drilling hole in tile cracks my tile!

[finest1]

hi all

i need some help and advice

i am tiling around 2 shower pipe fittings. as the measurements were intricate i was practicing on off cuts and trying to create a template. I've noticed when i drill holes into the tiles sometimes they would crack. i don't use any pressure or drill too fast. anyway, the good news is that i have created the template down to the mm. however when creating the template a bit cracked. when i go on to making the holes on the proper tile i don't want that to crack, as i'm running out of tiles. why is it cracking and what can i do to prevent it

method: in this instance, i used my workmate bench and clamped it with G clamps around the tile. i clamped them enough to hold the tile steady, as opposed to over tightening the clamps.


thanks

finest1

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Try putting a sponge underneath

 

[Ben-gee]

Place the tile on a pile of sand

 

[SimonG]

Piece of wood under tile. Don't press too hard, let the cutter do the work. Have a wet sponge at side of cutter to keep it wet.

 

[Basher]

I don't think G clamps around a tile to clamp it to the workmate is a good idea. The flatness of the tile and the flatness of the workmate are unlikely to be the same. The place to provide support is directly under where you are cutting, not anywhere else, and you can stop the tile rotating without clamping/bending it!

 

[Timmy D]

I usually put a bit of foam wedi board under the tile to absorb vibrations. But even a towel will do.

As others have said, no clamping. Could clamp a bit of 2x1 wood to the work bench to butt the tile against to stop movement.

Angle grinder bits/holesaws are vastly superior to drill ones. They allow the angle grinder closer to the tile, so you have more control. They also spin twice as fast as a drill.
I’ve got a nice 30ish mm one I use for shower outlets. Bit pricey tho for a one off, around £40.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

I usually put a bit of foam wedi board under the tile to absorb vibrations. But even a towel will do.

As others have said, no clamping. Could clamp a bit of 2x1 wood to the work bench to butt the tile against to stop movement.

Angle grinder bits/holesaws are vastly superior to drill ones. They allow the angle grinder closer to the tile, so you have more control. They also spin twice as fast as a drill.
I’ve got a nice 30ish mm one I use for shower outlets. Bit pricey tho for a one off, around £40.

Try the shd ones mate around 15 off Amazon same quality as the rubi ones

 

[Timmy D]

Try the shd ones mate around 15 off Amazon same quality as the rubi ones

I’ll have a look. Cheers for recommendation.

 

[Timmy D]

Try the shd ones mate around 15 off Amazon same quality as the rubi ones

SHDIATOOL?

 

[ShaunCorbs]

SHDIATOOL?

Yep

 

[finest1]

hi all, thanks for your tips. i drilled the holes successfully.

if anyone reads this in the future, i did the following:

i used duct tape to tape the tiles together,
i rested the tile on a a damp to wet dishtowel, and rested the whole lot on ply wood
i then taped the whole thing to the workbench
i used a slow speed to cut into the tile. its hard to explain what slow was, but i did it by feel. it wasn't high speed drilling but a constant but medium speed. it basically took time to do. i didn't time it but it was definitely minimum 15 minutes. probably over kill but i didn't want to risk another cracked tile
i was constantly dropping cold water into the hole to keep the drill bit from heating
use patience and resist speeding up the drill!! that was the hard part,

oh, and perform in the shade. i was about to embark on the drilling in the sun, then thought "what if the sun heats up the tile whilst I'm drilling" so i moved it into the shade.

result: perfectly measured and cut tile

thanks