I thought the dollar store glass jars would crack if I drilled them, then my neighbor in Akron proved me wrong
I always figured those $1.25 glass jars were too cheap to mess with, so I kept buying the $8 candle holders at Target instead. Last Saturday my neighbor Deb showed me how she fills a jar with water, wraps a towel around it, and uses a 1/4 inch diamond bit at low speed with a little dish soap. Her lids fit the jars perfect and she made 6 plant pots for under $10. Has anyone here drilled the small mason jars without cracking them, or is it just the wide mouth ones that survive?
The trick with the small mason jars is keeping the bit wet the whole time and going slow, like really slow. I picked up a cheap diamond bit set online and practiced on a pickle jar first before touching anything I cared about. What worked for me was building a little dam out of plumber's putty around the drill spot and filling it with water so the bit never dries out. The small jars actually survive fine as long as you don't push hard, let the bit do the work and don't rush it. I've done maybe a dozen now and only lost two, both times because I got impatient and cranked up the speed.