Replies

1. 
   BillBrennen | Apr 01, 2006 12:15am | #1

   You can buy dry diamond holesaws that should work. Use the faster speed on your Hawg, and hold or tape a vacuum hose to capture the fine dust.

   Bill

2. 
   DougU | Apr 01, 2006 03:20am | #2

   I know that you want to do it but I'd call the granite company and have them drill the hole.

   A grommet wont cover a big crack!

   Doug

3. 
   woodnutter | Apr 01, 2006 04:43am | #3

   I've worked with stone before...

   It depends on if there is backsplash or not...

   It is usually easier to just knock a hole in the sheetrock above and below, and pull the wires through a hole in the wall. Sheetrock is infinitely easier to patch than stone.

   Once you drill a hole in stone, it is permanent! Even the best fabricators will not be able to fix/patch/makegoaway when /if you decide to re-arrange your desk area for other uses....

   Expect a LOT of dust.... Diamond core bits are pricey, and the stone may crack anyways depending on the stone.

    

4. 
   JDRHI | Apr 01, 2006 04:44am | #4

   I'm with Doug.....find a granite fabricator.

   Even if you have to bring the piece to him....it just aint worth the risk.

   J. D. Reynolds

   Home Improvements

5. 
   FastEddie | Apr 01, 2006 06:39am | #5

    Lee Valley Tools ...

   "Ideal for cutting holes in glass, ceramic tile, or metal.

   Also useful for cutting finger holes in glass doors and pipe holes in tile. The diamond substrate runs up the side of the cutters, allowing them to be used for deburring holes after drilling.

   Sizes given are outside diameter by cut depth by shank size."

   		Hole Saw - 1/4" x 1/8" x 1/8"  29J01.01 View Image View Image View Image View Image		$5.90							View Image
   		Hole Saw - 3/8" x 1/8" x 1/8"  29J01.03 View Image View Image View Image View Image		$6.70							View Image
   		Hole Saw - 1/2" x 7/16" x 1/4"  29J01.04 View Image View Image View Image View Image		$7.50							View Image
   		Hole Saw - 3/4" x 7/16" x 1/4"  29J01.06 View Image View Image View Image View Image		$14.90							View Image
   		Hole Saw - 1" x 9/16" x 1/4"  29J01.08 View Image View Image View Image View Image		$20.90							View Image

    

    

   "When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it."  T. Roosevelt

6. 
   Karl | Apr 01, 2006 10:37am | #6

   The cheapest core drill (hole saw) I have bought was around $40. Try Granite City Tool or Braxton Bragg. You can run it in a 3/8 drill. Throw away the pilot drill and make a plywood guide/granite protector for the drill that you can ideally clamp to the granite (I usually have a helper hold it in place while I get the hole started). As you start cutting hold the core drill at a slight angle (1 or 2 degrees) so that the drill doesn't wobble around and go squirrely on you. As it starts cutting a trough you can rotate the drill to a vertical/plumb orientation. Once you feel the trough is sufficiently deep to guide the drill (1/16 to 1/8") remove the plywood and clean up your dust. Make a circular dam or moat around the hole and fill with water. Have a helper standing by to add water as it gets splashed out or leaks out of the moat. There are actually donut shaped suction cups made for this purpose.

   Carefully start the drill and ease into the trough you cut dry holding the drill at the slight angle (to prevent it wobbling and getting squirrely). Keeping the slight angle slowly and continually rotate the angle of the drill as you cut so ultimately you get a hole square to the surface. You need to hold it at an angle and rotate otherwise the core/plug of granite will be so tight it will wedge itself inside the drill as you complete the hole.

   Take your time drilling and do a few practice holes on scrap before touching the surface you need the perfect hole in.

   Locate your grommets prior to buying the core drill and bear in mind the core drill will make an oversize hole unless drilled on a cnc machine.

   Drilling granite is easy. Fixing it when you goof up is the very difficult part.

   Most fabricators would have no interest in coming out and drilling a hole or two. To much hassle, phone time, travel time, talk time, etc to make it worthwhile. Who is liable if the surface gets blemished?

   I charged 300 bucks to drill 6 holes for some bank countertops and I only did it because the interior designer was a friend of my wife's. I think she felt like I was taking advantage of the situation charging that much. Total pain in the rear even though the actual drilling was only about five minutes per hole. Loading the truck, finding the job, setting up, locating the holes,cleaning up, talking to the project manager, invoicing, waiting for the check, assuming responsibility, etc. I think I was working for peanuts when I did that favor.

   Will you be more bummed if you blow it drilling the hole or if the "fabricator" blows it? There is no way you will find someone who will drill the hole for a minimal fee and also be ready to assume responsibiliy for all that could go wrong.

   Just get the core drill and some scrap stone and practice til you are confident. If the cutting speed deteriorates you can "sharpen" a diamond core drill by drilling holes in cinder blocks or scrap concrete. It is so abrasive it exposes new diamonds in the diamond matrix.

   Don't buy an electroplated core drill, they are only for tile, marble, limestone granite will dull it and once dull it is trash.

   I use a 2000 rpm center water feed angle grinder with core drills that thread onto the spindle. It is the fastest cleanest way to drill by hand but the tool is too specialized and costly to own unless you are in the stone trades.

   Occasionally the core drills that you chuck up in a standard drill motor will bind in the granite while you are drilling and this typically bends the ?shank of the core drill throwing it way off balance. When this happens it is best to just throw it in the useless tool collection and buy a new one.

   I don't know why a few posters suggested cutting dry? The stone gets so hot it is likely to spall and crack and the drill gets so hot it can damage the bonding matrix holding the diamonds together. DONT DRILL GRANITE DRY (unless there is some new technology I have missed out on.)

   Good luck,
   Karl

1. 
   Jaspell | Apr 03, 2006 05:39pm | #7

   Thank you all for your help on this.  I spoke with the granite fabricator this morning and they are going to come out and drill it for me n/c.  I guess i cant beat that offer.

    

    

1. 
   Karl | Apr 03, 2006 07:04pm | #9

   Glad to hear such a simple solution offered itself. The only way I take on some projects is as freebies that I consider good customer relations. I tell the client I could never charge enough for this type of work to stay in business but I will do it as a gift free of charge.Karl

1. 
   Jaspell | Apr 03, 2006 07:56pm | #11

   I hear ya about the freebies.  I'm a lawyer and i work the same way.

   in this case it was their goof.  they templated the holes but forgot to drill them so I think they are fixing me up in the interest of good customere relations.

   Jim

    

2. 
   philarenewal | Apr 03, 2006 06:03pm | #8

   Karl, glad the OP is gettin' his holes and I also thank you for your post.  I picked up some useful tidbits from you.  I've seen the fabricators do it exactly the way you describe (you could be narrating a video of exactly what they did) and it wasn't 'till I saw it all written down that the lightbulb came on over my head.  So that's why they did just exactly what they did.

   Thanks again. 

   "Let's get crack-a-lackin"  --- Adam Carolla

1. 
   Karl | Apr 03, 2006 07:04pm | #10

   Thanks for the feedback! Glad it was of some use.Karl