Diamond drill advise

[Marine Life Uk]

Hi all thought we would post this up for those thinking of drilling

[Marine Life Uk]

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Tips for using Diamond hole saws<o:p></o:p>
Lubrication
Wateror coolant should always be used to cool and lubricate the tip. The lubricationreduces heat build-up and heat fractures in the material. Water is most oftenused as the lubricant, since it works very well and has no cost. Oil basedlubricants do not work well on diamond drill bits. The amount of lubricationused should increase with the hardness of the material being drilled. Whendrilling in fibreglass, a diamond drill bit can be used dry or with a verysmall amount of water. When drilling in glass or ceramic, soft ceramic tile andporcelain, if properly lubricated, the dust from the cut should be at leastthe consistency of a very wet paste and the drill bit contact with the surfaceshould always be wet. When drilling in hard, abrasive materials such aslimestone, sandstone, hard ceramic and porcelain tiles, marble or granite, itis very important to have lots of lubrication. With these hard materials, it iscommon to have a small amount of water constantly running over the drill bitand bore hole.
Thisdiscussion is presented only as a guide. It is almost impossible to have 'toomuch' lubrication and the only down side risk is the mess from water beingthrown off by the bit. However, 'too little' lubrication will cause manyproblems.
Lubrication tips and techniques
Variouskinds of very specialised industrial water feed equipment are available forindustrial production type work. However, when drilling with diamond bits, the primary concern is merelygetting enough water lubrication on the cutting edge of the bit, no matter whatmethod is used.<o:p></o:p>
Themost basic method is to use a small hose that runs water onto the surface nearthe bore hole. To provide lubrication ona horizontal surface, one trick is to place a plastic jug or bottle with asmall hole near the bottom of it, next to the drill hole. The water leaks out of the bottle andprovides continuous lubrication as you drill.<o:p></o:p>
Anotherexcellent lubrication technique is to build a "dam" around the drillhole using a small amount of modelling clay or a similar material. This method is very effective, especially ifthe water extends above the side tip lubrication hole to allow water to flowinto the bit providing good interior lubrication. The clay can be used many times if it isstored in a plastic sandwich style zip-lock bag to keep it from drying out.
Forlow volume repetitive work, it is also possible to place the material into ashort 'cake' style pan (place a thin plastic board underneath so you don'tdrill into the pan) and fill the pan with water so that it covers the surfaceof the material being drilled. If possible,the water should cover the side lubrication hole on the tip of the diamonddrill bit.
Whendrilling on vertical surfaces, about the only way to apply water is to use sometype of hose. If that is not possible, areasonably effective solution is to have someone constantly"squirting" water into the bore hole using a squirt bottle. In any case, the amount of lubrication shouldalways be in relation to the hardness and abrasiveness of the material.
Nomatter what lubrication method is used, a periodic "pumping" actioncan significantly improve lubrication at the drill tip. This will increase the drilling speed inaddition to improving drill bit life. While drilling, merely raise the drill up and down a fraction of an inchonce in a while as you drill (about every minute or so). This assures that water enters the drill tiparea completely and fully lubricates the very tip of the bit .<o:p></o:p>
Starting a Core Drill Bit by Using aTemplate
Coredrill bits above 1/2" work best when used in a drill press rather than ina hand drill. Starting a core drill bit when using a drill press is simple,since the drill press keeps the drill bit from moving about. To reduce drillbit slippage or "walking" when using a hand drill, a template can bemade to help start the drill bit if necessary.
Atemplate is made by drilling a pilot hole in a piece of soft wood or plastic,using the diamond core drill bit or by cutting a "V" in the edge of apiece of wood or plastic. Templates are often made of 1/8" plexiglass,1/8" pressed wood or even cardboard. For repetitive drilling, a plastic orplexiglass template works best since water lubrication can be used immediately.The template is placed on the surface of the material being drilled, with thepilot hole or "V" above the target hole area. The hole or"V" in the template will hold the core drill bit in place as itstarts. After just a few revolutions of the drill bit, a groove is created andthe template can be removed.
Drill Pressure
Whenusing normal drill bits on soft materials such as wood, increasing the pressurecauses the bit to drill faster and has little affect upon friction or heatbuild-up on the bit. When drilling in harder materials such as hardwoods, it ismore important to reduce the pressure and let the bit "drill at its ownspeed". Otherwise, friction will quickly burn up the bit. When usingdiamond drill bits, the affect is similar to hardwood drilling, but it ismagnified many times due to the extreme hardness and abrasiveness of thematerial being drilled.
Whenusing diamond drills on glass, ceramic or porcelain tile, limestone, marble andgranite, etc, it is very important to have only light to medium pressure on thedrill and to let the bit "drill at its own speed". Increasingpressure will not speed up the cutting noticeably, but it will increase thefriction considerably and quickly cause the bit to overheat. This not onlyburns up the bit, but it also heats up the surrounding surface and can causeheat fractures or breakage to occur.

[Marine Life Uk]

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</td><td style="padding: 0cm 1.5pt; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); width: 257.25pt; background-color: transparent;" vAlign="top" width="343">Drill press arms leverage hand pressure by a factor of about
6 to 8. So 2 lbs. of hand pressure on the drill press arm will apply about 14 lbs of pressure to the drill head.
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If a drill bit develops yellow, brown, blue or black 'burn marks' around the tip, it is an indication of extreme heat caused by the excessive drill speed or by too much pressure on the drill. Impact type "hammer drills" should never be used with diamond drills as they have no benefit and will cause the tip of the bit to mushroom or split.
If a hole is being drilled completely through a piece of material, it is also important to "lighten up" considerably on the pressure when the drill bit is near the back of the material. This reduces chipping or fracturing on the back of the material when the bit emerges from the back.
Water or coolant should always be used to cool and lubricate the tip. The lubrication reduces heat build-up and heat fractures in the material. Water is most often used as the lubricant, since it works very well and has no cost. Oil based lubricants do not work well on diamond drill bits. The amount of lubrication used should increase with the hardness of the material being drilled. When drilling in fibreglass, a diamond drill bit can be used dry or with a very small amount of water. When drilling in glass or ceramic, soft ceramic tile and porcelain, if properly lubricated, the dust from the cut should be at least the consistency of a very wet paste and the drill bit contact with the surface should always be wet.
When drilling in hard, abrasive materials such as limestone, sandstone, hard ceramic and porcelain tiles, marble or granite, it is very important to have lots of lubrication. With these hard materials, it is common to have a small amount of water constantly running over the drill bit and bore hole.
This discussion is presented only as a guide. It is almost impossible to have 'too much' lubrication and the only down side risk is the mess from water being thrown off by the bit. However, 'too little' lubrication will cause many problems.

[Marine Life Uk]

Glass Block Drilling
Drilling in glass block is basically no different than drilling in normal glass.If you keep the speed down, use low drill pressure and plenty of water for lubrication, you won't have any problems.However, there are a few very important facts and tips that will help people in their task.
There are numerous different types and styles of glass block made by many different manufacturers.Most have some type of design or pattern, however, for drilling purposes, there are two very important characteristics to be aware.Glass block varies significantly in the thickness of the glass wall and also by how tempered the glass is.This information is rarely disclosed on the block itself, but should be considered when buying glass block for crafting purposes.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
If you are drilling glass block that has been installed in a wall, you don't have much choice but to drill whatever is there. However, for craft projects, it is good to be very selective.If the glass block is 3/8" thick, it will take three times as long to drill compared to block with a 1/8" thick wall.Additionally, it will triple the drill bit wear per hole, causing the bit life to be only one-third as long.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p>T</o:p>empered glass is often used in glass block to increase the load bearing capability of the block.Tempered glass has differing degrees of temper, and while it can be drilled, it should be avoided if reasonably possible.Tempered glass block can increase drilling times by 200% to 500% or even more, when compared to standard un-tempered glass. Additionally, depending upon the degree of glass temper, drill bit life can be reduced by 75% to as much as 90%.<o:p></o:p>
Experienced crafters who work with glass block eventually learn to search for different types and styles of glass block to test. After drilling a sample of each block, it is obvious which block has a thin wall and which block is un-tempered. Also, crafters who are drilling lots of glass blocks, normally develop some type of pan drilling method, so that the block can be drilled under water to improve lubrication and extend drill bit life.Water lubrication techniques are discussed in more detail in the Lubrication Tips & Tricks section
.Aquarium Drilling
Aquariums are often drilled to allow for installation of side-entry filter systems rather that standard top-mount systems.The side-entry systems also provide better flow-through water movement where that is a special factor.Drilling in aquariums is not difficult - it is basically the same as drilling normal glass.However, additional precaution should be taken when drilling aquariums compared to normal glass.
There is always a small risk of causing a break when drilling any glass.While the risk is extremely small if proper drilling techniques are used, this small risk is always there.If a break would occur when drilling in regular glass, it is frustrating, but not a major loss.However, the loss of an aquarium is much more significant, so reasonable care should be taken.
As additional 'comfort', we offer that the structural integrity of glass increases significantly as it becomes thicker.So, the small risk of a drilling problem actually reduces significantly as the size (and cost) of the aquarium increases. Based upon our testing and our customer contact, we offer the following suggestions for aquarium drilling.
Take proper care:You don't need to be an expert at drilling glass or aquariums. No matter if it is a 20 gallon tank or 2,000 gallons.Take your time, use proper drilling speeds, low drill pressure, good water lubrication and follow a few basic cautions relative to aquarium drilling.
Be sure you have the right sized drill bit: Pipe is measured as an inside diameter. So 1-1/2" pipe or a 1-1/2" fitting will have an 'inside diameter' of 1-1/2".However, the outside diameter can vary depending upon the type of pipe or fitting used and depending upon the specific manufacturer. Be sure to measure the outside diameter properly so that you drill the correct size hole.
The bottom of a tank is could be tempered glass,so check before drilling but it is extremely rare for the sides to be tempered.Additionally, the water weight on the bottom is significantly higher than on the sides of a tank.Anytime glass is cut or drilled, micro fractures always occur along the cut, plus a hole reduces the structural strength of the glass.While tanks are generally "over engineered" to be much stronger than actually needed for their capacity, the bottom is the "weakest link" and should generally be avoided.
Drill at least 1" from the sides of the glass: All glass contains minor imperfections and flaws.Micro fractures also occur along the edge of glass when it is cut.To avoid placing any additional stress on those weak spots, we recommend staying at least 1" away from any glass edge.
Use proper lubrication techniques:Basic lubrication techniques are discussed above in Lubrication Tips & Techniques. The best lubrication method for tank drilling is to position the surface horizontally and use a dam made of clay or similar material around the drill area.The method as discussed in the above section, is very simple and also very effective.If a large stationary tank is being drilled in the vertical position, use the 'spray method' and take care to get as much of the spray into the drill slot as possible.
Assure adequate lubrication:While drilling, it helps to raise the drill up and down a fraction of an inch once in a while as you drill (about every minute or so). This merely assures that water enters the drill hole completely and fully lubricates the very tip of the bit . The technique is especially helpful when drilling larger tanks with thick walls.<o:p></o:p>
Ease off when you are nearly through:As a drill breaks through the back side of any material, it will cause some splintering.Due to the brittle fragile nature of glass and your desire to retain structural integrity, you want to minimise the splintering.Merely reduce the drill pressure as you near the back of the glass.This is one of those rare instances where time is your friend.If it takes you 3 minutes to drill 3/4 of the way through, back off and use another 3 minutes to go most of the the the remaining 1/4. The final 1/32" to 1/16" is the most delicate, so again take your time and ease up on the pressure.<o:p></o:p>
If your hole ends up being a little too tight: You don't want the hole to be any larger than you actually need, but sometimes people cut it a little too close. Since the pipe fittings are normally plastic, an easy solution is to use fine sand paper to reduce the outside diameter of the fitting slightly.If your hole is a little too large, the gasket on the fitting normally provides extra room and should provide an adequate seal.<o:p></o:p>

Finally:Drilling holes in any glass reduces the structural integrity of the glass and will reduce the safety levels that were intentionally engineered into an aquarium. We must specifically state that in offering these tips and techniques, we do not accept any liability and disclaim any express or implied warranties and all incidental or consequential damages should problems arise.<o:p></o:p>

[cl0wn]

good post! would go well with this

http://www.reefcentral.co.uk/showthr...l-a-glass-tank (http://www.reefcentral.co.uk/showthread.php/14449-How-to-drill-a-glass-tank).

well worth a sticky.