearing protective gloves, incase you hit your hand.
BBQ skewer technique for holing a conker
Many people use kitchen implements - like a BBQ skewer - to make a hole in their conker. We generally wouldn’t recommend this, as BBQ skewers aren’t designed to make a hole in tough objects - and are only really designed for skewering soft vegetables.
The reason we don’t recommend using a kitchen skewer to hole a conker is that because it’s not really sharp enough, you are more likely to create an accident and skewer your hand.
Video guide to drilling a conker
We’ve put together this comprehensive video guide, showing you step-by-step instructions of how best to drill a conker safely.
Tips on how to make the best hole in a conker
Drill rather than punch: our overall tip is that drilling is better than punching when it comes to making a hole in your conker - as drilling provides more control and is less likely to damage the conker (and you!)
Hardening: if you’re artificially hardening a conker (e.g. using vinegar or putting it in the oven) then make your hole before your harden it, otherwise you’ll struggle
Ageing: if you’re ageing your conker (another technique for hardening), we recommend holing your conker after the ageing process, as otherwise you’re more likely to rot your conker nut and therefore weaken it. That said, making a hole in an old / aged conker is really difficult - and requires a professional drill rig.
Tips on how to string a conker
Obviously the stage after holing your conker is to then string it. Our top tips for stringing your conker are:
Hole size: make the hole big enough to easily push your string through
Knot size: make sure your knot is well tied and big enough (so the conker doesn’t slip through)
String strength: make sure the conker string you use is strong enough. For example, a show lace is generally better than twine.
That’s all our tips for holing and stringing your conker - happy conkering!