Cutting Holes In Tiles

frozen74

Want to cut 30mm holes in the centre of some tiles. What is the best way to do this?

Thanks

beldin

with a 30 mm diamond hole cutter. You can get them in B&Q or good hardware shops.
Cost 20 to 30 euro.

frozen74

Good stuff. Thanks

Joey the lips

You dont say the type of tile your using....

But as above buy the bit...


However, not to be a spanner I would not do a one 30mm hole I would do successive sizes especially if its porcelain it will be a bit and marble will splinter very bad and could actually rupture if its in a week spot.

If your drilling ceramic a masonary bit will be fine and cheaper especially if you successive sizes

Not to be nosey why 30mm holes

tiocimarla

Joey the lips wrote: »

You dont say the type of tile your using....

But as above buy the bit...


However, not to be a spanner I would not do a one 30mm hole I would do successive sizes especially if its porcelain it will be a bit and marble will splinter very bad and could actually rupture if its in a week spot.

If your drilling ceramic a masonary bit will be fine and cheaper especially if you successive sizes

Not to be nosey why 30mm holes

gonna be hard to center the bit if your drilling in succesive sizes do you not think

knighted_1

i had to do this with porcelin tiles and kept burning out diamond tips and masonary bits-

went to aldi paid a tenner for carbide tipped hole saws (pack of 5 sizes) went thru like butter (ok hard butter )

god bless the germans

meercat

recess lights maybe joey????

Joey the lips

tiocimarla wrote: »

gonna be hard to center the bit if your drilling in succesive sizes do you not think

Nope.

tiocimarla

Joey the lips wrote: »

Nope.

I understand why you would do it and i have done it with metal and other material. Diamond hole saw has pilot bit no? Dont take me the wrong way if im corrected but once you drill first hole then theres nowhere fore the pilot to go.

Joey the lips

tiocimarla wrote: »

I understand why you would do it and i have done it with metal and other material. Diamond hole saw has pilot bit no? Dont take me the wrong way if im corrected but once you drill first hole then theres nowhere fore the pilot to go.

Still nope... Done it all the time fitting doors.

tiocimarla

Joey the lips wrote: »

Still nope... Done it all the time fitting doors.

Ye i know its easy to center a holesaw in timber without a pilot but on a tile would be very difficult no??

Joey the lips

tiocimarla wrote: »

Ye i know its easy to center a holesaw in timber without a pilot but on a tile would be very difficult no??

Shower doors not timber doors and Nope Nope Nope Nope Nope...

tiocimarla

Joey the lips wrote: »

Shower doors not timber doors and Nope Nope Nope Nope Nope...

Wow your arrogance is astonishing yet you fail to comment have you done it with tiles. Answer nope nope nope nope!!! There is a difference between pvc alluminium and tiles mate. So keep on avoiding the question.

Joey the lips

tiocimarla wrote: »

Wow your arrogance is astonishing yet you fail to comment have you done it with tiles. Answer nope nope nope nope!!! There is a difference between pvc alluminium and tiles mate. So keep on avoiding the question.

No arrogence your just not listening... Shower doors go on tiles. I fit shower doors using every type of drill bit. You ALWAYS start off with a small hole. Because the tile is so solid it is self guiding.

You started it and keep trying to ram your incorrect opinion down my throat...

Sorry if I seem arrogant. Its not my intention

tiocimarla

Joey the lips wrote: »

No arrogence your just not listening... Shower doors go on tiles. I fit shower doors using every type of drill bit. You ALWAYS start off with a small hole. Because the tile is so solid it is self guiding.

You started it and keep trying to ram your incorrect opinion down my throat...

Sorry if I seem arrogant. Its not my intention

What door or frame needs a 30mm hole???

Joey the lips

tiocimarla wrote: »

What door or frame needs a 30mm hole???

Is this a quiz.... I asked the exact same question


I give up what door or door frame needs a 30mm hole...

tiocimarla

The OP said he needed to drill 30mm hole in the center of a tile. So as iv said, your technique is flawed if you use a hole saw mate. :D

dunsandin

The easiest way to drill a tile is with the correct sized holesaw(diamond/carborundum grit type for tiles). You can buy these cheap in B&Q. The problem with using these is that with a hand held drill they are a right pain to keep centered and very hard to use. The easy solution is to buy a really cheapo pillar drill (can be as little as €40 or less), pop your tile bit into that, and drill ahead, holding the tile still. It makes drilling tiles a doddle, as long as they are not already on the wall!. If they are on the wall, it is a pain, but you just have to use a hand held drill, plus holesaw(the right size, no offence, but drilling progressively larger holes is a waste of time and also harder) and go really slowly till you have drilled in a mm or so, through the glaze,then the drill bit will not skitter about any more and you can drill ahead. Takes a bit of practice though. Maybe practice first on a few spare tiles?

tiocimarla

Yep thats how its done

dunsandin

tiocimarla wrote: »

The OP said he needed to drill 30mm hole in the center of a tile. So as iv said, your technique is flawed if you use a hole saw mate. :D

Tioci, maybe you are getting mixed up between a hole saw and a holesaw. A holesaw is a type of drill bit designed to drill holes using a sawblade basically welded into a circle that you can use in a drill to drill holes. A hole saw is a saw for cutting holes.. im getting confused here myself.:D Edit- this was intended to be funny, but reading it back, its not really....... ah, me hole. Joey, you must get a pain in your holesaw drilling all them concentric holes, waste of time altogether.

tiocimarla

No thats force of habit. Im always putting spaces into words that im not supposed to. Like any body etc. I no what a holesaw bit is i have hundreds of them.

dunsandin

Kinda knew you did, just skitpicking!:D

Helium

Have i missed something here i.e that nobody seems to have mentioned using masking tape on tiles therefore keeping bit steady at start and also saving any cracks or splinters in tiles, thats my tuppence worth :-)

Joey the lips

tiocimarla wrote: »

The OP said he needed to drill 30mm hole in the center of a tile. So as iv said, your technique is flawed if you use a hole saw mate. :D

You cannot use a hole saw on tiles... Next. but I got what the op ment so did not bother correcting this bit. You need to use diamond or masonary bits depending on the tile and the best way is successive bits as I already said....

Have the last say because I am now bored with the subject. The op gets it at this stage...

dunsandin

You can if its a tile holesaw. I've a NVQ from the UK in tiling, cost me 3k to get my piece of paper at it, but hey Joey, you probably know better, and I don't want to bore you further.

The real way to drill tiles is with a wet fed mini diamond core set up specifically for tiles, complete with a vaccuum guide to centralise the bit, but if you dont have one of them €400.00 yokes in your press, the pillar drill works real well to. A squirt of water on the bit eases the process and prolonges the life of your bit as well. Masonry bits are ok for very small holes if the tiles already up, but turn off the hammer function on your drill - rotary only, and chances are your tile will crack if its close to an edge or you press too hard. Proper tungsten carbide tile bits will also work very well on some tile for small, sub 15mm holes, as will glass type bits, but tend to overheat and get dull very fast on porcelain. For large holes such as for a multi-wick on a jax, you use a completely different technique involving a wet disc cutter or angle grinder, and your tile cutter. Anyhoo....

tiocimarla

[QUOTE=

Have the last say because I am now bored with the subject. The op gets it at this stage...[/QUOTE]

Ok even though is been explained already, A diamond cut holesaw yes you can, can, can, can.
Just to have the last word like.:) Im only playing mate.

And helium what you missed was the whole 30mm diameter, Masking tape or even a plaster work with Smaller holes.

Any im finished with this thread its no fun ne more.
Good luck OP and Remember a hole is your goal:D

dunsandin

qwertyuiop:D:D

tiocimarla

word.

jaggiebunnet

to hijack a thread here, coz now i am confused

ok new house, porcelain tiles floor and walls on 3 bathrooms, doors, mirrors and other usual stuff that will need to be hung....

what should I buy to drill - a diamond bit?
masking tape on the tile mark my position and drill the hole...
stay clear of edge of tiles
and if possible practice first on spares?

cheers for any advice

CJhaughey

jaggiebunnet wrote: »

to hijack a thread here, coz now i am confused

ok new house, porcelain tiles floor and walls on 3 bathrooms, doors, mirrors and other usual stuff that will need to be hung....

what should I buy to drill - a diamond bit?
masking tape on the tile mark my position and drill the hole...
stay clear of edge of tiles
and if possible practice first on spares?

cheers for any advice

I had to drill a few holes in Porcelain tiles to fit blinds, mirrors etc.
Using a carbide bit kind of worked but was a real pain and they didn't last long.
I bought a set of diamond core drills on Ebay, I think they came from Hong Kong, cost about 18 euro and I have sizes from 4mm to 13mm I think.
They are really effective, when drilling floors I use a well made from blutack with water in it to keep the bit cool, walls I dribbled water out of an old washing up bottle.
You don't have to wet drill but it makes less dust and the bit stays cooler.