Five tips to get the best out of diamond drilling

Diamond core drilling is an effective procedure used to drill an accurate hole through hard pieces of material. This type of drilling is suitable for a wide range of applications, particularly creating holes in walls and floors for plumbing and electrical purposes. 

 

When performed efficiently, diamond drilling can be an extremely useful technique. However, there are several considerations one should make while diamond drilling, in order to make sure that it’s a safe and productive process. Here are five tips to get the best out of your diamond drilling: 

 

1. Consider your material 

 

As one of the hardest materials there is, diamond is an excellent base material for tools, capable of cutting or drilling through very hard materials such as concrete. However, drillers should be wary of diamond drilling through soft metals or wood as these materials are too soft and may clog up your drill bit. Equally, even tougher materials like sapphire may require more patient drilling, using more than one drill bit. 

 

2. Will you drill dry or wet? 

 

Once you’ve decided the material, you can decide whether you need to drill dry or wet. Dry core drilling may be more suitable for drilling into general housing materials such as soft stone, sandstone, brick and block as these materials are not very hard and are unlikely to overheat your drill. 

 

3. Is water suitable? 

 

Water is often added to diamond drills as a lubricant, helping to keep the drill bit cool and removing any debris. However, water may not always be the right drilling fluid additive when drilling wet, such as when you are drilling in the ground through clay, which can make the clay expand and swell. For this reason, you should consider whether a different drilling fluid additive is required. 

 

4. Keep it slow 

 

It is always best to drill at as low a speed as possible, especially when making the initial hole. This will prevent your material from breaking and help maintain the life of your drill bit. The same advice applies when drilling all the way through a material as the drill approaches the exit hole. While it is possible to speed up, staying at a consistently low speed is the safest bet. 

 

5. Don’t apply too much pressure 

 

If your drill bit begins to get warm or if its diamonds start to chip away, it’s probably time to apply less pressure. Most of the time while diamond drilling, it is best to just use less pressure and let the weight of the drill do the work, particularly if drilling vertically. For horizontal drilling, some slight pressure might help. 

 

Here at Diamond Drilling UK Ltd we are specialists at diamond drilling in London and the surrounding area. If you would like to find out more about diamond drilling or about any of the other services we offer, please don’t hesitate to contact us today. We’d be delighted to talk more about how we might be able to help you.