cant get thru tiles

axiom32

trying to drill through a tile and the bit will only go in maybe ten mils before it stops and then goes red hot . The bit is a 6mm dia steel bit anybody know any reason it aint going in further and its not from lack of effort

Qwerty?

axiom32 wrote: »

trying to drill through a tile and the bit will only go in maybe ten mils before it stops and then goes red hot . The bit is a 6mm dia steel bit anybody know any reason it aint going in further and its not from lack of effort

You sure its a good quality Masonry Bit you are using.

Also you say you only go in 10mm before it overheats, how thick are the tiles?

destroyer

Could be the tiles. I recently ran in to the same problem with tiles I bought at a knockdown price, great depth of porcelain on them, seems
they were leftovers from some heavy duty industrial job, must have went through 15 drill bits.

jim_bob

i had this before - got around it by pouring a small bit of water over the hole to cool the bit down while drilling, you should only need about a cup full

Joey the lips

You got to know the type of tile your drilling

1. Porceline tiles require a porceline drill bit and it needs to be cooled as you drill. The best way to do this is with a washing up liquid bottle full of water mixed with a little liquid. pour it on as you drill. If you cannot get help have a cup and dip every 3 seconds.

2. Ceramic A standard masonary bit will do. but its no harm cooling it either

In both examples a smaller pilot bit would be a good idea but if your a tight git just cool the main bit you have.


As a fitter there has always been ways around this. For example. If you fitting shower doors drill new profile holes at the grout horizontal line it makes it easier. Try buy accessories where the holes are fitted vertically and only drill only siliconeing the other. This allows for a change in accessories.

axiom32

thanks to all...the tiles are procelain and ill go with the spearhead bit with the cooling technique as above

gsxr1

axiom32 wrote: »

thanks to all...the tiles are procelain and ill go with the spearhead bit with the cooling technique as above

if it is get hot stop or slow the drill. Once it goes red the drill bit will lose the correct temper and it will blunt.

use a fairy bottle with water and get some one to squirt it.

I have come across these horrible porcelain hard tile also. Try with hammer setting and dont push. (not on an SDS drill) Also try without hammer.

some types drill through like butter. But some can take an hour to get through.

CJhaughey

Forget those spearhead bits with the tungsten head they are rubbish.
Go and get a diamond core drill and a plastic squeezy bottle full of water.
Instead of the drill trying to remove all the material in the hole the core drill just eats a nice neat ring and removes the material in the centre in a plug.
Porcelain tiles are very hard and it took me about 6 of the standard tile drills to realise they are not great even running in water.
I got mine from a guy on Ebay based in Hong Kong for less than a 10'er and that was for a range of sizes from 3mm to 12mm

jack of all

I've used this technique: roll a piece of putty or play dough into a sausage shape and place it around the intended hole location, this can be used to retain the water coolant. This allows you to focus on drilling.