I am about to tile my kitchen with mosaic glass tiles. They come on a
web backing in 327mm x 327 sizes.


How would I safely drill through one to put up something on the wall?
Do I use a normal tile drill bit which is for ceramic tiles?

Also.............


If I am unlucky enough to have to cut the tiles when working around
sockets, how do I do this?

I have cut ceramic tiles before, but I imagine cutting glass tiles,
especially small mosaic tiles will be awkward.




Steve...

On Mon, 22 Feb 2010 02:40:13 -0800 (PST), dog-man
wrote:

I am about to tile my kitchen with mosaic glass tiles. They come on a
web backing in 327mm x 327 sizes.


How would I safely drill through one to put up something on the wall?
Do I use a normal tile drill bit which is for ceramic tiles?


You need a set of these:
http://tinyurl.com/pnn6hu
or:
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/53634/...nd-8-x-83-3Pcs


Also look he
http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/powertools/drillfaq.htm


If I am unlucky enough to have to cut the tiles when working around
sockets, how do I do this?

I have cut ceramic tiles before, but I imagine cutting glass tiles,
especially small mosaic tiles will be awkward.


For a straight cut, score the tile with a glass cutter and break it
over a pencil. Or if the tiles are too small for that, or you are
only cutting a small piece off, score with the glass cutter and nibble
off the waste with pincers. It would be worth doing it a few times
for practice beforehand. There may be quite a few wasted tiles.

I have also cut glass with a cutting disc in a Dremel. I don't know
if you are supposed to do that. ;-)

Try searching on Google or even YouTube for "drilling glass" and
"cutting glass".

On 22 Feb, 10:40, dog-man wrote:

How would I safely drill through one to put up something on the wall?
Do I use a normal tile drill bit which is for ceramic tiles?

Ideally, by drilling it vertically on a drill press, rather than when
it's on the wall. Glass drills easily, the problem is vibration and
unpredictable forces causing it to crack as well. A stable drill press
solves much of this.

You can drill small holes in glass using a glass drill bit, a leaf-
shaped carbide spear. Many people also use these for starting through
the surface of hard tiles. Quality of them varies a lot, mine have all
been hand-honed with a diamond stone to ensure their centre chisel
point is accurately on-axis (the cheapies aren't, but can be fixed).
You can also drill glass using a copper tube core drill and abrasive,
but that's only for big holes.

When drilling, you need a lubricant. Make a circular dam of vaseline
and fill it with white spirit, turps, paraffin or diesel. Vaseline,
unlike blu-tack or putty, remains attached to the glass when oily. For
repeated work on small pieces, setting up a "bathtub" of paraffin with
a shallow tin is quicker (but use a backer board inside, so that you
don't drill through the tin!).

Drill with a gentle "dabbing" motion to keep the glass swarf clear. It
doesn't self-clear as metal or wood chips do.


For sawing, a wet tile saw works fairly well, but expect a higher
failure rate. You might find a fresh diamond blade, kept only for
working glass, is useful.

Bruce wrote:
On Mon, 22 Feb 2010 02:40:13 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

I am about to tile my kitchen with mosaic glass tiles. They come on a
web backing in 327mm x 327 sizes.


How would I safely drill through one to put up something on the wall?
Do I use a normal tile drill bit which is for ceramic tiles?


You need a set of these:
http://tinyurl.com/pnn6hu
or:
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/53634/...nd-8-x-83-3Pcs


Also look he
http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/powertools/drillfaq.htm




or these.
http://www.ukam.com/small_core_drills.htm







If I am unlucky enough to have to cut the tiles when working around
sockets, how do I do this?

I have cut ceramic tiles before, but I imagine cutting glass tiles,
especially small mosaic tiles will be awkward.


For a straight cut, score the tile with a glass cutter and break it
over a pencil. Or if the tiles are too small for that, or you are
only cutting a small piece off, score with the glass cutter and nibble
off the waste with pincers. It would be worth doing it a few times
for practice beforehand. There may be quite a few wasted tiles.

I have also cut glass with a cutting disc in a Dremel. I don't know
if you are supposed to do that. ;-)

Try searching on Google or even YouTube for "drilling glass" and
"cutting glass".