I'm moving to a new house soon which has a shiny black granite worktop. I
like the nice chlorine-free water which comes from one of those filtered
drinking water taps. Any suggestions as to the best way to drill the
required mounting hole in the granite worktop? Required diameter is about
20mm.

I reckon a diamond core drill at a fairly low speed is the safest option.

--
Alistair Riddell - BOFH
Microsoft - because god hates us

On Tue, 17 May 2005 16:45:47 +0100, Alistair Riddell
wrote:

Any suggestions as to the best way to drill the
required mounting hole in the granite worktop? Required diameter is about
20mm.

Granite's not that difficult to drill. You main problem is chipping on
the face, if you start banging away at it with an impact drill. Much
will depend on the tap fitting and the size of the collar around it.

A core drill should do it easily. You could also do it with a skinny
(5mm) SDS and chain drill in a ring. Then a bit of diagonal drilling to
break the central core out.

A carbide "tile file" will tidy up any rough edges.

--
Cats have nine lives, which is why they rarely post to Usenet.

Put some plasticine around the area, about 6" diameter, to form a dam and
put in some coolant or cutting fluid. we used to cut granite surface tables
and this usually helped to lubricate the bit and keep it cool.
WM


"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 17 May 2005 16:45:47 +0100, Alistair Riddell
wrote:

Any suggestions as to the best way to drill the
required mounting hole in the granite worktop? Required diameter is about
20mm.

Granite's not that difficult to drill. You main problem is chipping on
the face, if you start banging away at it with an impact drill. Much
will depend on the tap fitting and the size of the collar around it.

A core drill should do it easily. You could also do it with a skinny
(5mm) SDS and chain drill in a ring. Then a bit of diagonal drilling to
break the central core out.

A carbide "tile file" will tidy up any rough edges.

--
Cats have nine lives, which is why they rarely post to Usenet.

To avoid drilling the hole, do without the filtered water - simply fill
a jug with water from the cold tap, and let it stand (and chill) in the
fridge for an hour. The chlorine smell dissipates completely and the
water then tastes as good as filtered.
I live in London and even my fussy wife has no complaints about the
water after I've done this.

In article .com,
writes
To avoid drilling the hole, do without the filtered water - simply fill
a jug with water from the cold tap, and let it stand (and chill) in the
fridge for an hour. The chlorine smell dissipates completely and the
water then tastes as good as filtered.
I live in London and even my fussy wife has no complaints about the
water after I've done this.

That's just cos your taste buds don't work as well on cold substances.
--
Tim Mitchell

Tim Mitchell wrote:
In article .com,
writes

To avoid drilling the hole, do without the filtered water - simply fill
a jug with water from the cold tap, and let it stand (and chill) in the
fridge for an hour. The chlorine smell dissipates completely and the
water then tastes as good as filtered.
I live in London and even my fussy wife has no complaints about the
water after I've done this.

That's just cos your taste buds don't work as well on cold substances.

I do a similar thing. I let the water sit in a glass, but at room temp.
and it tastes great once the chemicals have evaporated.
By the way, I live in Lancashire, so no chalk in the water here.

Dave

In uk.d-i-y, Tim Mitchell wrote:
In article .com,
writes
To avoid drilling the hole, do without the filtered water - simply fill
a jug with water from the cold tap, and let it stand (and chill) in the
fridge for an hour. The chlorine smell dissipates completely and the
water then tastes as good as filtered.
I live in London and even my fussy wife has no complaints about the
water after I've done this.

That's just cos your taste buds don't work as well on cold substances.

Quite possibly, but if it works, where's the problem? I installed a
filtered water tap in our new kitchen, but after a while we stopped
using it. We found it was simpler and easier to keep a jug of ordinary
tap water in the fridge.

Perhaps the OP would like to buy a used hole? One careful owner, never
been raced. It's stainless steel, not granite, but I think it's the
right size.

--
Mike Barnes

In article , Mike Barnes
writes
In uk.d-i-y, Tim Mitchell wrote:
In article .com,
writes
To avoid drilling the hole, do without the filtered water - simply fill
a jug with water from the cold tap, and let it stand (and chill) in the
fridge for an hour. The chlorine smell dissipates completely and the
water then tastes as good as filtered.
I live in London and even my fussy wife has no complaints about the
water after I've done this.

That's just cos your taste buds don't work as well on cold substances.

Quite possibly, but if it works, where's the problem? I installed a
filtered water tap in our new kitchen, but after a while we stopped
using it. We found it was simpler and easier to keep a jug of ordinary
tap water in the fridge.

No problem at all, unless you are worried about chemicals/impurities in
the water. Personally I can't tell the difference between filtered and
non-filtered tap water, or indeed between tap water and bottled "spring"
water.
--
Tim Mitchell

On Thu, 19 May 2005 10:49:35 +0100, Tim Mitchell
wrote:

Personally I can't tell the difference between filtered and
non-filtered tap water,

My parents (Ormskirk, West Lancashire) have pretty good water quality.
However they live only a few hundred yards from the pumping station and
they had trouble with sand carry-over from the filter beds. So they
fitted water filters, and went a little crazy for the things. They now
have four filters; particulate and charcoal, and both a pair for the
whole system and a separate pair for an additional drinking water tap.

Despite them already having good taint-free water (unlike the
chlorinated **** I get here in Bristol) I can _taste_ the difference
between three taps: unfiltered, filtered, and double filterered.

In article , Andy Dingley
writes
On Thu, 19 May 2005 10:49:35 +0100, Tim Mitchell
wrote:

Personally I can't tell the difference between filtered and
non-filtered tap water,

My parents (Ormskirk, West Lancashire) have pretty good water quality.
However they live only a few hundred yards from the pumping station and
they had trouble with sand carry-over from the filter beds. So they
fitted water filters, and went a little crazy for the things. They now
have four filters; particulate and charcoal, and both a pair for the
whole system and a separate pair for an additional drinking water tap.

Despite them already having good taint-free water (unlike the
chlorinated **** I get here in Bristol) I can _taste_ the difference
between three taps: unfiltered, filtered, and double filterered.

I think I'm just a luddite when it comes to water

My parents live in Bradford where the water is luvverly, and I now live
in Hull where the water is very hard. The only difference I can notice
when drinking it is that hot drinks like tea get a scum on the top.
--
Tim Mitchell

On Thu, 19 May 2005 12:32:20 +0100, Tim Mitchell
wrote:

I think I'm just a luddite when it comes to water

You are. I was a student in Hull and can still remember the horrible
chewy water.