Drill Speed

[Tomm]

Hi,
What drill speed are you folks using? What speed is right for not breaking or cracking the glass? How about 10,000 RPM, but it's too slow to drill deeper into the glass. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Tomm

[StarQuest]

Tomm,

10,000 rpm Are you a Indy driver? Just teasing ya Drill speeds will vary with the type of bits you use and dremel tool. I personally use a variable speed dremel and hardly ever go over 2,500. Reason being is higher drill speeds will burn them up quickly. When I first started repair a bit would last me only 2-3 days. Today, I often forget when I change bits. Maybe one every two months. Drilling glass has more to do with pressure applied than actual speed. It will come to you with practice and time. Simply by using the proper resins we have available today will greatly reduce your need to drill. Practice, practice and more practice. It will all come to you!

[gold star wsr]

I dont know what the rpm's are, but I use the little dremel drills on low speed when I am using the GT 20/20 system. When I use the VP-5000, I use the drill that came with that, that plugs into the system. And I dont know what the speed is on that either. But once I mistakenly plugged the drill into the battery charger port and started to drill.... a moment after I touched the glass, the drill turned bright red! And I remember thinking "so, that's why there are two ports....". Then the fuses blew in both the drill and the compressor. Had to make a quick trip to radio shack and replace them all. So, dont let anyone tell you that you cant go too fast... you surely can, and when you do, the drill bit will literally glow.

[Ifixemall]

I use a mini-dremel at 15K rpm and extremely light pressure, and it works beautifully!

[screenman]

if you can drill in 2 or 3 second bursts and a few second in between allows the drill and the glass to stay cool. Personaly my drill speed is about 10,000rpm but I have used up to 30,000rpm with this method with no problems. By keeping the drill bit cool it will last a lot longer I use only 5 drill bits per year and I use it to clean out the pit as well as drilling. You can see by my history I do a lot of repairs.

[Delta Kits]

if you can drill in 2 or 3 second bursts and a few second in between allows the drill and the glass to stay cool.

Nothing wrong with that, but make sure that you pull the drill OUT of the hole before restarting it. Restarting with the bit in the hole can put too much force on the bit, causing it to break...

[screenman]

If I leave the broken bit in the hole can I then sell the repair as a carbon steel reinforced repair. Maybe charge more for it.

Thanks for all the work on this sight Delta Kits hope we can do some business sometime.

[dgarza]

Thats a great idea! That would make the pit even stronger than the delta way of filling with resin only. I'm going to go try that right now.

[Mikedoby]

Like some of the other guys, I too use a slower speed at times (low speed on my dremel). At times I will use the high speed, but use extreme caution and as Jeff suggested use 2 or 3 second burst allowing the glass and bit to cool for a couple of seconds in between burst. I use bits from Delta as well as GM and really don't change my technique for either. Just don't get in a big hurry and try not to apply too much pressure. The quality of your drilled area will make a hugh difference in the overall appearance of your finished product.

[V-Glass]

Couldn't have put it better than Mikedoby: "The quality of your drilled area will make a huge difference in the overall appearance of your finished product." If you're okay with a slow pace, the 5000RPM is truly the best speed (with carbide bits, anyway.) But when you're rushed or the sun's beaming down on you, 10000 gets its DONE!