365 drills - Tile Advice

[enduro]

Just ordered the Bathroom fitters kit from 365 drills, anybody tried these as i have some 12mm porcelain tiles to drill through next week?

 

[grumpygrouter]

Got a kit myself, Enduro. You will have no problems with them at all.

Grumpy

 

[Gazzer]

Havent tried on porcelain yet but no problems with ceramics. The yellow plastic guide doesnt last long though. The holes to guide the drill tend to wear fast and so dont hold the drills in the right place anymore. Other than that they are great. I will be using them on Porcelain on Monday myself.

 

[Kobbie]

Hi, i purchased a set of these the other week for drilling porcelain tiles (also 12mm) and they drilled through like a hot knife through butter. This has been one of the best tool buys i have made, because in the past i have tried other drill bits/cutters with not alot of success. I have just purchased the 120mm cutter also, but not had a chance to use yet - but will let you know the result when i have done so. If you aint got a set of these in your kit then i would say it's a must get.

 

[grumpygrouter]

Hi, i purchased a set of these the other week for drilling porcelain tiles (also 12mm) and they drilled through like a hot knife through butter. This has been one of the best tool buys i have made, because in the past i have tried other drill bits/cutters with not alot of success. I have just purchased the 120mm cutter also, but not had a chance to use yet - but will let you know the result when i have done so. If you aint got a set of these in your kit then i would say it's a must get.

Hi Kobbie, I made a guide out of some plasterboard for this size of drill. 365 recommend a bench drill for this size but making a guide out of plasterboard works really well.

Grumpy

 

[Kobbie]

Hi Grumpy, i do not have a pillar drill but i have seen in photos - plasterboard used as a template so it is nice to know somebody has actually tried it and it works. I was debating about using ply but plasterboard will be easier, i am looking forward to trying it. I am sure it will be fine as all the other sizes have worked great, i can't recommend these enough. Thanks Grumpy

 

[Deleted member 1779]

Cutting big holes in tiles (75mm 85mm 95mm 100mm 105mm 110mm 115mm 120mm 125mm) for things like extract fan - soil stack when no fixed pillar drill is available on site.

Easy solution

Tools required:
1) Battery hand drill
2) Holesaw (we supply)
3) Piece of scrap plasterboard

Use a pencil to draw a circle round the 365Drills holesaw on the plasterboard. Then cut or score the paper with a knife.

Use your battery drill and the 365-drills holesaw to slowly bore into the soft plaster. A perfect hole will form in a couple of seconds and punch out the other side.

Discard the formed plug or "core" You now have a perfect template for your holesaw.

Place the plasterboard over the correct area on the tile to be drilled. Use it as a guide to start the hole. About 2mm deep in the tile is enough.

For stability you can stand on both the plasterboard and tile. Drill between your legs!

Once started remove and discard the plasterboard. Wet the area to cool the diamonds on the holesaw. Drill slowly and steadily. The drill will gradually grind away the tile at a comfortable, safe and consistant rate.

Because the drill is locked into its own trench or pit there is no chance of drill slip, drill wander, or tile scratching.

Its impossible to damage the tile because the two are self-guiding.

Depending on the hardness of the material a perfect core will be cut in about 3mins (soft) to 5mins (hard) in ANY tile or material from soft ceramics to C5 Hard porcelain tiles. It even works on slate, clay pipes, granite worktops, brick, marble, travertine, glass etc etc

Two points to remember:
1) This method is quick and easy and wont damage expensive tiles.
2) Its cheap. To make a similar hole size 120mm using an Armeg drill would cost you £160 for the drill bit. £40 for the water cooler. £20 for the arbour. £28 for the pilot drill. So you will pay about £250 for the kit for one hole.

And there you have it !

The full article is produced on our website in much more detail and with more piccies - but this explains the principles.

 

[Kobbie]

Used the 120mm cutter today as Grumpy and 365Drills recommended on 12mm porcelain, what can i say ' perfect cut ' 1st time. These cutters are fantastic and so easy to use. :hurray:

 

[Daz]

I've got the bathroom kit, 25mm kit and 70mm kit. Used all of them on porcelain, travertine and ceramics and they fired through with no issues.

As Sir Ramic says, the yellow guide doesn't last long but no big deal as it's easy to make another guide. I driled a 70mm hole in ply for the big drill and it worked a treat with a hand drill.

Had a load of 120mm holes to do in large format ceramics a couple of weeks ago, so drilled a couple of 70mm holes and nipped the rest out, looked brill and didn't take very long at all.

 

[IvegotsTILE]

I agree great kit but the guide can wear away pretty quickly.

 

[Gazzer]

I have to say though that if the guide were made tougher it could wear the drill out ?....Am i right Richard? I think that is the idea behind using plasterboard as a guide as oppossed to plywood.

 

[grumpygrouter]

I agree great kit but the guide can wear away pretty quickly.

If the drill you use is a small one and the guide is worn, you can just drill another guide hole in the plate somewhere where there is a space big enough.

 

[Deleted member 1779]

We produce guides from 6mm to 65mm (any larger and they are difficult to control) and the reason they are made of soft plastic is to protect the diamonds on the drill and to mould / fit to the exact size of the drill.

when guide plates are used for too long and they will begin to wear away. Thats why we try and say to remove it after a few seconds of drilling.

I think the drills might be lasting longer than we claim!

I did look at making the guide stonger (IE swapping HIPS plastic for NYLON) and increasing the depth from 3mm thick to 9mm thick. But we are sure our market niche is for disposable short life kits so we are sticking with that.

The long life market is taken up with ARMEG and RUBI and so we dont really want to be there. Macrist are trying to take them on so there are enough people in the "top end bit".

At the moment we are in the final week of getting it ready for retail (exciting stuff). We believe we have the component lifespan right and so all the energy is being focused on packaging and presentation.

I'll try and get some info together so we can make a proper website announcement of the retail thing before May-2008

 

[enduro]

Ordered my drills on Friday but it doesn't look like i will have them by Wednesday for drilling my tiles.

 

[Gazzer]

Its only Monday today.