drill/drill bit for ceramic

[BlueberriesAndCream]

I'm hoping to drill drainage holes in plant pots. I've read that unglazed pots need a masonry bit, and glazed pots need a ceramic bit.

My pots are unglazed on the bottom, but covered with a laquered finish ('powder coated', according to the site) on the inside and the rest of the outside. So i'd be drilling from the unglazed bit on the bottom, through to the laquered side on the inside.

Will I need a masonry bit or a ceramic one? I don't have a drill yet, but there were a few cheap deals on (e.g, Aldi) and I thought it's a useful thing to have. But most of them only come with a couple of bits, so I'd likely have to be an additional one anyway if I need a ceramic one, or a large masonry one.

maybe something like this? www.diy.com/departments/universal-tile-drill-bit-dia-12mm-l-150mm/1738495_BQ.prd

Does that look suitable for doing this kind of job?

I would use a ceramic drill bit - if you tried to use a regular masonry drill bit on the glazed section you run the risk of cracking/breaking the pot as you will have to apply pressure to get the masonry bit through the hard layer created by the glaze. Remember to mark the spot you want the drainage hole(s) to be with tape - this helps to prevent the drill bit from slipping. Like this:
ceramicartsnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2016/08/3_IMG_3768.jpg
Good luck!

thanks, yes I'd read somewhere about tape.

Is a ceramic bit the same as a tile bit? All I could find were tile bits, like the one I linked to, in reasonable sizes. I presume the holes need to be at least 1cm bit (12 cm) pot.

The drill I was going to get has a 10mm bit holder thing, apparently. None of the bits seem to say anything about that, so I am guessing they must have some generic fitting for either size drill?

I've always assumed that tile and ceramic bits were pretty much the same thing.

Bits come in different diameters and lengths depending on the job required. For example the one below is a size smaller than the one you linked to. It has a 10mm diameter compared to the 12mm version you chose. If you stick to the B&Q website the diameter should be displayed beside the name of the drill bit.

www.diy.com/departments/universal-tile-drill-bit-dia-10mm-l-150mm/1738496_BQ.prd?rrec=true

In terms of the size of the drainage hole - I'd go for a couple of small holes rather than 1 large one.

thanks, I thought probably ceramic and tile were the same.

I get that the diameter of the bit/hole is listed, but not where it says which size drill bit holder (chuck?) it fits - those seemed to come in 10mm or 13mm size, and I chose the 10mm as it was cheaper and smaller, and the reviews said for normal DIY stuff that would be fine. But I don't know if most bits fit either of them. It says that for the really large bits, you needed the 13mm one, but 10mm was fine for everything else.

Yes maybe a couple of holes would be good. I thought bigger would be less likely to get blocked somehow, but maybe 2 or 3 would do similar.

The link below should explain it better than me - my dad always described it as the chuck being like a clamp so it can take drill bits of different widths/diameters. The bigger the drill bit, the bigger the hole it will make. You could have one big hole as drainage but I'm not sure if it's easier/more accurate to drill several smaller holes or 1 large one. That may end up being trial and error!

www.wikihow.com/Change-a-Drill-Bit

thank you! That will help a lot when it arrives and I try it out for the first time. DIY is not me.... !

Good luck! I still call my dad to come round and do certain DIY things for me as some of the power tools in our garage freak me out.