Diamond drill bits help

[henrytd5]

hi everyone. I came across a old thread on google that was from forum, it was about drilling prefab concrete sectional panels for a garage.

I dont think a solution had been made but there has to be a way to succesfully drill these panels without them breaking.

I have to erect one of these prefab garages over christmas to form my new workshop.
Got the complete garage for free which was a bonus!

Im going to have to drill a few holes and adapt a few panels. Hole size required will be 7-8mm.
I tried to drill a hole last weekend with hammer drill turned right down but the concrete blew where i was trying to drill.

I was hoping I might be able to drill with a ceramic tile bit or some form of wet cutting bit where I dont have to use a hammer drill.

can anyone offer up some tips or advice or better still who has drilled a nice clean hole through one these panels...

thanks

 

[Parm]

Ive drilled through mine quite easily. 7mm masonry bits in SDS machine.

Only problem I found was the blow out on the back of the hole. As you say reduce speed or better still switch off the hammer action if you can. Can also help if you've got a helper to hold a big slug of wood at the hole exit point

 

[frank horton]

liuke Parm said don't use the hammer action and light pressure .......I found that drill a 3-4mm hole thru first to stop the wandering then get on to the correct size....I had 2 machines both battery powered.......
I use a flat concrete board to line showers etc and nver had a problem and often have to countersink the board for hidden fixings.....just don't push let the drill bit do the work.....u'll soon get the hang of it...
oh, I never use a backing block of wood as I work alone and can't do both jobs.......frank

 

[henrytd5]

Thank ou for sharing your ideas, I have a spare panel so I will get some practice done this coming weekend. Thankyou

 

[brightspark]

use these https://www.screwfix.com/p/bosch-multipurpose-drill-bit-6-5-x-100mm/1495v

 

[Pete.]

You can't get diamond core bits that small - well you could but you wouldn't want to pay for them (or try to drill with them). 6-7mm holes will go through sectional garages like butter if you use a proper sds drill. Blow-out should be minimal.

 

[Lee Tattersall]

I've used i think they was these BOSCH B8 SDS PLUS but remember them being blue well they worked good and like others has said turn hammer action off at the end and use light pressure or a weaker drill something like a cordless.

 

[MCKDAVID]

seeing as you can get to both sides, a simple trick to avoid blow out, is to get the smallest drill bit, you can use to drill a pilot hole through depending on the thickness, you can get masonry bits down to 2 or 3mm, as parm says, block of wood or something on the other side will definitely help. Then once you're through with the pilot, then drill in halfway from the other side first then back to the other side. The pilot hole, and the drilling from both sides and makes a big difference by controlling / reducing the break out with the bigger bit.

 

[henrytd5]

I will give the bosch ones a go I think...
The blow out wasnt such a problem.. it was a big section of concrete the broke free and exposed on part of the hole. But I was using hammer action. I will try all you have said and let you know how I got on. .

Thanks to all

 

[pedrobedro]

Ive drilled through mine quite easily. 7mm masonry bits in SDS machine.

I got through the front of one on a sectional garage by switching off the hammer at the end of the hole. It was through the thick part and at an angle to fasten the front that holds the door. We made the holes 10mm and put some studding through with a nut on each end where it had been screwed through into the wood from the back and had broken out due to movement.

 

[Pete.]

I will give the bosch ones a go I think...
The blow out wasnt such a problem.. it was a big section of concrete the broke free and exposed on part of the hole. But I was using hammer action. I will try all you have said and let you know how I got on. .

Thanks to all

An SDS drill should not be able to break concrete. It must have been cracked beforehand.

 

[Lee Tattersall]

I've used i think they was these BOSCH B8 SDS PLUS but remember them being blue well they worked good and like others has said turn hammer action off at the end and use light pressure or a weaker drill something like a cordless.

I had a look in the garage they wasn't bosch B8 but bosch X5L https://photos.app.goo.gl/CZQ9mo6d5k9Uny1D2 anyway they worked well.

 

[dobbslc]

An SDS drill should not be able to break concrete. It must have been cracked beforehand.

Those panels are very easy to blow the back out of with a SDS hammer drill!
I drilled mine putting shelf brackets up and blew a nice lump out of it. It was a brand new garage so no damage or cracks etc. The best way I found was using a drill like that Bocsh one mentioned above ^^^ In a battery drill. Beware that you will at some point hit a bit of re-bar and you won't drill that!

 

[henrytd5]

Success! Managed to drill the 6 required holes, using bosch multi purpose bits. I destroyed x2 4mm pilot bits, x2 5mm bits and x1 7mm bits. I used a combination of hammer and no hammer with 2 speed settings with my cordless combi drill and drilled all 6 holes within 5 mins. Very minimal break out on the concrete also.

A big thankyou to everyone for their help and suggestions. I tried to upload a few pics but photobucket is playing up.

 

[Ashley Burton]

tried to upload a few pics but photobucket is playing up.

Could you not just upload them directly on here using the 'upload a file' button?

 

[henrytd5]

I will get some pics of the full garage build tmo. Should be complete in the next few days and then I can start learning to weld. I bought a Clarke mig about 4 months ago and have not a workshop to use it in as I've had to move house..