Thread: Core Drill. Anyone Used One

Yep, I needed to bore a 1" hole through brick for conduit. One hole. The core drill was stuffed by the time I finished. Brick can be bloody hard. It was a cheapy drill from Aldi but it did the job. Two holes? Dunno.

Hi,
Not a core drill, but I had to put a hole saw through a fiberglass shower bay without a pilot drill (there was a tap in the way).
I cut a hole the same size in a piece of ply, (it does not have to be a round hole) and held that in place by hand till the hole saw had a good groove to run in, and then just finished the job with a light pressure.
A similar adaptation may work.
Cheers.

Originally Posted by p38arover

Yep, I needed to bore a 1" hole through brick for conduit. One hole. The core drill was stuffed by the time I finished. Brick can be bloody hard. It was a cheapy drill from Aldi but it did the job. Two holes? Dunno.

Ron, did you do it wet or dry?

Was the drill machine or the core bit stuffed?

I used 50mm SDS core drills at work , used to drill through slabs and occasionally hit reo , never wore the core bit out but burned out a few drill motors , Use them wet . They always had pilot drills

I had to drill 2 x 50mm holes at home after I finished at work and stupidly handed the SDS kit back before finding out it wasn't ever assigned to me , bought a cheapo 50mm core drill from eBay and it was impossible to use without a centre pilot bit so I bodged one into the core bit with lathe / welder , works a treat.

Originally Posted by d2dave

I need to bore a couple of 50 mm holes into the side of my brick house.

I looked at hiring a core drill but I can buy a cheapie off ebay cheaper than half a days hire

I have however never used one. I looked at some youtubes and some have a pilot drill in the centre of core bit for guidance.

The ones on ebay don't seem to have this.

Any advice from users would be appreciated.

If there is no pilot you need to angle the bit to the work piece to start and then flatten out.
Sounds easier than it is though.
If you’re working vertically place the bit between your boots and lay it back.
If your horizontal cut a v into a 90x45 at the height you need the hole , lay back off this so only one quarter of the core is in contact with the wall, you will then drill a smiley face to get started.

I have drilled a couple of 110mm holes through 150mm thick bricks with a core drill I bought on Ebay it came with a centering drill, driven by my Makita battery drill & no water to lube. I drilled as deap as I could from one side Then using a longer masionery drill bit the same size as the one surplied with the core drill drilled all the way through the brick so I had a correct center then using the core drill drilled from the other side. Lucky I have 3 batteries for my drill .

I've used core bits for years, and I can't imagine trying to use one without a pilot?
It'll wander all over the show, be bloody hard to start.

You can get a 50mm dry core for bricks from Trade tools,very cheap.

If it is a very old house,it will be slow going,modern brick,it will go through easy.

Cant borrow a rotary hammer for the job from someone?

Only other option is to hire(or buy)one.

And YES it has to have a pilot drill or it is useless.