Windshield Repair Forum

Should my needle for making bullseyes be sharp or should it be cut in half and blunt/flat? Would it be better to buy a slide hammer replacement tip? (I just use the needle in a pin vise already)

For best results this is what it should look like

Ah.. So it looks pretty sharp, not really sure though.. I was reading that it had to be a certain diameter.

Buy a slide hammer and be through with it ! You will not regret it!

I use a sewing needle ( not a sewing machine needle, which is too wide ) , held in a pin vise to pop my bullseyes; but I use a FG 329 burr to drill my holes.
The FG 329 is skinny. Only 0.24 inches wide at the tip and a sewing needle fits into the hole without striking and breaking the edges of the hole .
The main thing to keep in mind is you do not want to hit the sides of the hole when you pop your bullseye.
Once you pop a few bullseyes, the point will become slightly more blunt.
I like to drill small holes because they are harder for the customer to see.
I realize that there are many ways to drill and pop, but this is my personal preference.

bill lambeth wrote:Buy a slide hammer and be through with it ! You will not regret it!

I don't see what the difference is, it seems like it has a frivolous mechanism that strikes the body for you.. I don't get it.

You would get it if you invested the very small price it costs, I was thinking the same as you after 20++ years using another method now it is slide hammer every time it is required.

I use a smaller diameter drill bit. What I do is put the slide hammer bit in my dremel, hold it against a fine stone while the motor is running and turn (grind) it down until it is a little smaller than the hole that the drill drills into the glass. The end will become flat from tapping with the hammer, but I usually put a small flat spot on the end by moving it back and forth a few times vertically against a knife sharpening stone, a very fine one. If you leave it sharp you are liable to tap stars or bullseyes with the cone broken and looking like a small star.

If the bit mushrooms on the end too much and gets too tight, you can put it back in the drill and turn it down again. But it takes a long time for this to happen so you may never need to do this. I suggest getting a couple of bits for the slide hammer in case you lose one, which can happen once in a while.

I use the standard slide hammer, probably because that's what I'm used to, and I think it gives me better control. I do like the bit locking device on the spring hammer though, it is a lot harder to lose the bit.

Why not just drill to the PVB? That was how I was taught to do it, and it seems better to me right now.. There is a lot less chance of spreading the crack past your drill hole.

Drilling to the PVB is a big NO! NO!, ugly scar is left behind some may even say that it weakens the PVB layer (I am out on that one) I hope that is the only bad habit you were shown.