To drill or not to drill ???

[h2oman]

I know everything I see now says not to drill unless you have to. Me being old school, I have always drilled into the chip since I started back in the 90's. Since I recently am starting again I have been trying to do a few without drilling but sometimes it just wont take the resin. A little feedback on this would be great. Thanks

[bill lambeth]

Drill ! Drill and Drill ! I usually don't drill bulls though ! I use such a small bit the little scar is worth the time for me ! Each is to their own ! Yes if you have all the time in the world ! Go for and don't drill !

[screenman]

Observing and understanding the break should with experience give you the knowledge of when to drill or not. Take for example a bullseye, and think of it as a ice cream cone that you want to drizzle sauce on, now poking your finger in the top would be of no benefit, much the same as drilling into a bullseye. Experiment on your practise glass and you will be suprised how few need a drill and pop.

I do however use my drill as a powered scribe to remove dirt etc, without drilling down into a break. I also often use a carbide tipped scribe and a small hammer and open a break up a bit, often I would use this method on a small tight batswing.

[Mr Bill]

I never drill bullseyes. Its a waste of time, since I would be drilling into a glass cone.
Everything else gets drilled.
I use an FG329 drill, which is quite skinny. ( 0.024")
To pop a small bullseye after drilling, I use a sewing needle held in a pin vise.
The needle does not touch the sides of the drill hole.
Typically, I use the drill to remove loose, pulverized glass from the pit, but, I find that using the drill to clean out the pit of a bullseye can break off chunks of the pit and make it larger, so I use my scribe clean those out.

[screenman]

Funny but I find the drill more accurate for cleaning a pit, but of course as long as the end result is right both ways work well.

[bill lambeth]

Just a matter of choosing your weapon ! I said I drill all the time but I am basically unstopping the pit !

[EMCAutoGlass]

I recently began to cut down on drilling as I think the final result is much better looking. A little while ago on the forum, Brent mentions that he rarely drills, so I thought I'd give it a go. I've found that some repairs take a little longer to fill without drilling, but the final result is much nicer. However, every now and then I run into a disconnected leg or a leg that just won't fill. Now I'm in a situation where I need to drill and possibly tap a small bull's-eye. Since there's resin in the pit and part of the break, will this cause any issues when I put the injector back on and into pressure mode? My concern is that the glass powder from the drilling gets intermingled with the resin and it gets pushed down into the break causing a less than ideal appearance, or may even clog some passageways. Any thoughts or experiences with this would be appreciated. Maybe one method would be to use a small plastic syringe to suck out the contaminated resin from the pit?

Thanks!
-Marty

[Mr Bill]

I have never noticed an issue with glass powder opposing the flow of resin into a crack.
I don't like drilling into an area that already has resin into it because the drill is not as abrasive and may slip instead of cutting the glass .
Also it is harder to visually gauge how deep you have drilled, and the resin could be curing as you drill.
Drilling into a dry windshield is always more agreeable for me.

[screenman]

Drilling dry is best, a good tool for your tool box is a quality magnifying glass, this will help you see those disconnected legs before you start filling. Also if I find a leg is no filling quickly then I either flex or give it a good sharp tap, this normally opens it up nicely.