Drilling through fibreglass

[StuMiller]

Has anyone done this?

How hard was it and what sort of drill bit do you recommend?

Suggestions welcome.

Cheers!

[seiko1]

A good solid backing, a very sharp and fast drillbit and a few hail mary's ( stick some hundred mile an hour tape over it too)

Practice on some one elses fairing first

[StuMiller]

Thanks, I did google it and several boating forums suggeted using a HSS drill bit with a fast power drill, not cordless.

I'm going to have a go and see what happens. I'll be sure to post up some photos when my race glass is on.

Thanks!

[robracer]

High speed for Fiberglass, I generally use an air powered drill 2,300 rpm

[Damon Z1000]

Personally I wouldn't use a new sharp bit.

You are better off using an old bit with a little bit of life left in it.

If you use a new one it can tear and flake at the bond between the gelcoat and glass (as it's so thin) as it bites and make a messy hole.

Just go plenty of masking tape over the area to drill, mark the hole with a texta, then drill with a small 3mm bit then go the not so sharp biggy.

If in doubt ask MadKaw he's always drilling new holes but through much thicker material

[Strika]

Drill bit as sharp as possible, drill as fast as possible, as others have already stated: Plus duct tape BOTH sides of the drill area. Don't apply too much pressure to the drill. Pull out without altering drill bit angle. I may be lucky, but have never had an issue with drilling glass race fairings and have even used a cordless without damage.

[robracer]

You are better off using an old bit with a little bit of life left in it.

Thats what we do for acrylic / perspex, in fact we have old bits that we will blunt on concrete before drilling, less risk of it cracking the sheet

[StuMiller]

So far, so good......

[robracer]

Looks Great!

[StuMiller]

Looks Great!

One thing I did come across, how do you secure the seat on given access was via the pillion seat....

With the tail piece in place, you can't get to the bolt to hold the bracket on. Fibreglass doesn't flex quite as well as the plastic so it miakes life very difficult to get to the bolt...at the moment, the seat is just sitting there.

Even when I unscrew the tail piece and with the seat in place, it's still very difficult to get to.....

[Frank]

What a few people in the past have done was to cut out a small section of the tail right behind the seat, Directly over the bolt, so you can easily access it.

[Nelso]

My 9 had a hole in the seat that you could poke a screwdriver in to lock the seat down.

[Damon Z1000]

Thats what we do for acrylic / perspex, in fact we have old bits that we will blunt on concrete before drilling, less risk of it cracking the sheet

That's the one mate, easily chips out the surface if they are to sharp, eh mate?

[Mike]

Oh and do it outside. That shite gets everywhere!!