Wonderful to know, thanks.
I know what you mean. I have found some beautiful pots only to find that they had no drain hole.
RC

Wow!!!

That's what i'm talking about!!

Nice drill and bit!!!

Laura

Perfect, what a good idea! More pots with holes = more plants, what could be better? Seems like you and my d/h are both fans of bench drills eh?
Gill from the UK.

I bought granite drill bits for my husband. Every one of my pots had extra holes. Atleast 4 more holes.
Marie

The drill press certainly helps. I drill glass and ceramic containers with my little Dremmel. It takes forever but it does work.

Yes the drill press really helps, but for all its power, it requires a very light touch when drilling glazed ceramic. It takes me about 10 minutes to drill three 3/8" holes in ceramic. I place pieces of masking tape on the pot bottom over the locations that I want the holes and mark them with a pen. The tape helps to stabilize the drill tip until it has penetrated the glazed pottery. I squirt a small amount of water onto the bit as I drill to keep things cool and prevent chipping. It also helps to minimize airborne ceramic dust.

Scott

I used to work in an antique and lighting store. Making custom lamps out of vases and things people brought in from their travels and what not. I used 1/4" to 1/2" diamond hole drill bit and would squirt with a little bit of machine oil (like for sewing machines) every so often during the process to keep the bit cool and lubricated. This worked very well for me especially on glass and ceramic pots/vases. It's a great option for those that only have hand held drills.

Kirk

Kirk that's what I use with the Dremmel but I have to use a smaller bit and re-drill the same hole a few times to make it bigger. DH has a regular size hand held drill but I can't handle it as well because of the weight so I stick to the little one.

Marie, you said above that your husband puts at least four additional holes in each pot? And in a different thread, you said that he uses diamond-coated core drill bits? That is what I also use. About how many holes does he get per bit before it becomes worn down and ineffective?

I got about 15 holes cut in various pots with my half-inch diamond coated bit - some through really thick glazed pots - and my bit isn't working like it was in the beginning. (For those unfamiliar, you can cut through a terra cotta pot in a New York minute, but glazed porcelain pots are much tougher.) I'm getting ready to buy some more bits and I'm wondering how good are those bits that you bought from eBay?

Would you please ask him if he still likes them and is getting plenty of cuts?

Thanks!

Carol

Carol, if the pot is big, he drills more holes, but the small pot 2 holes are enough.

We got bits from ebay very cheap. Yes they worn down. Some pots only took 20 seconds, some pots took up to 5 minutes.

Marie

Nice! My husband and I just inherited a full wood shop with lots of great tools including a drill press. All we have to do is clean out that half of the basement at my MiL's house and it's ours. I already knew about masonry bits and diamond tipped bits being good for drilling ceramics but it never hurts to know of more options that work well and have a faster option than a dremel, finally.