We recently had Silestone countertops (engineered quartz) put in throughout our kitchen. In the process, I had forgotten to get a hole drilled in the planning desk for a phone line. Is a 1/4″ to 1/2″ hole something that I can do myself?
thanks,
Joe
Replies
You can do this yourself. Go to the tool rental place and get the smallest diamond hole saw they have, say 1/2". Drill a 1/2" hole in a piece of 3/4" plywood and clamp it over the area you want the hole. Using the clamped plywood as a guide, drill through the Silestone, keeping the bit wet constantly. Good Luck.
Underneath the desk area is an unfinished basement and I could just as well move the telephone line. It sounds like this might be easier?
If you are handy with tools then a diamond hole saw is not difficult to use. If tools scare you, you might want to pass.
When you rent the drill you need to rent both the bit and the drilling machine. You cannot use a diamond core drill in a hand drill. You have to start the bit really slowly into the material until it makes full contact around the entire 360° of the face of the bit. Then you can drill faster. It takes pretty good pressure, but it is a slow process.
The bits are water cooled, so you'll hook up a garden hose up to the machine, but on a bit that small only a tiny stream of water is needed.
Thanks for the responses.
I am handy enough to do it, but by the time I got to the big box to rent the equipment, I could have the line moved to a different spot.
I think Lee Valley sells some decent yet inexpensive diamond core bits. Buy one and drill a 1-1/2" or 2" hole in the top, and then you can put the computer box on the floor and run the cables up to the monitor and keyboard.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt