When core drilling, some of us prefer to drill with a hand held unit and others prefer a rig mounted machine, obviously depending on the application one needs to be used over the other.
When core drilling, some of us prefer to drill with a hand held unit and others prefer a rig mounted machine, obviously depending on the application one needs to be used over the other.
Core drilling by hand can be quite nerve racking for the DIYer or first time driller so I have put together a couple of pointers to get you going.
Firstly, you will notice that there is no pilot drill on a wet drilling core barrel. So how do we stop this from skating off when trying to start?
Advice on Core Drilling with a hand held unit
I recommend using a template, simply a home made one will suffice. Just use a piece of plywood approx. 10mm thick and drill through it with the size barrel you intend to use. But how do we start that without skating everywhere? Put 2 pieces of timber together to make a right angle on top of your board. If you start with the drill slightly out of plumb so the edge of the core barrel is resting on the surface this will give you an edge to work with to help get started. You can then bring the drill to plumb position to finish drilling the template.
Once the template is made, drilling can be started. Simply mark the position where you want to drill with a cross on the floor, position the template over the cross centralising the template and start drilling. Ensure there is enough water, power is on and same as previously, start with the barrel against the edge of the template and just out of plumb. Once a groove is started slowly bring the drill to plumb position. Once the hole is started and approx. 5 to 10mm deep you can remove the template and keep drilling. The template is only required for starting the drilling process.
You can also view one of our videos for tips on hand held core drilling.