Diamond core drills

[billyblade]

Hi everyone.
I represent a company who manufacture and distribute drilling and trade solutions which are particularly popular with electricians. I'll not name them so as not to advertise on here.:smiley2:
We have a dry diamond core drill kit in our portfolio which sells very well but i feel that the sizes are more geared towards plumbers. They are 42mm, 52mm, 65mm, 117mm and 127mm. I can see where you would use the 2 large cores but what about the smaller 3? Are they any use?
I have had a look around and most people tend to sell these kits with similar sizes in.
We would like to bring out a kit that is more geared towards you guys. Therefore I would like to ask what sizes would you like to see in there and what for?
Thanks for your time reading this and I hope you can help.

 

[BigSi]

I guess the most common sizes we would use would be coring holes for extract fans etc. I guess the most common sizes would be 102mm (4”), 152mm (6”). I sometimes use a 38mm (1 ½”) to core holes to plastic sleeve cables etc through walls.


I would say the 102mm would be the most commonly used core bit size.

 

[billyblade]

BUMP!
Come on fellas, 163 views and only 1 reply? (Cheers BigSi).
This type of research is how products get to market and how you guys get what you want.
Surely some of you have looked at these kits and thought "It's OK, but it would be better if it had these sizes in".
I'm not having a go, I was genuinely interested what you thought. I wanted to hear it from the horses mouth rather than me tell my bosses what you want.
If you can find the time, fellas, replies would be appreciated.
Cheers.

 

[kingeri]

As BigSi says. Also I sometimes drill holes for flues....not normal electrician work I know but I will take whatever work I can get, so whatever size that needs too!

 

[HandySparks]

The size I use most is 117mm. This is just a little larger than 110mm soil pipe (used for extract ducting) and most 4 inch nominal ducting, leaving a small gap all round to squeeze some sealant in. Could be a little smaller but not much. Only other core drill size I've used was a 65mm to get some corrugated flexible underground ducting through a wall.

 

[richy3333]

Hi everyone.
I represent a company who manufacture and distribute drilling and trade solutions which are particularly popular with electricians. I'll not name them so as not to advertise on here.:smiley2:
We have a dry diamond core drill kit in our portfolio which sells very well but i feel that the sizes are more geared towards plumbers. They are 42mm, 52mm, 65mm, 117mm and 127mm. I can see where you would use the 2 large cores but what about the smaller 3? Are they any use?
I have had a look around and most people tend to sell these kits with similar sizes in.
We would like to bring out a kit that is more geared towards you guys. Therefore I would like to ask what sizes would you like to see in there and what for?
Thanks for your time reading this and I hope you can help.

4 and 6 inch. And are they any good on concrete as I have a load of cores to cut in a concrete built house?

 

[robd]

Have got a 5 inch that I use sometimes too, always tap it with a hammer before I use it cos someone told me you should :goofy:

 

[billyblade]

4 and 6 inch. And are they any good on concrete as I have a load of cores to cut in a concrete built house?

Depends on the grade of concrete and whether there is any reinforcing bar present. A common misconception regarding dry diamond core drills is that they can cope with any masonry material including engineering brick and hard concrete.
With most dry diamond cores on the market this is not the case, as they are only geared up for drilling in soft concrete, the softer end bricks and medium density blockwork. If these types of cores are used in the hardest materials, the diamond segments will "gloss up" and you'll notice they just get red and get hot. This will seriously damage the diamond segment. You can, however, sometimes rescue a "glossed up" core drill by sending it through a more abrasive masonry material such as a medium density block (breeze block, cinder block, call it what you will). This re-exposes the diamond crystals that have become covered over.
For hard concrete etc. you need to either use tungsten carbide tipped core drills on rotary and impact, professional dry diamond core drills or even wet diamond core drills.
In summary, diamond drilling is a lot more complex than most people realise and there are many different grades of diamond segments on core drills, some of which are unsuitable for harder masonry materials.

 

[billyblade]

Have got a 5 inch that I use sometimes too, always tap it with a hammer before I use it cos someone told me you should :goofy:

I've never tapped my 5 inch with a hammer

The only possible reason I can think someone might tell you to do this is to "ring test" it. If it "rings" then the core barrel is in good condition. If it sounds dull and thuds rather than rings then the barrel is cracked and should not be used.

 

[grantr37]

Hi everyone.
I represent a company who manufacture and distribute drilling and trade solutions which are particularly popular with electricians. I'll not name them so as not to advertise on here.:smiley2:
We have a dry diamond core drill kit in our portfolio which sells very well but i feel that the sizes are more geared towards plumbers. They are 42mm, 52mm, 65mm, 117mm and 127mm. I can see where you would use the 2 large cores but what about the smaller 3? Are they any use?
I have had a look around and most people tend to sell these kits with similar sizes in.
We would like to bring out a kit that is more geared towards you guys. Therefore I would like to ask what sizes would you like to see in there and what for?
Thanks for your time reading this and I hope you can help.

have you thought about doing a sparks kit with the smaller holesaws/core drill bits going into plastic tubes the same as those used for metal drill bits ( the screw shut tubes)

 

[billyblade]

have you thought about doing a sparks kit with the smaller holesaws/core drill bits going into plastic tubes the same as those used for metal drill bits ( the screw shut tubes)

The kit we do (contents listed in OP above) is supplied in an aluminium carry case similar to a professional camera case. Are you asking for:-

1. Core drills individually packaged in screw top plastic tubes.
2. A kit where all small diameter cores are in one screw top plastic tube.
3. Small cores in screw top plastic tubes within the main case.

In any of the examples above, what size smaller cores would you like to see?

 

[grantr37]

we like to carry the ones that we will need in Plastic tubes the same as Drill bits in our tool bag, the big Aluminium cases are heavy and also readily pilfered either from or in total... these end up in bits on the floor of the Garage or lying split open on the Van Floor....
If we can have a few plastic tubes in the tool bag, we can keep them from being damaged or rusting when out of use, we know that the red tube is 25mm and the black tube is 32mm etc and also if you sticker it up, most of us will remember and recognise the brand and are more likely to buy the same again instead of a Generic unbranded one from a tool stall or a rival manufacturer out of haste in a shop/online...

Tilers and Plumbers like the Aluminium box sets, but for Electrical workers who have to travel light and move around from site to site fast (often a few sites in one day alone) we like everything to fit inside our toolbag...



hope this helps

 

[billyblade]

we like to carry the ones that we will need in Plastic tubes the same as Drill bits in our tool bag, the big Aluminium cases are heavy and also readily pilfered either from or in total... these end up in bits on the floor of the Garage or lying split open on the Van Floor....
If we can have a few plastic tubes in the tool bag, we can keep them from being damaged or rusting when out of use, we know that the red tube is 25mm and the black tube is 32mm etc and also if you sticker it up, most of us will remember and recognise the brand and are more likely to buy the same again instead of a Generic unbranded one from a tool stall or a rival manufacturer out of haste in a shop/online...

Tilers and Plumbers like the Aluminium box sets, but for Electrical workers who have to travel light and move around from site to site fast (often a few sites in one day alone) we like everything to fit inside our toolbag...



hope this helps

Thanks Grantr37. This is exactly the sort of feedback we are looking for. I presume 25mm and 32mm are sizes you use? If so,this ties in with the sizes of our wood drill bits and metal cutting holesaws that are popular with sparks and makes sense to me (I'm not a spark!)
Are there any other "small" diameters you would use?

 

[BigSi]

I agree that a hard plastic cylinder with a screw top would be ideal to hold the core bits. I have a set, but only use one or two of them, so I normally just leave the case at home and take the core bits I need for that job.

Any hole smaller than, for example 32mm, I would probably just use an SDS masonry drill bit (25/20/16, etc).