drilling porcelain

[Greg Di]

I think my customer spec'd the hardest porcelain tile known to mankind.

I've already purchased a $100+ 1-1/4" diamond hole saw for the shower head hole. That cut took about 20 minutes.

Now we are installing the shower door and need to drill six (6) 1/4" holes for the mounting screws. My helper took over two hours to get 2 and a half of them done. It's ridiculous. We are using the pilot bit (carbide) from the diamond hole saw without the hammer feature turned on the drill. It's just too violent. I can picture all the grout cracking if we turn it on.

There has got to be a better way. I can't lose that much time on this job to drill holes!

I have not seen a diamond tipped 1/4" bit anywhere. Do they exist?

Help!!!!

[StephenS]

Re: drilling porcelain

Gregg,
Are you currently sponging water above so it flows into the drilling area? and have you tried the 1/4" carbide spear type bits which are available at most lumber yards and hd's L's..

[Dave Gobis]

Re: drilling porcelain

There is a company called APC that makes bits that sail through porcelain, are self centering, and fast. Aslong as you keep them wet, things are good.

[floorman]

Re: drilling porcelain

I have not found anything either that would get you through the porcelain other than something wet.
Porcelain by nature is harder than ,well , a rock for lack of a better phrase,very dense.
You could in the future if there are no predrilled holes in the frame of the shower door set it up to where you drilling through the grout joints instead of the tile,or even just abandon those holes and make your own ,if possible

[SteveC]

Re: drilling porcelain

Greg,
Had same situation. Had good luck with spear point bits. The points wear out faster than the sides so I use 1/8th (cheaper)to start all holes then use size I need. Dip in a cup of water and watch out if you hit stud or screw, bit will snap and may screw up tile.
SteveC
TJANJ

[AJinNZ]

Re: drilling porcelain

I did a tiled shower job last year that required drilling for the soap holders etc.
This tile was THE hardest I have ever seen.

I had recently discovered the spear point drills. I used the small one first to make a pilot hole, then worked up. This was an improvement but I still chewed up an awful lot of drills.

I just kept at it, not sure what else to do. Hammer drill with a conventional bit didnt help any. Beats me why they make the things so hard.

[Greg Di]

Re: drilling porcelain

I ended up buying a $53 diamond spear bit. It got smoked and snapped in half regardless of how much water we sprayed on it (with a spray bottle).

My contracts always state that all installations are based on ceramic tile. Thank God I was able to issue a CO for this last job. I knew that lingo would come in handy some day.

I will now steer all customers from porcelain with a big verbal warning about the extra fees involved due to the PITA factor working with this stuff.

Thanks for all your help on this guys...

[patrick]

Re: drilling porcelain

I just happened to be paging through a February issue of Tile Letter--NTCA's monthly publication and they featured a manufacturer that claims to make bits that are "The Solution to Drilling into Porcelain Tiles".

The company is headquartered in the UK, but they have an office in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. The article makes no mention of pricing...

Armeg USA 561-351-9989, www.armeg.co.uk

If you find bits that work, let us know who makes them and where to buy them.

Patrick

[Dave Gobis]

Re: drilling porcelain

Your talking about the same bit from Armeg. I have not had any trouble with them drilling through anything unless there was not enough water. Saying the bid includes ceramic tile is saying it includes porcelain. You would have to exclude porcelain tile specifically.

[Greg Di]

Re: drilling porcelain

Getting water into a hole in a vertical wall is tough to say the least. That's why we sprayed the hell out of it. This was, without a doubt the biggest pain in the ass I've ever experienced with such a seemingly routine task. What a productivity waster.

[charles]

Re: drilling porcelain

Dave, are you saying that Armeg and APC are the same company?

[Dave Gobis]

Re: drilling porcelain

Yes, they are. They make a modified pump garden sprayer that hooks up to a bit holder driven by the drill. That keeps it wet in any position.

[365drills]

Re: drilling porcelain (we have the solution at 365drills)

Things have moved on a bit (The post is in 2004 and its now 2007) but I want to tell you I own a company and we provide another technical solution to misery of drilling porcelain tiles.

In short what we did was remove the need for pilot drills to give you tilers and plumbers a huge advantage.

If you are not interested in the nitty gritty I wont bore you to death here in this forum with the full technical detail. However if you ARE interested then this is a link to an article that I have written and published about it http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.js...81474976885310

But suffice to say we stock all sizes from 6mm to 125mm.

What I would suggest is stopping by http://www.365drills.com to have a look for yourself. If you are in the USA then we also have http://www.365drills.us



This is not a spam message simply the offer of information and providing a solution to what is - for you guys - I know a very very difficult problem. My message to the administrators on this site is if I have violated any posting by promoting my brand then please contact me. We have found that some forum members appriciate the information. Some dont.

Kind regards - Richard Hazell

[Dave Gobis]

Re: drilling porcelain

Can't say I agree with your article completely on either technical or editorial merit from a US perspective. We have some how been managing to get by drilling holes and installation of porcelain certainly does not command premium wages here. If you chip a glazed porcelain, the type used in about 80% of installations, you certainly will know it, the color does not go all the way through.

[Tileman1]

Re: drilling porcelain

PTC bits and a spray bottle, never had a problem.