| Here
comes the science bit ! |
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Dont bother trying to use anything like this
on the right. You will waste your time, effort and money. Tiles
produced today are much harder than this tool can cope with which is why you need
a diamond hole cutter. Diamond
drills are used on glass, stained glass, ceramics, ceramic tile, porcelain, porcelain
tile, limestone, marble, granite, slate, stone and fiberglass. Drills used on
wood or metal have a sharp metal tip or teeth, that cut into the material. These
types of drills do not work on glass, marble, etc. as the tips do not "bite" into
the extremely hard material, and cause heat build-up that burn up the bit and
cause "heat fractures" in the material. Carbide tipped Spear Point drills are
sometimes used on the "softer" types of hard materials - like untempered glass,
sandstone and marble and some of the less hard ceramic and porcelain tiles. While
they sometimes work, they tend to chip the hard surface very badly, leaving a
rough hole and often cause breakage due to fractures from the chipping and heat.
Diamond drill bits are designed differently - they have diamond tips that "grind"
into the extremely hard materials. |
Core drills only drill out a portion of the
resulting hole, so they tend to drill much faster than blunt nose drills. Core
drills can be used to drill large holes and can be used on most non-ferious hard
materials such as glass, stained glass, ceramic, porcelain and fiberglass, ceramic
or porcelain tile, limestone, slate, marble, granite and other stone materials.
Bonded diamond drill bits have the diamonds bonded to the the edges of the drill
bit tip, generally using an electroplate bonding process. These drill bits are
generally slow-speed bits and are fairly inexpensive. During use, the diamonds
eventually wear off of the bit due to the hardness and abrasiveness of the material
being drilled. Bonded diamond drill bits must not be used on metal, concrete,
or masonry and require proper speed and adequate water lubrication.
The life of any type of diamond drill bit depends
upon the hardness, abrasiveness and thickness of the material being drilled and
the specific drilling techniques used (drill speed, pressure and lubrication),
however, the diamonds of a drill bit don't actually wear out as much as they wear
off due to heat and friction caused by the extreme hardness and abrasiveness of
the material drilled. Drilling in glass, ceramic, marble, etc. is a slow process
compared to softer materials such as wood or even metal. A fairly deep hole can
be drilled in wood in just a few seconds, while it can take 20 or 30 seconds or
longer to drill a hole in standard 1/8" thick glass. In some very hard stones
and tiles, it may take 2 to 3 minutes to drill only 1/4" deep. Using diamond bits
to drill in hard materials is not difficult, however, it takes time. A person
should consider that they aren't 'drilling' a hole, as much as 'grinding' a hole.
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