How to drill a tile

Ceramic tiles are an excellent finishing material that is widely used in private construction and during repairs in apartments. Strength, waterproofness, high hygiene, practicality, ease of maintenance, relatively low price and plus all this - excellent decorative make the tile almost indispensable material for the premises kitchens , baths, bathrooms, for finishing entrance groups - porches, verandas, vestibules and, .

Learn to lay the tile qualitatively - it is quite affordable for the average owner of a house or apartment: a little diligence, diligence - and experience very quickly will come .But it is equally important to know how to drill a tile. Holes, one way or another, will be needed, for example, for hanging furniture, interior accessories, for piping or other communications, for the installation of outlets and switches and for other needs. It's okay - we will learn to drill ceramics.

What is required for drilling ceramic tiles

In than , in fact, the essence of the whole problem of drilling ceramics? The features of the technological process of tile production - high-temperature roasting, the high density of the material and its surface strength( especially if is a glazing layer) have, apart from obvious advantages, a logical disadvantage. Ceramic products are distinguished by their fragility, lack of any kind of plasticity, and the tile in case of inaccurate handling, cutting or drilling can easily crack, chipped, or even fall apart into several fragments.

In addition, the material itself has a very strong abrasive effect on the cutting tools , and the ordinary drill bits are dulled in the for a few seconds.

Conclusions - it is impossible to apply excessive load, vibration action, high speed of the tool for drilling. And, accordingly, drill bits must be made of high-strength materials, capable of passing a dense structure, and have the appropriate configuration or sharpening.

So, what can be needed for drilling tiles:

Figure	Short description
	Electric drill. The main condition for it is the obligatory presence of a smooth adjustment of the revolutions.
	It may be enough and a quality screwdriver with a powerful source of autonomous power.
	You do not need to write off already forgotten hand drills. For drilling small holes such a tool will be quite enough, and the adjustment of the speed of rotation in general is not a problem. By the way, sometimes even a regular curl can come in handy.
	Standard drills with carbide taps. Quite frankly, not the best choice - this version of sharpening will create difficulties when passing the most durable top layer of tile. They, rather, will be needed to deepen into the thickness of the wall after the holes in the tile are made by other drills. More calculated for shock-rotational action.
	Special spear drills for working with tiles. Very convenient when making holes of small diameter( for example, under dowel fastenings).Can have a conventional cylindrical shank for clamping in the drill chuck. There are drills and hexagon, to the size of the standard bits - they are convenient to work with a screwdriver. Usually such drills are enough for a couple of dozen holes in a conventional tile. With porcelain is more difficult - more than two or three holes they can not master.
	Special carbide drills with one-sided sharp-angled sharpening. Well "bite" into the tile, easily pass the outer, most dense layer. Such drills from a good manufacturer will work a lot.
	Special drill bits with diamond or corundum spraying. They are already referred to the category of professional tools, they can cope with both tiles and porcelain tiles. They represent a hollow tube, which facilitates the drilling process - there is a free outlet for waste. Most often produced for large diameter holes.
	Similar to those already mentioned - drill bits with carbide-tungsten sputtering. Can be used not only for ceramic tiles, but also for natural materials - marble, granite, etc. Usually they are sold in sets for a whole series of diameters, that is, they are purchased more often by professionals who constantly face such a technological operation.
	For one-time works, if it is necessary to make holes of large diameter, it will be more profitable to purchase a special drill - "ballerinka".It is inexpensive, but it can quite cope with the task in the range of diameters from about 30 to 90 mm. The design is simple - the central drill( usually spear-shaped) and located parallel to it with a carbide soldering tip.the outstretch of the leg can change - so the desired radius of the hole is established.
	Some models of machine-tiles are equipped with built-in manual "compass" - a device that allows, without resorting to other tools, to cut a hole in the tile. The circuit is similar to the "ballerinka", and the rotation is transmitted manually, using the handle.
	For the convenience of work, for special drilling of even holes, special tools - conductors can be used. They are attached to the surface by means of suction cups, and do not allow the drill to sideways, which is especially important when starting drilling.
	When drilling certain types of tiles, the tool quickly heats up, and the quality of work is reduced. It is necessary to resort to artificial cooling with the help of water. For this purpose, special superchargers are used, which supply water under small pressure to the cutting site.

Once the with the tool has been defined, you can proceed to the practical work.

How to drill a tile tile

For starters - some general tips:

• If there is an opportunity( there are fragments of unwanted tiles), then it has a sense sl pr go for a little workout. When all starts , you can go to the task.
• It's very important to make an accurate markup. You can, of course, apply the point of future drilling with a pencil or marker directly to the surface of the tile. However, in the first place, according to the glaze( especially glazed), not every pencil leaves a trace. Secondly , this mark is very easy to grease with an awkward movement. Optimal is a very simple way - the area of ​​the hole is sealed with a piece of usual paint tape, and after that you can already mark out - all will be perfectly visible.

The positive "influence" of scotch is not limited to this. Practice shows that it's so much easier to start drilling - sharp sharpened edge drill will not slip from the intended point. This is much better than trying to to corrupt the center. When working with a core( let it be hardened dowel-nail or sharp over-file), there is always a chance to damage the surface of the tile or even to allow a chip( crack).

• Never use high turnovers when drilling tiles. The speed range is from 100 to 400 rpm. The exact value is difficult to specify - it depends and from type drill , and from its diameter, and from the thickness and material of the production of the tile itself. But in practice, the required frequency is very quickly found experimentally.
• It is necessary to take as a rule - there is a drill , is used in which the shock function is provided, then it is necessary to check the disabling of this option before starting work.
• If drill is still not tiled, then for work it is necessary to prepare a comfortable workplace. The surface must be flat, stable, not vibrate. Bottom is to be laid material that will not become an obstacle for drill - it can be a tree, plywood or even an unnecessary piece of drywall.

It is necessary to check that there are no solid fragments left on the desktop that will prevent the tile from adhering to the surface.

• The cutting tool can get very hot during operation, and overheating of the drilling site often leads to cracks in the tile. So, you do not need to apply excessive efforts - it's better to give a little more time to get the hole. The drill itself can be cooled periodically, dropping it, for example, into engine oil. Sometimes, when working on horizontal surfaces, they resort to "local cooling" - around the intended center, the holes are molded from the clay shaft by a ring shaft, and the resulting " tank " is filled with water.

If a hole is drilled on a wall with tiles already laid, then oil oil should be extremely careful - drops of oil can get into intershell grout, and will have a lot to torment to get rid of such stains.

Sometimes you have to resort to forced cooling water supply. Many professionals have for this purpose a special tool for this purpose - usually a pressure vessel, in where is created by a manual pump overpressure, and a special conductor, which and centers the drill, and ensures the flow of liquid into the drilling area.

• The drill must always be perpendicular to the surface of the tile - if there are no special retaining devices, it will be necessary to follow it yourself.

• tile. Drilling of the ceramics( especially when making large-diameter holes) can be accompanied by the with scattering of microscopic but very sharp fragments. Do not forget about this - you need to take measures to protect your hands and especially your eyes.

Now that the basic concepts are outlined, you can go on to look at the most typical ceramic tile drills-small holes, for dowels, and large-diameter holes-for laying communications and installing plumbing, sockets or switches.

Drilling small diameter holes

A typical situation is whenon the wall you need to hang some piece of furniture, a mirror, a towel rack, a locker or shelf, another bathroom accessory or kitchen. In this case, usually used plastic dowels, up to 12 mm in diameter. The situation is considered when the work is being carried out on a wall already tiled with a tile, the glue under which is completely frozen.

First of all, you need to determine the location of the hole. The fact is that it is desirable that it is located no closer than 15 mm from the edge of the tile. Otherwise, it is very likely that either the drill will slip into the seam between the tiles, or the edge from overheating or vibration when drilling just das t t ridge or in general will break away.

• After the marking, insert a drill in the required diameter in the drill chuck. We proceed from the dimensions of the dowels to be installed - the hole in the should be for 1 ÷ 2 mm wider than the diameter of the plug plug .
• The drill bit is installed in the target center( the scotch should not allow the blade to slip off), and then the drilling starts at low speed. The most difficult thing is to go through the top layer of the tile - further drilling will go "more fun".
• As soon as the thickness of the tile is passed, and the drill has reached the wall, it is removed - there is no point in blunting an expensive tool. The is used as a standard drill for perforating walls, with a diameter exactly matching the size of the dowel.
• The drill must pass through the hole in the tile freely, and then you can continue drilling in the wall itself to the required depth. Of course, this is done very carefully, so that the edges of the hole in the tile can not be damaged by an accidental skew, since a long may have a small "beat".
• Then it only remains to put a dowel into the hole made and gently slam it. Remember, an awkward movement can ruin all the work done - from the accidental impact of on the , the surface of the tile can crack.
• After that, nothing should be prevented from screwing in the hook, screw, or other fastening.

Drilling large diameter holes

Large diameter holes( from 20 mm and above) are usually drilled in the as yet before laying it on walls or floors. A careful marking with definition of the centers is carried out, and the tile is laid on the workbench.

Here, the drilling technology may differ slightly - in many respects it depends on the type of drill used .

1. If " ballerina " is used, then for the beginning it is advisable to go through the center of the tile with a small diameter drill( of the order of 3 ÷ 4 mm) - this will greatly simplify the further process.

With the installation of the movable leg , do not forget that thus we set the radius, that is half the diameter - do not make a mistake here. After setting the correct radius, the locking rod nt pr is tightened up tightly, with effort, so that the movable leg does not move under the action of vibration and centrifugal force.

When drilling, small rotations are maintained, perpendicular to the drill's position to the surface and not too large, but constant, uniform pressure down. With excessive force, the drill can jam, and to keep the tile on the surface of the workbench will be extremely difficult. The sharp cutting edge of the tool must itself make the its case.

It is necessary to pay attention that the same depth of cut is observed along the entire length of the received circle.

. Sometimes the edges of the holes will require a little refinement - this can be done with pliers and then sanded with sandpaper.

When drilling " ballerinka " should be very careful - it is in itself an eccentric, so the process can be accompanied by increased vibration. For greater safety it is recommended to use " ballerina " with a safety plastic cover.

2. If the master has diamond, corundum or carbide-tungsten drill bits , the process is simplified.

Such drill bits can have their own shank for fastening in the drill chuck, or the is a collapsible design with a replaceable crown for several diameters.

Please note - the photo shows crowns with a central guide drill. Work with them should not be particularly difficult - the center is installed at the intended point, and then drilling with a small pressure at low speed. The holes are usually very straight, with smooth edges that do not require finishing.

However, can meet crowns that do not have a central drill - this is especially true for a small diameter tool.

How to center them, how correctly to set the center of the hole to be drilled? For this, the already mentioned devices-conductors-are used. Often they are even sold in one set with with drills.

The conductor is attached to the wall( usually on the sucker) so that the hole of the desired diameter on the it is located exactly above the intended center. After this, will fail simply impossible - drilling will take place exactly where necessary.

manual template There are also " light version " of such a device - templates that are applied or glued to the wall in the right place, and then a hole is drilled. Conveniences, of course, in this case less, but the accuracy will be met. On a large account , such a pattern is only needed until the crown is deepened slightly into the surface of the tile. By the way, some masters, saving tools , cut out such patterns and from a regular sheet of 10 mm plywood.

3. Finally, you can mention the most "popular" way of making large diameter holes in a ceramic tile. It is resorted to when there is no way to find a suitable drill bit.

The idea is that a series of holes of small diameter are drilled along the planned circle. Then it will be necessary to gently break the central fragment, and then refine the resulting opening to the required round shape - files, files, or sandpaper.

Quick and easy this method does not call , but nevertheless - and it has the right to exist.

And at the end of the article - a visual lesson on how to drill tiles from a professional:

Video : several drilling options for ceramic tiles