Drilling Small Holes In Hard Tile

Rob Lewis

So, my client asked my to put 12x24 floor tiles on the walls, floor to ceiling. Tile is 5/16 thick, reconstituted stone/granite from Italy - like a cultured marble counter top, only formed into tiles like standard heavy floor tile. Beautiful tile.
The wall fixture count amounted to 32(!) holes. I used a standard Milwaukee hammer drill, set on low speed, hammer on, with 5/16 carbide masonry bits. Each hole took about 2-3 minutes to drill, partly because I had to scratch an "x" on the wall each time with my 4" grinder to keep the bit from wondering at the start. Each bit lasted about 4-5 holes. (I think I lasted about the same, or less.) Finding a way to put pressure directly behind the drill helped (a little), but...
Is there an easier way/tool(s)/bit to get this job done, or are we just talking "suck it up" and burn through bits? It seems like a lot of time and money to charge the client just to hang (an excessive number of) fixtures.
Any advice?

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Rob Lewis
Reliable Renovations
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Leo G

You can sharpen those bits in about a minute if you have a diamond honing stone.

What about the spade shaped glass and tile cutting bits? Have you tried those yet?

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MattCoops

Or I've seen this commercial with this extremely loud fellow selling an epoxy-based putty that instantly can hold up to 1501bs of weight on a shelf whose brackets are mounted with the incredulous material.

Now that's what I'm saying - KABOOM!

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Matt with Cupan Custom Tile & Paint of Lowell, Massachusetts
Design and installation of ceramic tile and natural stone for floor, wall, and countertops
(978) 601-8774 | cupantile@gmail.com | view tile pictures and more

kapena

Try Hilti bits.

nap

are you using any coolant (water) or simply dry drilling?

slow and wet

Do youhappen to have any links of such to the material in question? I would like to see what you are talking about.

stp57

Nap is right on about the coolant (water). A roto hammer would speed it up also & you would not need more than one bit for all 32 holes.
Dewalt makes a good rock carbide bit. Diager makes a great self- sharpening bit (three blades) but they are difficult to find (from France).
Steve

mdshunk

I got a set of these diamond things that look like teeny-tiny core bits. I think they're Hitachi. I used the 1/4" one a few times, and it did 'okay'. Also, the Bosch "blue granite" bits last much better in harder materials versus normal carbide masonry bits.

skyhook

Lightly tap a center punch. Also works on glazed tiles.

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orson

Try an SDS Plus drill instead of a regular hammer drill.

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Bkessler

How about the .22 caliber powder actuated gun. With the brown charges. No.. make that the green tip charges. And no I am not serous.

neolitic

Bet that would look like an explosion
in a tempered glass factory!

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WarriorWithWood

I just went through this. I tried the hammer drill approach and went through 3 bits then I tried the glass drill bit and went through two of those in two holes. I went to my truck and grabbed my Hilti TE-5 and it went through like a hot knife through butter.

Just make sure you grout first or you'll crack the tile (don't ask how I know that one )

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Teetorbilt

A hammer drill can cause cracking. Carbide drills are usually the best available at reasonable cost, TapCon's seem to last the longest but your sizes are really limited. A diamond or greenstone wheel can be used to sharpen dull carbide bits. The diamond bits that md referred to are probably the best but they take patience.

Back in the day we used copper rods or tubing with valve grinding compound to drill through glass or anything else hard. As said before, keep it cool however you do it.

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mckellarman

Ditto on those mini "core drills" from Hitachi. They work well.

MattCoops

In all seriousness, I'd use a cardbide-tipped masonry bit and put masking tape in the shape of an "x" where you're drilling for more traction.

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Matt with Cupan Custom Tile & Paint of Lowell, Massachusetts
Design and installation of ceramic tile and natural stone for floor, wall, and countertops
(978) 601-8774 | cupantile@gmail.com | view tile pictures and more

TileLady

You might want to try using diamond tip drill bits (wet or dry) for the holes. Carbide can only do so much.

There are also guides you can use so that your bit doesn't wander while you're drilling.

Check out these bits for drilling:

http://www.contractorsdirect.com/Dia...category=20588

And here's the guide:

http://www.contractorsdirect.com/Adj...category=20590

Rob Lewis

thanks, everyone. I'll try to respond in one reply here.
Of all the suggestions, I'll try the hilti bits and the TE-5 (or the SDS Plus or core drill bits) to drill holes in this kind of tile in the future (I can rent the TE5 easily enough). I hear the new machines are better than the old one that I own.
I actually have a friend who electro-plates machining bits, so we're going to try and see if his process will improve the life of standard carbide bits. After a few tests, maybe I'll have something to offer to you guys.
The water sounds like a great option but, as all of the holes were on the walls, I think that would get very messy.
I've tried the spade shaped bits, but they didn't even last as long as the carbide bits (though they made a more accurate hole).
I spalled a few tiles when I used a center punch, so some of the holes were a little off-center as a result; not a great option for this tile, which is not glazed. Grinder "x" was best option and worked just fine.
As far as I'm able to tell from the technical data sheet, the tile (Tecnolito Mondariz unpolished by Caesar Italy) is an unglazed, commercial-grade tile (ISO-10545-6). In other words: not your typical bathroom tile. Lucky me!
Thanks, again!

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Rob Lewis
Reliable Renovations
http://www.reliablemadison.com

nap

messy or not, heat is the enemy to the tools. let it build up and nothing will last very long.

wefixit

I have the same trouble with that thick tile and I recomend a high quality glue. I heard that that gorrila putty and glue was good stuff. If your talking about toilet paper holders and towel bars that are supporting light weight things.