drilling an acrylic bath for taps

[Stephen]

Hello,

I am looking at buying a new bath. I see most of them are acrylic
these days. Some of them do not come with tap holes, which surprises
me. I would be nervous of drilling them wrong and ruining an expensive
bath. How easy are they to drill and what type of drill bit do you
use? Presumably you measure twice, drill once, and use pilot holes?

Thanks,
Stephen.

[Chris French]

In message <cpl64bhrn4ce24enl...@4ax.com>, Stephen
<re...@to.newsgroup.invalid> writes

Last one I did was about 15 years ago.

They are easy to drill, IIRC I used a spade bit and took it slow and
steady measured and checked and measured about 100 times first :-)
--
Chris French

[sm_jamieson]

I used a hole saw, but I made a template out of plywood first to ensure the drill could not slip, and to help keep it vertical. Of course, you then have to get the template in the correct place. And make sure you allow for tile overlap so there is space for your chosen taps to turn without fouling the wall.

Simon.

[sm_jamieson]

Oh, and also do not put the holes too close to the bath - make sure there is space underneath for the tap washer / bolt on the flat section. This is trickier if it is a reinforced acrylic (Carronite or whatever) which is thicker.
In short, the tap positioning was fairly well constrained.

Simon.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <cpl64bhrn4ce24enl...@4ax.com>,

Acrylic is one of the easiest things to drill. Start with a small drill
and work up gradually - or use a hole saw. But do make sure not to let
things get hot as it can melt. If using a hole saw, keep the speed slow
and use water to lubricate/cool things. The water will boil before the
acrylic melts.

Draw out an accurate template on your computer in real size and print out.
Then glue to the bath with Pritt stick or other water soluble glue.

--
*My wife has a slight impediment in her speech. She stops to breathe.

Dave Plowman da...@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[David Lang]

+1 but without the plywood, I just drilled a pilot hole.
> Simon.
>

[Tim Watts]

Don't worry - I felt the same way...

OK - first. Good hole saw. I used the Bosch Progressor:
http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p28171?table=no

(You can but singly, don't forget the arbor)



Next - tape spacings. Read the dimensions of half a dozen mixer tap
aseemblies. I forget the spacings between hole centres but IIRC it was
pretty standard. Use these dimensions EVEN IF USING pillar taps. You may
want to change them one day.


Last - cover the area with masking tape - then mark and drill through
that from the top. Go gentle and it should not chip at all. The tape
will help stop pilot drill wander and should help reduce any splintering.

With PPP (proper planning and prep) it actually all went quite well when
I did it - clean holes in the right place.



Oh - and when placing the taps - THINK and THINK again.

Can you get the nut on the bottom? Will the taps/pipes clear any batten
you will have around the edge to support the bath? Usually , along a
lone halfway between back edge and bath edge is about right.

[Stephen]

On Wed, 11 Nov 2015 17:46:50 +0000, Tim Watts <tw_u...@dionic.net>
wrote:

>
>Don't worry - I felt the same way...
>
>OK - first. Good hole saw. I used the Bosch Progressor:
>http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p28171?table=no
>
>(You can but singly, don't forget the arbor)
>
>
>
>Next - tape spacings. Read the dimensions of half a dozen mixer tap
>aseemblies. I forget the spacings between hole centres but IIRC it was
>pretty standard. Use these dimensions EVEN IF USING pillar taps. You may
>want to change them one day.
>
>
>Last - cover the area with masking tape - then mark and drill through
>that from the top. Go gentle and it should not chip at all. The tape
>will help stop pilot drill wander and should help reduce any splintering.
>
>With PPP (proper planning and prep) it actually all went quite well when
>I did it - clean holes in the right place.
>
>
>
>Oh - and when placing the taps - THINK and THINK again.
>
>Can you get the nut on the bottom? Will the taps/pipes clear any batten
>you will have around the edge to support the bath? Usually , along a
>lone halfway between back edge and bath edge is about right.

Many thanks for all the replies. It does make me wonder, if tap
spacings are pretty standard, why doesn't the manufacturer drill them?

Stephen.

[Chris French]

In message <1k474bdctef2k550d...@4ax.com>, Stephen
<re...@to.newsgroup.invalid> writes

>Many thanks for all the replies. It does make me wonder, if tap
>spacings are pretty standard, why doesn't the manufacturer drill them?
>

Some people might want to use a mixer with just one hole, some might not
want bath mounted taps at all. This way they only need to provide one
version of the bath.

Enamelled steel baths come with holes already in of course
--
Chris French

[ARW]

"Stephen" <re...@to.newsgroup.invalid> wrote in message
news:cpl64bhrn4ce24enl...@4ax.com...

Try the plumbers apprentice the other day at a new build.

He marked off the center point of the taps with a nice pencil cross, and
then he used that cross to mark out the positions of the two holes needed
for the taps.

The daft sod then drilled three holes in the bath. Two for the tap and one
on the center cross he made to mark out the tap position.

Nice clean holes and all done with a bog standard hole cutter.


--
Adam

[GB]

On 11/11/2015 19:47, ARW wrote:

> The daft sod then drilled three holes in the bath. Two for the tap and
> one on the center cross he made to mark out the tap position.

Apart from the wasted time drilling the 3rd hole, is it a problem? Most
taps would cover the hole in the middle.

[Bill Wright]

You have to put the tap holes at the end. Don't put them in the bottom.

Bill

[John Rumm]

On 11/11/2015 14:58, Stephen wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I am looking at buying a new bath. I see most of them are acrylic
> these days. Some of them do not come with tap holes, which surprises
> me.

Not all taps mount on the bath - some may project from a wall, some bath
fillers fill from the overflow position, others may hang over an end on
long floor mounted stalks. Hence the trend for non drilled baths.

> I would be nervous of drilling them wrong and ruining an expensive
> bath. How easy are they to drill and what type of drill bit do you
> use? Presumably you measure twice, drill once, and use pilot holes?

They are easy to drill. The ideal drill is a hole saw. Mark the centres
of the taps, use a pilot bit in the hole saw, and cut a hole slightly
oversize (but smaller than the flange on the taps).

(although I would not recommend it, I have even drilled an acrylic bath
with a spade bit once!)


--
Cheers,

John.

/=================================================================\
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[Rod Speed]

"Stephen" <re...@to.newsgroup.invalid> wrote in message

news:1k474bdctef2k550d...@4ax.com...

Presumably because they aren't standard enough.

[ARW]

"GB" <NOTso...@microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:n207t0$oko$1...@dont-email.me...

They might have done in the 1970s.



--
Adam

[Chris French]

In message <n207t0$oko$1...@dont-email.me>, GB <NOTso...@microsoft.com>
writes

If they are deck mounted mixer maybe, not if they are stand alone taps.
Or soem other designs of twin hole mixer taps
--
Chris French

[F Murtz]

Maybe two taps and a spout?

[Stephen]

On Wed, 11 Nov 2015 21:00:18 +0000, John Rumm
<see.my.s...@nowhere.null> wrote:

>Not all taps mount on the bath - some may project from a wall, some bath
>fillers fill from the overflow position, others may hang over an end on
>long floor mounted stalks. Hence the trend for non drilled baths.

The baths I have seen for wall taps or floor mounted taps, do not have
a flat area on the rim of the bath. Some baths have a flat area
intended for taps. I can't see you would buy one of these to use with
wall or floor taps, unless you use the flat area as a shelf. I just
thought that the ones with this flat area would be pre-drilled. Oh
well, the advice here is encouraging me that it won't be as bad as I
thought.

Thanks,
Stephen.

[GB]

That's me! I'm stuck in a time eddy of the 1970's. I really like 1970s
designs. I think they look modern. :)

[Tim Watts]

Open plan is dead.

According to the radio yesterday. Apparently people now prefer closed
plan...



It's all bollocks anyway - people should just do what they want and
they'll be enough of a mix of housing stock to satisfy everyone.

Perhaps more should be done with moveable partitions (office style)?

[Adam Funk]

Did he recognize you as his old boss?
;-)

[Rod Speed]

Huge <Hu...@nowhere.much.invalid> wrote
> Tim Watts <tw_u...@dionic.net> wrote

>> Open plan is dead.

Like hell it is.

> Never liked it, anyway. Who wants to share
> their living space with the washing up?

I don’t share my living space with the washing up, that's in the dishwasher.