You may have noticed the modified faceting dops on the home page. These dops have a smaller hole drilled down the center of the cone to create a hole about a quarter to a half inch deeper into the dop. Then a small hole is cross drilled to meet the center drilled hole. The size of the drilled holes and the depth of the center drilled holes depend on the size of the faceting dop.
Now you are wondering why I did this to the dops. As I do all of my transfers with 2 part epoxy, I wanted a way for the solvent to get behind the epoxy when the gemstone is dopped in larger cone style dop. The smallest dop that I have made these modifications too is a 3/16″ dop. Some people have problems with the culet breaking off when using epoxy in cone style dops. This modification allows for a greater size area behind the culet. If extra epoxy gets on the tip/culet, there is a place for it to expand into. You do not need epoxy on the very tip of the stone to hold it in the cone dop unless it is a very small stone.
My modified dops were made using a metal lathe and a small milling machine. I’m sure you could make these modifications on a drill press as long as you have some sort of vise to hold the dops securely. If you do not feel comfortable making these modifications , your best bet is to find someone with metal working skills and equipment. If you like using epoxy to dop stones, I believe you will find this helps to make the removal much easier.