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Post by maineultraclassic on Oct 28, 2014 6:53:23 GMT -5
I want to drill a few holes in a piece of liverock to mount frag plugs in.
What is the best way to do this, without breaking the rock up.
Regular drill bit, or a masonry bit?
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Post by ryansweatt2004 on Oct 28, 2014 7:52:40 GMT -5
I drill almost all of my rocks. Regular high speed drill bits can put a hole in liverock but it pretty much ruins the bit after a while. If you want to drill rocks without risking the rock fracturing, your best bet is to use a small diamond hole saw and then break off the center core that gets left behind. But masonry drill bits work just fine as long as you drill slow through porus or brittle rocks. That said I've still busted a bunch of rocks by putting to much presure on the drill. Just make sure you have some salt water set aside to rinse all the mud/dust out of the rock before yo put it back in your tank.
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Post by Lance on Oct 28, 2014 8:02:32 GMT -5
I've used a standard hole saw bit w/ good luck. As Ryan says, break of the remaining core w/ a chisel or flat head screwdriver.
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Post by jasonandsarah on Oct 28, 2014 8:40:54 GMT -5
I want to try and recess magnets in live rock and use those magnetic frag disks. I think it would be cool to be able to move things around. Sometimes it's nesissary anyways.
Sent from my SM-N910R4 using proboards
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Post by Syntax on Oct 28, 2014 8:59:01 GMT -5
I've used regular drill bits with the drill in a low speed without any issue while building my reef. I have drilled about 50 holes in my rock for zip ties and acrylic rods so I have some experience doing this successfully.
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Post by ryansweatt2004 on Oct 28, 2014 9:21:49 GMT -5
Some of the problems with regular high speed drill bits is if you don't know how to sharpen them, you end up ruining drill bits quite easily when you try to drill a hard abrasive substance like liverock. The chisel edge is not carbide. It's very sharp and hard but it still dulls and chips easilly when drilling rock. Plus the way the leading edge of the cutting surface is pointed, it can cause the drill to easily bind up and fracture rocks while drilling. I use masonry bits in diameters ranging from 1/8 - 1-1/16 diameter to drill my rocks. The best part about them is they last a long time! Mardens usually has cheap masonry bits!
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Post by BriMc on Oct 28, 2014 9:32:40 GMT -5
Masonry bits.
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Post by maineultraclassic on Oct 28, 2014 13:00:41 GMT -5
Or, I might nip off the stems and just epoxy the plugs to the rock.............much safer and easier.
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Post by jasonandsarah on Oct 28, 2014 13:16:14 GMT -5
Or, I might nip off the stems and just epoxy the plugs to the rock.............much safer and easier. Be ready for your skimmer to overflow if you add a lot of epoxy . I'm sure you know that but wanted to give you a heads up. Sent from my SM-N910R4 using proboards |
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Post by ryansweatt2004 on Oct 28, 2014 13:34:13 GMT -5
I prefer just a big glob of super glue over epoxy anyday. Epoxy is almost permanent vrs superglue you can usually pop the coral or frag plug off the rock in case you need to move it. Amazon sells the 295ml bottles of corafix gel for $39.99 and it last a long time. It's so much easier to work with then epoxy too.
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Post by jasonandsarah on Oct 28, 2014 14:04:14 GMT -5
I prefer just a big glob of super glue over epoxy anyday. Epoxy is almost permanent vrs superglue you can usually pop the coral or frag plug off the rock in case you need to move it. Amazon sells the 295ml bottles of corafix gel for $39.99 and it last a long time. It's so much easier to work with then epoxy too. I tried corafix gel recently and it's to runny for me. The best 2 brands I've found so far are gorilla glue gel (green cap) and CA gel both are thinker and work much better imo. With the corafix I feel like I have to hold it forever and it still isn't cured. Kinda stuck with it for awhile because I got the medium sized bottle??? Sent from my SM-N910R4 using proboards |
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Post by ryansweatt2004 on Oct 28, 2014 14:44:45 GMT -5
I've had the same problem with that gorila glue, it ran out of the bottle, the corafix is the thickest stuff I've used so far. Never had a problem with the corafix gel.
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Post by jasonandsarah on Oct 28, 2014 14:52:19 GMT -5
I've had the same problem with that gorila glue, it ran out of the bottle, the corafix is the thickest stuff I've used so far. Never had a problem with the corafix gel. Idk that's what I have right now and it runs off the plug and onto my fingers and gloves. Maybe I got a bad bottle but I had a tube of CA gel right before this stuff and it was much thinker. Set faster as well. Sent from my SM-N910R4 using proboards |
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Post by maineultraclassic on Oct 28, 2014 16:22:54 GMT -5
I've always had good luck with the 2 part epoxy stick, and it comes apart when needed with a little force.
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Post by foggman on Oct 28, 2014 17:06:45 GMT -5
I get super glue gel from the dollar store, 2 tubes for a buck, works for me
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