Newbie to tile drilling

I've never indulged in drilling holes in tiles before. What are the chances of my cracking the tile? (I'll be using a proper bit.)

Any advice on how to avoid cracking tiles?

Reply to
Timothy Murphy
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Proper bit, slow speed, firm but not hard pressure, lubricate if practicable. You should be fine. (NB - use non-hammer setting, of course!)

Reply to
Steve Walker

Put masking tape on the spot and start drilling without hammer action until you are through the tile.

Mike

Reply to
MuddyMike

With a proper bit, it's almost foolproof (having done a few...)

For glazed tiles, I go with:

1) Mark the drill point with a "sharpie" or soft pencil.

2) Bit in drill, not running, centre the point on the mark and apply a little pressure until a slight "crunch" is heard - that's the point breaking the glaze

3) Without removing the drill, start it dead slow and the go slow - let the drill work its own way through.

When the largest part of the tile bit is through the glaze, switch drills to a masonry bit *no larger* than the tile bit and complete the drilling into the wall itself.

The old adage of a bit of tape to stop the bit slipping is when using a plain masonry drill - generally, IME, tile bits bite true without fuss.

I have not yet tried drilling stone or slate or porecelaine...

Reply to
Tim Watts

I would also practice a couple of times on an old tile just to get a feel for it.

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Reply to
SS

In message , SS wrote

I've recently used the Bosch Multi Purpose Drill for ceramic tiles and it works well Example price for a set:

Reply to
Alan

I have generally used cheap masonry drills which have small tungsten carbide tips. I also have a bench grinder with a stone for sharpening TCT bits. A small sharp bit will crunch nicely into the glaze and I would then use a slow speed to go through the rest of the tile with little force, trying my best to keep the drill perpendicular to the wall. And continue into the wall if need be.

Reply to
Fredxx

There are tiles and there are tiles. Most with a pottery style biscuit (i.e. the non glazed bit on the back) are easy to drill with a tile drill or even a good masonry bit (the Bosch multi material bits work well).

Use firm pressure - place bit into position with the drill off and push, listen until you hear the cracking of the glaze. Speed up from 0 to moderate speed until through the glaze, then you can go faster. Once through the tile, you can revert to masonry drilling techniques.

If you have the hardest porcelain tiles, then for get all of the above! You will either need a grit edged holesaw for tiles (see ebay), or a solid carbide tile bit[1] with constant water spray for lubrication.

[1] 'kin expensive (say £25 each), will drill 20 holes if you treat it well. Might take 20+ mins per hole. You need high pressure (25kg), water, and a speed of 700 - 900 rpm.

Slim

Make sure they are well stuck, use constant pressure and no hammer action.

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Reply to
John Rumm

John Rumm wrote: [snip]

Or a diamond core drill with water lubrication. Will only take a few seconds per hole. But you will the need a conventional drill to drill into the wall behind the tile.

With a diamond core for porcelain you will need a special drill with water cooling or an add on cooling kit. The drills will cost £25-45 depending on diameter.

I actually think for some of this work what we need is a list if people willing to turn up and do Minor works for beer/petrol.

Reply to
Steve Firth

On Jul 24, 10:14=A0pm, Steve Firth wrote:.

With small fixing holes the spear-point diamond drills are a bit slower but are easier to centre.

Wherever possible, I do porcelain/stone drilling before fixing, in a big plastic tub (pound shop, designed for under-bed storage) slung under the pillar drill with a bit of 25mm ply under the tile to avoid the obvious accident otherwise waiting to happen.

Reply to
Bolted

Depends on how well the adhesive was spread when the tiles were fitted. Flat wall, even spread, thus evenly supported tiles are unlikely to crack. Unevenly supported tiles and drilling where there is little/no support chances are high if you apply to much pressure.

As for the drilling what everyone else has said, though I tend to use a (manual) center punch without a hammer tap to break the glaze at the correct spot as it's easier to manouver a small light punch compared to a big heavy drill and bit.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

You need the same sort of cooling for the solid carbide ones as well.

Not sure what the quality of these will be like, but they do claim to go to hardness rating 5:

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I actually think for some of this work what we need is a list if people

Reply to
John Rumm

Its an easy job, not much chance of craking, if done right. Put masking tape on the tile, use a spear tile bit, run at medium to fastish speed. Spin the drill up and apply gently, and keep it gentle all the way through. Don't be tempted to drill the masonry behind teh tile a little with the tile bit. This approach works fine with poorly supporte tiles. Some people like to break the glaze by pressing the bit in before spinning it up, it reduces wander but I've not found that to be much of an issue with a sharp bit, gentle pressure, especially at first, taking care to have the drill at right angles to the wall, and using tape.

NT

Reply to
NT

Wot they said; plus try to avoid having to drill too close to the tile edge

David

Reply to
Lobster

IME tiles usually crack because the adhesive is still soft.

Reply to
stuart noble

Do you know what sort of tiles you have? The material they are made of varies considerably - some are soft, some hard. Porcelain tiles are very hard and really need a diamond core drill.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

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