365Drills
How to drill big holes into large format porcelain tiles
100mm 105mm 110mm 115mm 120mm 125mm
Project: Install a loo pan pipe (or extract fan) size 4 inches into a tile.
Tiles used for demo: Mix of glass, porcelain and soft ceramics at 10mm deep.
 |
Cutter used. 100mm diamond drill. Drills used. Fern bench drill and Dewalt hand drill 14v
Using a hand drill
As a template use Plasterboard. (Yes- plasterboard - really!)
Pencil round the diamond crown. Then cut the top paper layer.
Push drill at an angle, grind into the soft plasterboard. Go slowly.
Drill bit will "bite" into the plaster and form its own hole. Much easier than using chipboard or ply....
The crown has formed a perfect template in seconds.
Poke out circle of plaster board. Your template is done in less than a minute!
Now STAND on both template and tile! Put drill between your legs and start...
While standing on both SLOWLY drill tile. . Feel the crown grinding into tile.....
Stop after about 10 seconds. Look at the tile. Add water.
Remove plasterboard to reveal a neat but dusty hole is forming. Discard the guide.
Hole has started. The drill should lock into this socket.
Add water to control dust and cool. Outside hosepipes are fine.
You dont need a lot of water. Just a splash
Keep washing as you go. Notice we are cutting a perfect hole over many tile types.
We have cut the tiles. At this point chip away the internal tiles. Then use a normal drill to go beyond
For pure bragging rights we show that we drilled deeper into the chip board...
This is not really recommended because the wood causes the drill to get ultra-hot.
Nice sandwich of tile and chipboard. Point here is that the hole is perfect. Impressed?
If you are rushed for time you may drill chipboard but the high heat is not good forl the drill. Dont care? - Go for it !
Hole is spot on and ready for that loo pan holder / fan. Nice work.
Perfect fit at 100mm. Just needs a bit of grout or silicone for a job done.
Back of the board is looking just fine too. Very little mess. Precisson drilling.
YOUR customers will be looking at this workmanship for many years to come. Its a signature of the quality of your work. And so easy to do as well. A bit of plasterboard. A bit of skill. Some time spent going slowly. And nice work as a result.
Using a bench drill
If you have £40 spare invest in a pillar drill. This gives more control over slipping
Set it up on a bench drill. Then add some water to tile.
Start to drill at a low 520rpm. Can you see the glass tile on the right? Its whizzing into that.
Tile cutting from another angle
Keep the water on. If you are outside use plenty. Drill slowly though. About 520rpm is about right
Dont push too hard. Let the drill slowly do its work. If you go into wood it takes ages and heats. Be patient
WOW! Its just gone through FOUR tile types. Super quality finish.
The tile core now pops out.... Yes I know.. We did it again and drilled the chip board. Please dont!
To pull the plug out get an old drill pit and push.
A perfect hole is done. Have a look in more detail
Look at this closeup... Thats a glass insert. And its not been disturbed. Perfect and very clean lines
Heres the plug. You can see the glass (Middle) , the porcelain (left) and the ceramic (right) What a mix !
The end result is what its all about. Another perfect hole to fit a loo pan. And that is still using the same drill bit for both holes.
Large hole drilling is great for soil pipes, extractor fans, shower roses and controls etc etc.
Its not done it much good to whack it into wood but it has worked.
Bottom line is that we did high quality work and using items just laying around.
How to drill a hole at ceiling height in PRELAID tiles.
Our competitors charge £170 for a 117mm crown. Ours are £48.
