Drilling holes into granite worktops 35mm diamond core drill bits for 365-drills diamond cores tips bits how to drill into granite
365Drills
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| As you can see from above the extra headache was the carpet. Everything needed to be installed with the clients brand new beige carpet having already been fitted. We do not recommend this because the install requires water, wet glue, cement, grout, adhesives and paint. There was no room for error. A challenge. |
To prove there has been no cheating - the finished project is presented to you fully working with water filling the basin. Follow the project from start to finish and see how the diamond drills have been used. |  |
And this is how it was done
The area was prepared and porcelain tiles are installed as normal. The client requested thin strips to give a particular effect. Pipework for the sink is exposed has been capped off. A letterbox slot was cut to fit the waste pipe. As most of the area below the bottom niche shelf will be hidden by the cabinet - the tiling is not as attractive. You can see gaps. |  |
Allow the tile adhesive to dry out for about one week and then grout the whole area as normal. You can see the carpet area has been covered twice. Once with dust sheets and then with old green towels. | 
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Spend as much time as you can cleaning off the excess grout. Use sugar soap to remove the smears. | 
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Mark out your items to be fitted. In this case holes were pre drilled into the back of the cabinet and their positions marked out on the inside in black pen. Offer the item up to the tiled wall (make sure the tiles are dry, not wet) and mark your holes onto the tiles. | 
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Find the pack of 365 diamond drills. Ensure you have read the instructions on the back especially the safety tips. Always wear safety glasses or goggles. | 
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Open the pack and remove the contents. All items are packed into clam shells with a backing card. | 
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You should find the drill plate and a selection of drills. | 
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Select the right size drill and plate for the holes to be drilled |
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Fit the diamond drill bit into the chuck of a standard electric hand drill. Switch the drill to its lowest speed. Normally drill setting number one |
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All diamond drill bits need to be lubricated when drilling. To do this we filled a bucket with water. We used sugar soap in the mix. It helps lubricate the drill bit and also it helps with core ejection. We will talk more about core ejection later. But if you do not have sugar soap you can use normal water. We are being very careful not to spill anything on the clients brand new beige carpet. |
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Now place the drill plate over the marked hole and hold steady |
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The drill bit is wet having been dipped in sugar soap solution. Start to drill the hole using the drill plate to hold the bit steady. |
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A small gritty pit should form in about 5 to 10 seconds. Do not over drill at this stage. You can also see the beginning of a small internal core forming. From this point on you can discard the drill plate. Dip the drill back into the bucket of water to relubricate |  |
The drill is now working its way through a 9mm tile. A tip here is to position your left index finger under the bit. As the drill is being worked it will transfer heat to your finger. You can use your finger to detect when the temperature of the shaft is rising. As soon as you feel any heat, or rise in temperature through your finger then remove the drill. You need to quickly cool the bit and the hole. Do not let anything get hot. |
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Sponge the hole, wipe the hole, spray the hole or do anything you can to get water into the hole. This will:
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You can now see the core forming. This is the advantage that our diamond drills have over carbide spear point drills. Our diamonds only drill out the minimum part of the tile required. With a center point carbide drill all this material will be drilled. It is a waste of time, energy and money. Our drills work faster. However there at some point during the drilling the core will break off. This is a perfectly normal part of the diamond drilling process so be prepared for it to happen. The core will most likely break off and lodge inside the drill bit. | 
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About half way through drilling the hole the core has snapped off as normal. |
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Removing the core is a simple operation. You can use a variety of common tools to pop the core out. Useful items are allen keys or long screws. Here you can see we used a standard screw to push the core out. |
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A neat hole is now forming very quickly. With the core removed the drill can be put back in and drilling will continue. Be patient! Do not rush this stage. Keep applying water and cleaning the hole. You should expect to take about five minutes per hole. |
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Once the hole has formed poke out any chips with a screw. Ensure there is enough space to push through a rawl plug. If you need to drill deeper into the hole change to a standard masonry drill bit. Do not be tempted to use the diamond drill in concrete or breeze blocks on any other porous material. Only use diamond on hard material. |
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Once all your holes are drilled you can fit your item. Here you can see the carcass of the cabinet and also the granite top. In order to fit the tap and the sink waste the granite will need holes drilling into them. Because the top is not fixed to the cabinet it can be drilled away from this location and so the carpet will stand a better chance... | 
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| The project is only half complete. To find out how the granite was dealt with to continue..... | |
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The whole finished item here on the right is shown with a black granite top installed. In this section we show you how: |
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The top of the cabinet was sealed with PVA glue and as an extra precaution some Bal Bond tanking paste was applied. Bal Bond provide a great tanking kit for wet rooms and their stuff is fairly bomb proof. With chipboard it was felt prudent to apply it. | 
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The basic lump of granite is applied to the top to check for fit. Marking as then drawn on the top face for the tap hole and the sink waste. Both were 40mm |
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The 365 Diamond drill plate is placed into position. A quick spin of the 40mm drill gives a permanent scratch position into the granite ready for it to be taken outside. | 
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The lump is taken outside and put onto an old table top. It is sited over a drain so that when water is trickled over it then it can go straight to waste. | 
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A hose is fixed in place by weighing it down with a tub of grout. Despite the hosepipe ban in place the water was switched on to a trickle. All waste water flows straight into the drain and back to the water treatment plant to be recycled and used again. No water was wasted. | 
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For photographic purposes the drill plate has been pulled back and the drill bit exposed to show you what to expect. As the drill moves through the hole it will score. The water is carrying away granite particles See more detail below in the blown up photo: |  |
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Eventually your hole will form. This hole was drilled into 20mm granite. The granite was chosen to give a more sleek look than 30mm kitchen top granite. But it makes no odds to the drilling. Kitchen granite will just take longer to drill. | 
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The granite is dried off and taken back to the room | 
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The holes are laid over the cabinet carcass. The wood of the carcass is then cut out with a domestic hole saw. | 
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Items are pushed through both the granite and wood to test for a perfect fit. By dry fitting them it ensures that when fully installed everything works. | 
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And now the project really is complete.....
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