Making holes on a Monday

The moment I picked up the drill, I regretted not forcing my Technician to pay me back for the special drill bit he broke. I mean, it was fun to watch the bit glow red hot and then shatter but its not fun when you realise that you do not know how to use the tool in the first place. Rather than spend another RM30.00 or so, my Boss taught me how to drill through tiles with a normal mason bit, the ones we always use. OH, OK, its the only one we had.

Anyway, the theory is, set the drill on Hammer mode, and then gently squeeze the trigger. This way, the bit will slowly scrape and hammer the tile until you have gone through it. Then, you can turn it full blast. However, there is a small problem in the sense that it takes ages. If you rush it, you can guarantee that the tile will crack.

The best spot to make a hole is where the two tiles
join. This is the weakest part and its easy to drill
through. But you have to be very patient.

However, its also easy to crack or shatter. $#%@!!!!
I spent 25 minutes on this hole and it cracked!

Now, making a hole where there is no weakness is
a bit of a problem. The risk of shattering is high.
And so, this stupid little 5mm hole took me more
than 40 minutes. Its' not easy, I tell you.

And every once in a while, you have to add water
so that it sort of lubricates the hole and also keeps
the grains from being airborne. Or something like
that. But its fun to dip the bit into the water, hear
it sizzle and then while wet, drill the hole at high
speed (not in Hammer mode, mind you) and see
the water bubbles and evaporates as the drill bit
heats up. I am very proud of this hole as I this
was the result of my patiently fingering it.

And so, for more than two hours, I only got
four holes made.

Yeah, the tile is very thick, about 7mm.

See this bit? Is for concrete or brick walls and not
for tiles. But if you're curious, the drill bit for a tile
looked more like an arrow. And it will cost you.
And if you do not know how to use it, it will most
definitely cost you.

And so, when my tech arrived, I got him to take over.

It was not until the other tech
arrived that he completed the
job in less than 1o minutes.

In the meantime, while the three of
us were busy, the fourth tech did this
I tell you, if this keeps on, I'll be
taking headache pills like sweets.

And so, the 50mm distracted me me for some time.
Although it was 1:8, it was hard to hold the camera
still after using the vibrating drill for two hours straight.