To drill or not to drill

[Coitster]

What I do is when I am drilling I rotate the back of the drill making a funnel shape to the drill hole, its so minute you won't notice it, however if your bit breaks then it will fall out if you do this. Most of the time a bit will break because you are putting to much stress on it. For example you are drill to fast and over heating the drill bit, you need to pull the drill bit out every few seconds so that it doesn't over heat and it also allows you to blow on the damaged area getting rid of all the particals left over. Hope this helps.
David
Coitster

[glassdoctor]

jonnyone

You can get the broken bit out by drilling right down next to the trapped burr and using a probe to wiggle and pop it out. Just like tough buggers.

It's been a long time since I have had any bits break at all, let alone break off in the hole. If it's a frequent occurance, definitely try some different bits. The ones I use now don't show any signs of breakage at all, but I can't tell you what t brand or # they are cause I get them from a friend who gets them "somewhere". Sorry, not much help, huh?

[johnnyone]

Thanks for the tips I will try these great ideas

[desertstars]

There is no question that when drilling deep, one had better pulsate the drilling and pay attention to pressure and angle.

Diamond or graphite bits aside, once a bit is broken off in the damaged area reverts to my original advice.

If it can't be extracted with needle-nosed pliers or some other means, leave it be and proceed with the repair.

That method will result in very little if any degeneration of esthetics and will not have anything to do with respect to the integrity of the repair.

Drilling adjacent to it in order to remove it can only makes matters worse and opens up another can of worms not excluding the possibility of "travel" and a spiral scratch on the picky owner's w/s of a Cadillac STS.

Rightly so.

Be careful. The more one drills and the more one learns from drilling, the less the problem will arise in the first place and the more one will know how to deal with the problem when it arises.

That's my two cents worth.

[Coitster]

Actualy DesertStar I would be concerned with the drill bit staying in the glass because its metal and it will retain heat better then glass. So if you leave it in there the windshield also has a better chance at cracking out. I absolutly do whatever I need to do to get it out of the glass.
David
Coitster

[glassdoctor]

I cannot imagine just leaving a broken bit in the repair. That's like a surgeon leaving a scalpal in your stomach. It's not the right thing to do whether it affects the integrity of the repair or not.

I have seen old repairs with a drill bit left in it and it looks like crap. Last I checked, drill bits are made of metal and they are not clear. It looks like a big black bubble or chunk of dirt stuck in there.

If you drill down next to it or enlarge the hole enough to pick it out, it looks much better and you don't leave behind the wrong kind of signature. You may be able to pick it out without drilling more if you use a very thin fine point pick... but if it's real deep you may have to drill.

Of course, if you can't manage to drill without slipping and scratching up the windshield, then you should not be using a drill in the first place.

Yeah, it's not the worst thing in the world if you can't get it out, and it's a relatively small spot left there, but you should at least try to remove it. And a slightly enlarged drill mark looks 98.548% better than a chunk of carbide.

[GlassStarz]

Isnt this the very time to use that competitors buisness card you keep in your wallet Just kidding

[Walla Walla Wes]

Gentlemen: could you possibly use your syring and put the tip down in the hole next to the broken bit and blow it out of the hole?

[glassdoctor]

GlassStarz, I like that. I gots to get me some competitors cards now.

Walla, that may work, but only if it's loose and not wedged in or "glued" in by the old resin.