Drilling on ceramic tiles?

last SG · 2009-05-29T02:21:51+00:00

no lah, it's for art and craft purposes.

Nikar 3 SG

first of all, crap.

went to Home-Fix and spent S$33.90 on a cordless light-duty drill, only to find out that it can only do very light drilling on soft wood and that it's main purpose is an electric screwdriver. knn.

any, i've a question.....say, if i've a piece of 10.5 cm by 10.5 cm ceramic tile (something like your small home wall tile), and i drill a 1 cm hole in the middle of it, will the tile crack?

from what i see, ceramic is structurally different from wood or metal, in that if you drill in the center of wood or metal, the material won't crack, but for ceramic tiles, i think if we drill in the middle, there'll be cracks around the hole, even if the whole thing doesn't shatter to bits?

pls advise.

depending on situation, i'll go to Home-Fix again to buy a real drill this time.

serious only.

limywv SG

ditzy SG

I wouldn't drill it if I were you. Google search drilling ceremic tiles or something, surely you don't expect me to type that out in google, and paste the link here for you?

viciouskitty74 SG

depends on your ceramic too.

If its those glass like ceramics, they will crack and break.

Try drilling only onto the side/seams of the tiles. And make sure you practically plaster the tiles where you are drilling with lots of those (Whats its called, scotch tape?) tapes before you drill.

Meia Gisborn SG

Been there, done that...

Your best bet would be to acquire a diamond-tipped bit specially designed for drilling through ceramic tiles. You could get by with a less expensive carbide-tipped masonry drill bit, but it will dull quicker.

You'll also need a variable speed drill. Use the slowest possible speed to prevent excessive heat build-up (have a cup of water handy and dip the bit into it occasionally to cool it down while you're drilling).

Getting the hole started is the trickiest part--the bit will likely skate around the surface of the tile and scratch it up. To prevent this, stick a piece of duct tape on the tile, mark the location of the hole, and drill through the tape.

Do no apply excessive pressure as you're drilling, as you risk cracking the tile. Go slow and let the tip of the bit do the work for you.

richong 3216 SG

Been there, done that...

Do no apply excessive pressure as you're drilling, as you risk cracking the tile. Go slow and let the tip of the bit do the work for you.

I have been using my BOSCH - GBH 2-24 DSR - 620 w for many years & it's still serving me well.

What you have described is on the mark except few users will use a diamond coated drill bit & as u said a carbide tipped one will usually be effective for he job.

I will add that the type of wall/floor tiles will make drilling easy or tricky i.e. for light duty ordinary tiles it will be a breeze but for heavy duty homogenous ties (either polished or matt) it will be a little tricky.

Nikar 3 SG

thanks a lot for the replies, guys.

i read some website and they say use a carbide-tipped drill.....i assume home-fix sells those kind of drills (Black and Decker brand)?

not sure how much a diamond drill bit will cost, but i don't have $$$ to buy that kind of thing.

my wall tile is quite thin (8 mm), so shouldn't have much of a problem?

also, got any place in SG where they provide ceramic-tile drilling services?

now awaiting NH ceramics to reply but i doubt they got these kind of services.

to be honest, the thought of drilling through ceramic makes me wet my pants and i'm scared something will go wrong.

bhkw SG

it is possible, just simply make sure that you drill with gradual increments in terms of depth. Do not ever press it down with too much force, as it will lead to cracks

Yes correct .. let the speed of your tool do the work ..

And there is a special kind of drill tip for ceramic

http://www.househacker.com/features/glass-block/glass_bit_2.jpg

should look like that ^^

Nikar 3 SG

that kind of drill bit......is it carbide drill tip? the drill bit in the pic looks like those used for drilling glass.

richong 3216 SG

thanks a lot for the replies, guys.

i read some website and they say use a carbide-tipped drill.....i assume home-fix sells those kind of drills (Black and Decker brand)?

not sure how much a diamond drill bit will cost, but i don't have $$$ to buy that kind of thing.

my wall tile is quite thin (8 mm), so shouldn't have much of a problem?

also, got any place in SG where they provide ceramic-tile drilling services?

now awaiting NH ceramics to reply but i doubt they got these kind of services.

to be honest, the thought of drilling through ceramic makes me wet my pants and i'm scared something will go wrong.

It's a very small job & I doubt any contractor will do it - & if anyone does, likely u will be charged for a price which is not worth paying for eg $30 - $50 ?.

Realistically u should get a friend or friends' friend to do for u & it should be free! - it's actually so easy to do it!.

Nikar 3 SG

lol, ok....i will try.....i'm just scared the thing will crack and fly out and fit my eye....:-D

btw, since it's a individual piece of small tile by itself, i gotta clamp it down using those portable G-clamp? bought 1 from artfriend yesterday.

Nighthawkies SG

Drilling it slow and easy should be fine. Always take it slow when it is the 1st time…

viciouskitty74 SG

Huh Clamp?

Your tile is not affixed to the wall yet?

Nikar 3 SG

er no.....it's a tile by itself, meaning U CAN HOLD IT IN YOUR EFFING HANDS!!!!!!!!!!

lol.....it's not those "already-on-the-wall" kind of tile.

if it is, then drilling would be so simple since it has concrete to hold it in place and it's a lot firmer and thicker than the tile by itself. :-D

richong 3216 SG

er no.....it's a tile by itself, meaning U CAN HOLD IT IN YOUR EFFING HANDS!!!!!!!!!!

lol.....it's not those "already-on-the-wall" kind of tile.

if it is, then drilling would be so simple since it has concrete to hold it in place and it's a lot firmer and thicker than the tile by itself. :-D

Alamak! all along most of us thought that the tile is firmly cemented on the floor/wall and in this case I think it's very, very unlikely that the tile wont crack/break when being drilled.

viciouskitty74 SG

You could have spared us all these trouble typing down when you could be more specific.

I could have told you to go to a laser cutting shop and get them to laser in your holes.

Now go back to your effing hands and go search for a shop that does laser cutting and call them whether they can drill a hole into your ceramic tile.

Can specify your diameter of your hole too.

Basket, waste my time........

bhkw SG

You could have spared us all these trouble typing down when you could be more specific.

I could have told you to go to a laser cutting shop and get them to laser in your holes.

Now go back to your effing hands and go search for a shop that does laser cutting and call them whether they can drill a hole into your ceramic tile.

Can specify your diameter of your hole too.

Basket, waste my time........

LOL .. lazer ah .. kinda Ex. also wad ..

richong 3216 SG

You could have spared us all these trouble typing down when you could be more specific.

I could have told you to go to a laser cutting shop and get them to laser in your holes.

Now go back to your effing hands and go search for a shop that does laser cutting and call them whether they can drill a hole into your ceramic tile.

Can specify your diameter of your hole too.

Basket, waste my time........

lol - take it easy & enjoy!

Nikar 3 SG

knn........thanks for the replies, all! :-D

haiz.....anyway, i think i'll try drilling on this type of tile lah....only thing is that have to buy a new drill which is ex......

now got cat suggest laser-cutting?! wah liao........die liao

aHGer^83 SG

who in the right mind wld drill a hole in the middle of the ceramic tile?? lol....