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Fitting a shower - masonry drill bit


Bluesofa
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Sorry for the long post, I do like to explain things clearly.

Yesterday I fitted a replacement shower heater we bought a week ago. A Mazuma 4.5Kw.

As you’d expect, the holes for the new one didn’t match up with the original unit I'd removed. At least I did manage to locate one of the new three mounting holes in an old hole.
I borrowed my brother-in-law’s electric drill, then just needed to buy a masonry bit to drill the tiles and the wall for the remaining two holes.

I had some spare rawlplugs and screws I could use. I noticed the rawlplugs had a ‘6’ embossed on them.
I took one as a sample, after looking up the Thai for ‘masonry bit’ and ‘rawlplug’ (just in case).
I also looked up what size drill bit for a No 6 rawlplug. Two websites said 6mm, one said 5mm! I decided to go for 6mm.
Took me a while for rawlplugs, as I found in Engrish here they’re referred to as a ‘plastic anchor’.
OK I did put a photo of both items on my phone, along with the Thai name I’d overprinted . Not too important, but I’m just interested.

GlobalHouse had a 6mm Bosch masonry bit for 84 Baht. Excellent - well almost. I looked on the packet - Made in China.

Got home. Using Tippex I marked the tiled wall (via the shower mounting) where I needed to drill the two holes.

The electric drill had a hammer setting, but the drill itself was either on or off, no variable speed adjustment. Oh well.
I started drilling the first hole which I managed to drill to a depth of no more than 5mm, perhaps half the thickness of the tile. I just couldn't understand how a brand new drill bit couldn't cut through the tile. For years I've done that with no problem.
Had a go on the second hole with the same result. In fact the drill bit started to glow red.

As I needed a new bit, I thought I’d give HomePro a go.
They didn’t have an individual 6mm masonry bit, but a pack of three - 4, 6, 8mm. Black & Decker – a trusted name. The drill bits came from, you’ve guessed it, China. 95 Baht for three.
While I was there, it did go through my mind of the possibly of a piece of metal strengthening truss in the concrete block wall. With this in mind, I also bought a 6mm HSS metal drill bit just in case. Black & Decker again, from China for 28 Baht.
Incredibly I saw there were some 3 and 4mm drill bits on sale for 9 Baht. More Chinese shite.

Got home, and as a precaution I used the 4mm masonry bit first. It went straight through the wall for both holes, with no issues. I used the 6mm bit to get the holes the correct size, no problem either.

Completed fitting the shower with no other hassle. A warm shower at last, after months of cold ones.

 

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Well done BS. 

Standard masonry drill bits are not ideal for tiles although you discovered the secret to using a smaller one first which usually works on ceramic tiles.

For drilling tiles, especially porcelain, a set like this below is highly recommended.  Use a little water spray to lubricate and cool the tip while drilling.

30133.jpg

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Indeed masonary bits are not designed to penetrate tiles . Of course until the now available bits as illustrated above became common it was a tedious task. I have found that even these bits do not appreciate high speed on good quality tiles  but they work very well. Made in China probably.

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Drilling a small pilot hole first is often a good idea. More likely to end up with the hole in the desired position as well as what you found out.

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19 minutes ago, KaptainRob said:

Well done BS. 

Standard masonry drill bits are not ideal for tiles although you discovered the secret to using a smaller one first which usually works on ceramic tiles.

For drilling tiles, especially porcelain, a set like this below is highly recommended.  Use a little water spray to lubricate and cool the tip while drilling.

Thanks KaptainRob.
That's interesting. I've never used those bits you've included in your post. Looks like I need educating.

My (very long-winded) point was that for years in the UK I used a 'normal' masonry bit to drill through tiles, into the wall without any hassle and without reducing the life of the bit.
Perhaps they were of a better quality in them days when I were a lad? Or perhaps they're more hardened tiles here.

I ran a heating repair business for five years and had a fair few central heating boilers to mount on walls.

I assumed it was the Chinese product that was to blame here, especially at that price. Neither store had any drill bits not made in China, I looked.

As an aside, I can always remember the most difficult wall-drilling job I had was when I worked for a church bell foundry.
I had to fit a 20kg metal rack onto the wall of a church in Dorset, using four 3/8" rawlbolts (on my own, as we did in those days).
The walls were flintstones and I had the devil of a job getting through them. The hardest wall I've ever come across.

Most church walls (usually around three feet thick) are sandstone-type blocks or similar, often packed with rubble in the middle between the inner and outer walls . Occasionally you'd have to deal with granite, but still easier than flintstone.

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There is a bit of tile and error with these things .. no grout about it .. but you've been pointed in the right direction by above so shouldn't be scrabbling for anymore tips .. so now you know the drill best get on with it .. 

Edited by Dedinbed
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1 minute ago, BigHewer said:
5 minutes ago, Dedinbed said:

There is a bit of tile and error with these things .. no grout about it

I didn’t expect to have a laugh reading through this topic. Nice one @Dedinbed

I thought you'd get a good laugh at me struggling to drill two 6mm holes! 🤣

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3 minutes ago, Bluesofa said:

I thought you'd get a good laugh at me struggling to drill two 6mm holes! 🤣

No, that part was mainly nodding and considering 😁. What model drill does your brother-in-law have?

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6 minutes ago, Bluesofa said:

I thought you'd get a good laugh at me struggling to drill two 6mm holes! 🤣

Curtain ly not Mr Sofa .. you know I'm not one to chuck-key ridicule about like that ..

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20 minutes ago, BigHewer said:

No, that part was mainly nodding and considering 😁. What model drill does your brother-in-law have?

Seeing as you're interested, I've just been out to have a look.
It’s an Hitachi FDV16-something.
You seem to be able to limit the top speed with a dial on the trigger, but that seems all apart from the hammer action on or off.

Even my B-I-L said it’s very temperamental. Perhaps he's used it to hammer fence-posts in with - ha ha!

 

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7 minutes ago, Bluesofa said:

Seeing as you're interested, I've just been out to have a look.
It’s an Hitachi FDV16-something.
You seem to be able to limit the top speed with a dial on the trigger, but that seems all apart from the hammer action on or off.

Even my B-I-L said it’s very temperamental. Perhaps he's used it to hammer fence-posts in with - ha ha!

I've just tried to look that Hitachi up .. but it came back 

error 404 

tile not found .. 

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32 minutes ago, Bluesofa said:

Seeing as you're interested, I've just been out to have a look.
It’s an Hitachi FDV16-something.
You seem to be able to limit the top speed with a dial on the trigger, but that seems all apart from the hammer action on or off.

Even my B-I-L said it’s very temperamental. Perhaps he's used it to hammer fence-posts in with - ha ha!

That’s a decent drill and should do the job. I tried that once early last year, but not for masonry. I have three drills and found through trial and error which one does the trick. My favorite is the Makita DHP481. Never lets you down if you’re dealing with plugs and masonry and I’m no pro. The Bosch drill I first bought is a giveaway for the first one that asks for it.

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17 minutes ago, BigHewer said:

That’s a decent drill and should do the job. I tried that once early last year, but not for masonry. I have three drills and found through trial and error which one does the trick. My favorite is the Makita DHP481. Never lets you down if you’re dealing with plugs and masonry and I’m no pro. The Bosch drill I first bought is a giveaway for the first one that asks for it.

Can you pay the postage to send it to me? 🤣

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1 minute ago, BigHewer said:

Can deliver by hand if you are somewhere near Chiang Mai 👍🏻😎

Can you deliver by foot? I'm in Udon.
(just a joke - and only just!)

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8 minutes ago, Bluesofa said:

Quick, throw a bucket of water over him!

Keep this going and it could turn into a soap opera of a thread .. 

Whadya call a bear caught out in a shower .? 

A drizzly bear .. 

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1 minute ago, Dedinbed said:

Keep this going and it could turn into a soap opera of a thread .. 

Whadya call a bear caught out in a shower .? 

A drizzly bear .. 

A drizzly bear - I thought that was one who iced cakes?

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2 minutes ago, Bluesofa said:

Can you deliver by foot? I'm in Udon.
(just a joke - and only just!)

Udon… what a great spot. Was last there in 2004 would you believe. 

Bit of a hike on foot (and boat ride) from where I am now though 🇯🇵

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1 minute ago, Dedinbed said:

On yer bike said Big H .. 

It's only 400-odd km. each way
Should take four days to cycle there, as long as I don't bump into any doctors on the way.

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1 minute ago, Bluesofa said:

It's only 400-odd km. each way
Should take four days to cycle there, as long as I don't bump into any doctors on the way.

400km? Right. See you mid February. I’ll take the back roads.

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