Fax: 01444 414813
Email: info@airstream.co.uk
by Peter Brett - October 2006
For more information call Christine
01444 440188
01444 440188
Hard stuff!
The range consists of three products. At the professional regular user end, are the PG 850 tile drills. Ranging in size from 6mm to 80mm, this range is like a more delicately built plumbers core bit in construction. Using real and synthetic diamond and Marcrist’s manufacturing expertise, they offer a real professional solution for plumbers and tilers who have to deal with the quality of the really hard granite, porcelain and marble tiles that are gracing our kitchens and bathrooms these days.
Next in line is the PG 750 range that is again aimed at professional users, but for whom drilling tiles is an occasional rather than a regular chore. The sizes range from 5mm to 10mm, and therefore cover the common plug and hole sizes most often used.
Finally, with a smaller range and simpler solution is the Turbolite. a well designed, but ultimately not as high-tech solution to drilling tiles as the above. It has a limited range of sizes and is aimed at users who will probably only need to drill half a dozen or so holes and don’t want to invest any life savings, they just want an effective solution.
As usual, I always seem to like the most upmarket solutions best. Marcrist has spared nothing on the PG850 system, for system it is. It comes in the now famous Systainer box, with everything needed inside to drill 6mm holes! This consists of the 6mm drill, the water system, pressure bottle, guide plate and 2m of water hose. The customer then chooses the extra drill sizes needed, so no additional expense is incurred buying costly diamond bits that aren’t needed. The most interesting new gadget for me is the guide plate. As anyone who has ever tried using a core drill has found, they can tend to wander a bit when you first start the cut. In an expensive porcelain tile this is a no-no, but the guide plate uses a suction gadget to stick it to the tile, it is adjusted to suit the drill size selected, and then you can start drilling. The guide plate holds the drill firmly in place while the diamonds cut through the hard porcelain surface of the tile. Using only a 14.4 volt cordless drill I managed to drill a very neat 35mm diameter hole, with no nasty side scratches on the tile surface in quite a lot less than a minute. Timesaving is definitely on the agenda. Because these drills need a supply of water to their diamond tips in order to work effectively, Marcrist has come up with the solution of having a pressurized bottle of water feeding a cylindrical barrel held on the arbor of the drill. This ensures a constant and controlled flow of water to the diamond tip ensuring that it cuts easily and enjoys a long working life. This solution is a great deal easier than having to have a spray bottle in one hand and the drill in the other.
To be honest, it was hard not to be impressed by the way in which these drills performed. The holes were always very neat, the cutting quick and the results good. The hardest part of the process was getting the circle of tile out of the bit after the hole was drilled.
The PG750 range is a lot simpler and smaller. The drills are like a range of bright silver coloured mini-core drill bits, with a noticeable lip of natural South African diamond on them. For most jobbing plumbers these would be a good solution for drilling holes in tiles to fit toilet cisterns and bathroom furniture. Costing between £13.80 for a 6mm bit and £17.80 for a 10mm bit, Marcrist reckon that the average careful user would pay about xxp per hole drilled.
Marcrist has tried to provide a cost effective solution to the problem of guiding the drill when it is first started by making the hanging hole of the drill display container a flexible guide. The container is held against the surface, the drill guided into the hole, and without too much skidding the bit can begin to cut into the tile. Cleverly, the bit display container also holds a small spray for water so that again, the diamond tip can be kept cool enough to work properly. My own experience of these bits is that they work very well, not quite as easily as the expensive PG850 range, but still efficient. It always took me much less than a minute to drill a 7mm hole in a porcelain tile using the same 14.4 volt cordless drill.
Lastly, the budget solution is the Turbolite. It is the carbide drill we have had to use up until now in the absence of anything more high-tech. The truth is that the other solutions have spoiled its performance for you already. It seems like hard work in comparison, and it does need a little bit of wiggling around in the hole to clear the muck and ensure a quick cut. But, as Marcrist has worked out, DIYers have time on their hands and would perhaps be averse to paying £40 or even £14 for the privilege of a professional quality drill. It too comes with a water spray to ensure a quicker cut, and its performance in terms of price per hole is actually higher than the PG850 and PG 750 products. But it works.
You have to admire Marcrist, what the company has done is to market a complete solution to tile drilling. With customer and retailer incentives, and very professional looking products they are definitely in the frame.
Independent Review by Peter Brett
Airstream Communications