Drilling in fiberglass

[sidechoke67]

Does anyone have any general tips for drilling into fiberglass? I want to put some rod holders in my boat. So far, folks have told me to put tape down over the drill spot, to decrease the odds of chipping, and use lower RPMs for the drill. Any other advice?

Thanks.

 

[rndn]

Re: Drilling in fiberglass

Make sure you chamfer the hole to help stop spidering and/or cracking from the hole.

 

[Chip73]

Re: Drilling in fiberglass

Does anyone have any general tips for drilling into fiberglass? I want to put some rod holders in my boat. So far, folks have told me to put tape down over the drill spot, to decrease the odds of chipping, and use lower RPMs for the drill. Any other advice?

Thanks.

Mark your hole then run your drill bit backward to remove the gel-coat, then drill as needed. I just installed several items on my boat and used this method without any chipping.

 

[oops!]

Re: Drilling in fiberglass

all of the above....dont be afraid.....go for it......my boat is full of holes..

 

[Marcq]

Re: Drilling in fiberglass

Make sure you chamfer the hole to help stop spidering and/or cracking from the hole.

What's the meaning of chamfer ? Sorry this is not my native language

Marc..

 

[Haywood123]

Re: Drilling in fiberglass

Are you just putting screws in for side mounts or are you putting holes in for flush or gimble mounts?

 

[sidechoke67]

Re: Drilling in fiberglass

Are you just putting screws in for side mounts or are you putting holes in for flush or gimble mounts?

Just side mounts, and I'm barely brave enough to do that.

Should I chamfer just the gelcoat, or the entire hole? I am through-bolting..

Thanks for the replies!

 

[rndn]

Re: Drilling in fiberglass

The chamfer is a way to enlarge just the very outer edge of the hole. Think of the hole to end up looking like a funnel.

 

[fdmsiv]

Re: Drilling in fiberglass

Chamfer = countersink bit

 

[Marcq]

Re: Drilling in fiberglass

Ah ok, I did this before with a round cutting/shaping bit on a dremel ,a dremel is very useful for stuff like that, like on long/short cracks, spyder cracks in gelcoat
Thanks, Marc..

 

[jeffnick]

Re: Drilling in fiberglass

You don't need to chamfer the hole if you're thru bolting, but when using self tapping screws I like to use a generous chamfer. If you're stingy with the chamfer, you'll end up chipping the gelcoat.