drilling stone for a font

[Yob]

Know **** all about this... Need a 50mm hole on my lovely deck bench to mount a cobra font..

Benching is 600 x 300 x 30 pavers..

Rekon I just get someone to drill it for me, smash it out or buy a drill and try to have a crack?

Best drill?

What lubricant?

RPM?

FIIK...

 

[spog]

50 mm diamond edged hole saw, water for lube ( enough to keep the slurry cool,if the slurry is warm increase the flow).
Slow and steady wins the race,if the hole saw starts to grab you aren't drilling in a straight line ie, plumb ,if this happens you run the risk of chipping the edges around the hole or having the drill grab and either pissing off on its own or stuffing your wrist .
Let the drill bit do ALL the work don't push too hard, again slow and steady wins the race.
Oh and put a towell underneath to catch the shite when the job is done and a couple around the area where you will be drilling,the slurry is super fine and will stain anything it comes in contact with.
And drill a similar sized hole through a piece of ply and use this as a guard to protect the the top from damage while drilling especially when the drill cuts through the final layer and your caught out and the drill slams down onto the top,and basically fks it.

A non alcohol related task !
Cheers...spog.

Get a hole saw to suit the material you want to drill, cement/ ceramic/ clay / kiln fired etc

 

[Benn]

Stone or concrete? Title says stone but 600x600x30 pavers suggests concrete?
Spog is definitely on the money either way but concrete is pretty forgiving compared to stone so if you can't get hold of a hole saw and are prepared to stray into the Ghetto you could always mark out your 50mm hole then use a regular masonry bit in a hammer drill (6,8,10mm bit, whatever you've got lying around) and drill a series of holes around the circumference until the center falls out and your left with your 50mm hole. It'll be rough, and you may need to clean the hole up a bit with some light chiseling depending on whether there's a flange on the font or not but it'll get the job done. I wouldn't attempt this method with stone, you'll just burn out the drill bit or crack the stone.
As Spog says, slow and steady wins the race.

 

[MastersBrewery]

You can hire the real deal from kenards and the like. I wouldn't use my drill on anything thicker than 30mm.(unless you need an excuse to buy a new one) offsider keeping the water up to the bit so you can concentrate on the cutting. And let the drill do the work.

 

[spog]

Any luck with this project Yob ?

 

[Yob]

naa, not yet, had a look at the drill bits at a specialist store, still working out if its cheaper to replace the whole panel and get the store to drill it for me (and not do a hack on it) or fork out for a tool I'll probably only ever use the once... twice if I **** the panel and have to replace it anyway

 

[wide eyed and legless]

If you have some sort of cover plate or collar covering the hole you could mark out your hole at 53 mm and drill a series of holes with a 1/4" masonry drill, that's what I did with a granite bench top to put my hand pumps on, mind you it wasn't 30mm thick.

 

[Curly79]

Could you cut out a small square with a diamond tip 5 inch grinder and then cover it all up with a stainless cover plate? Or does the font need the perfect circle for mounting?

 

[droid]

is it mobile? could you take it to a tile place, or a stonemason/tiler, maybe even a plumber? if i could waste one or two panels i'd score the circle, drill some pilot holes and borrow a jigsaw with a diamond blade or whatever they are but yeah that's prolly $50 bucks worth and might not work either...and by the time you do that a tiler or stonemason or err somesuch could have done it for ya

good luck

and this thread will remain worthless without pics of the job eh

 

[Curly79]

Could you cut out a small square with a diamond tip 5 inch grinder and then cover it all up with a stainless cover plate? Or does the font need the perfect circle for mounting?

 

[Yob]

The font has a smallish cover plate at the base, not enough for a square hole I don't think. Pretty sure it's bluestone so it's gunna be... Erm... Rock hard.

I'd considered a bunch of smaller holes and just hammering it out but I rekon I'll want it to be neat. Rekon I'll still need a spare paver anyway as a replacement if we ever sell up and scarper so there are options.

1 buy 2 tiles and do an ugly butcher job
2 buy 2 tiles and invest in the cutting wheel and have a crack
3 buy 2 tiles and get one drilled professionally

Usually I don't mind having a crack but I'm leaning towards option 3 in this instance

 

[Curly79]

Might be easier to get a bigger cover plate made up and just cut out the square hole?

 

[Yob]

But then I'm paying for 2 jobs right?

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Shame bunnings stopped selliing boxes of assorted holes.

 

[Grott]

Your optoin 3 sounds the best, will save a lot swearing and cursing and you'll have someone else to blame.
Cheers

 

[Curly79]

But then I'm paying for 2 jobs right?

Should be able to borrow a diamond blade and small grinder off someone. A small piece of stainless steel sheet cut to size won't cost much.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

If you are going to do it yourself, hire the proper "Core Hole Borer" They are a sizable unit and are the only way to drill a core hole straight .


You could man up and buy a 50mm masonary bit, but you realy dont want to go down that route...its ugly, heavy, noisy and hard work

You wont need lots of water like a concrete cutting saw, so a squirt bottle should do the job or a hose in a slow trickle

I wouldnt go down the route of an angle grinder and square hole

 

[seamad]

Yob,
I've bought a fair bit of stuff off this mob, they have a 51mm diamond hole saw for $12. For a one off use you couldn't go wrong, just use plenty of water and go slow.
http://thk.hk/online-cart-dtl.php?cid=1&sid=30&ssid=0&id=341

My norton security is trying to block this site, not sure why, I've made at least 8 separate orders from them previously without fault.

 

[booargy]

Cheaper and easier to get a concrete cutter to do it.saw an engineer try to cut a precast panel with a quick cut saw instead of putting it back on the truck. Haha tried to make himself look good ended up looking like an idiot when he had to get a contractor with a road saw.

 

[Funk then Funk1]

ok here is what you need to do,
Follow spog's advice, he was pretty much spot on, any drill will do use the slower speed (or the low gear), like spog said you need the correct hole corer bit, for blue stone you'd probably want the flat edged one (not the one that has all the diamond grit over it) like this http://://thk.hhttpk/online-cart-dtl.php?cid=17&sid=44&ssid=0&id=109 (the ones seamad suggested are great on softer stone but can burn out on really hard stone...I have to admit I haven't dealt with bluestone much, but I know it can be fairly hard).
Definitely use a ply template and tape it into place, the hole corer will drift all over the place at the start if you don't have the template secured in place. And don't use the hammer setting on your drill in case you were wondering about it.

or (if you're worried about doing it yourself)

Take it in to a nearby stone mason and ask one of their guys to do it for you. When I used to work at a stone place we always used to get people coming in asking to get holes drilled, we never charged but when a few bucks/quid (I was living in England at the time) was given, and told "go and buy yourself a drink", it was greatly appreciated, and I'd head straight down to the 'Bee Hive' for a pint of London Pride.