Nightmare drilling into porcelain

[ashtonjay]

As i mentioned in a previous post i was struggling to drill some porcelain tiles so i bought that kit from 365-Drills for £59
anyway.........it arrived today at 10am and by 11 am every single bit was blunt some even snapped in half
so.....we went to local tile shop and bought 27 drill bits for porcelain at a cost of £487 another hour later most of them are useless too

this bathroom should of been finished 4 days ago and is gonna taake another 2 days just to put up the bog roll holder and towel rail

i suppose what im saying is ive learned a lesson here and i wont be touching porcelain ever again

i used to wonder why my mate deliberatly charged £80 a square meter for porcelain to put them off. he has been a tiler 29 years and says he has done 1 porcelain in the last 10 years !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what a day:banghead::banghead::banghead:

 

[dancinplumba]

presume you used lubricant ?

 

[ashtonjay]

tons of water of course constantly being sprayed by my lovely assistant

 

[dancinplumba]

think i will stay away from porcelain then, have you tried marcrist bits ?

 

[ashtonjay]

ive not on this job as i had a few of them nicked from my tool kit but i know they are good i may splash out on a couple of the 8mm bits for hanging remaining bits

cheers

 

[tweakyboy]

Why not just pay a company to come in and drill them for you? Surely it would have been cheaper!

 

[Millsy 82]

I use these never had a problem

Bosch Multipurpose Drill Bit Set 4Pcs | NoLinkingToThis

 

[erpkid]

think i will stay away from porcelain then, have you tried marcrist bits ?

Exactly they are the chaps if the normal 365 bits don't last ( fine and cost effective for most jobs ). Marcrist are very expensive but with patience do the job.

 

[erpkid]

I use these never had a problem

Bosch Multipurpose Drill Bit Set 4Pcs | NoLinkingToThis

Sorry but they would not touch porcelain or similar materials. You have to have a quality diamond tip.

 

[josh]

I also hate porcelain, there is just no need for the tiles to be that hard. we have found that the cheapy glass/tile cutters from screwfix do most if you wriggle them about abit. only do 1-2 holes though. When they wouldnt do a bathroom we bought that other tile cutting set from screw fix for about £90, there a bit like mini core drill bits and need no water, they do work a treat (when new).

 

[erpkid]

I also hate porcelain, there is just no need for the tiles to be that hard. we have found that the cheapy glass/tile cutters from screwfix do most if you wriggle them about abit. only do 1-2 holes though. When they wouldnt do a bathroom we bought that other tile cutting set from screw fix for about £90, there a bit like mini core drill bits and need no water, they do work a treat (when new).

Yes until we kitted ourselves out we made many trip to our monumental masons for holes drilling. In the end we bit the bullet but still curse when the customer presents us with a new hole size we have to cover.

 

[josh]

yea i bet erpkid, silverline do a good cheaper hole saw set for tiles, be no good for porcelain but have used them a fair bit. Even comes in a shiny metal case.

 

[Jlo]

I use the diamond bits from topps tiles. even the 6mm looks like a little hole cutter. by tilting the bit to start it you dont need all the gubbings to support the drill. I get about half a dozen holes out of each bit at a fiver each as long as they dont run dry.

 

[CXR100]

i once seen a electrician drilling them with a normal 5.5sds bit swith the sds on hammer, gently squeezing the trigger, was amazed to see it flying trhough!

 

[SimonG]

On porcelain you need to watch the speed of the drill or you are just tossing money away. Nice and steady with constant pressure almost let the bit grind it's way through slow enough to see it turning.

 

[neily01]

We use a joran drill bit just like a standard bit but have not found anything they wont drill yet. Company on a job spending 30mins a hole on a diamond drill bit we did it in kess than 5, just a cup of water beside you to cool tip. You may not drill that many hole per bit maybe 5-6 but it should be quick enough. I have drilled porcelain sinks with these before no probs. We get them from can fixings i norwich for about £7 ish plus vat each hope this helps.

 

[Irish]

i once seen a electrician drilling them with a normal 5.5sds bit swith the sds on hammer, gently squeezing the trigger, was amazed to see it flying trhough!

Yeah that's fine until its 5pm on a Friday evening and the tile cracks then you have to take off that tile and chip another one in the process etc, most of the bathrooms I do now have porcelain tiles now I hate it, but have found topps tiles drill bits to be the longest lasting ones , dewalt one easily the worst and I've tried many different makes

 

[neily01]

By the way its the only bit i have ever used on flitton bricks that make them look like breeze blocks! You must not drill them on hammer not taht you should need too.

 

[REDSAW]

what did you drill it with and at what speed?

 

[tom609]

ky jelly lol

 

[johnnyplumb]

porcelain tiles come in different hardnesses, some porcelain tiles drill easier than others.
if it's holes for wash hand basins or wc fixings, radiator brackets etc, it's better to use a 4" angle grinder with a good quality diamond blade and cut them. it'll save you a bit on drill bits. still need the bits though for towel rails, toilet roll holders etc

 

[MrMeek]

As i mentioned in a previous post i was struggling to drill some porcelain tiles so i bought that kit from 365-Drills for £59
anyway.........it arrived today at 10am and by 11 am every single bit was blunt some even snapped in half
so.....we went to local tile shop and bought 27 drill bits for porcelain at a cost of £487 another hour later most of them are useless too

this bathroom should of been finished 4 days ago and is gonna taake another 2 days just to put up the bog roll holder and towel rail

i suppose what im saying is ive learned a lesson here and i wont be touching porcelain ever again

i used to wonder why my mate deliberatly charged £80 a square meter for porcelain to put them off. he has been a tiler 29 years and says he has done 1 porcelain in the last 10 years !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what a day:banghead::banghead::banghead:

You doing something incredibly wrong, 1 cheap silverline tile bit from toolstation would do me for a whole bathroom never mind the 365 drills which would last me a good while

 

[kay-jay]

You doing something incredibly wrong, 1 cheap silverline tile bit from toolstation would do me for a whole bathroom never mind the 365 drills which would last me a good while

You're having a laugh mate. Cheap silveline may be ok for ceramic tiles but won't even scratch grade 5 porcelain

 

[AWheating]

i use an sds bit and melt the tile through

seriously tho i use standard tile/glass bits for most tiles, if the tiles are that hard the customer will have to pay for somebody to come in and drill. The bigests cost to you is labour, wasting time is for thoses that watch Jemery Kyle everyday lol.

 

[MrMeek]

You're having a laugh mate. Cheap silveline may be ok for ceramic tiles but won't even scratch grade 5 porcelain

You want to bet? I use diamond tile bits usually, but only had this cheap silverline bit, and it worked next time ill record me doing it and post it on here.


Edit: wasnt from toolstation or was silverline this is the exact bit.

[DLMURL]http://www.diy.com/nav/fix/power-tools/accessories/drill-bits/tile___glass_drill_bits/PTX-Glass-and-Tile-Drill-Bit-8mm-11407758?skuId=11918465[/DLMURL]

 

[AWheating]

i use a simular bit normally.

 

[MrMeek]

That drill bit got me through about 7 holes in a bathroom which I tiled with them tiles, Dont know what grade it was though didnt even know they had grades lol but that worked for me so the op must be doing something wrong especially if hes using 365 drills