Which Drill Bit to Use for Drilling Plastic Materials?

Far too often the work of drilling soft materials is approached superficially, without considering the importance of proper equipment. For example, even when you need to drill plastic, it's necessary to choose the right drill bits. Because in this way you can take advantage of the work of the tools you have available to complete work of extreme precision.

This applies, for example, to those who operate in the furniture industry but also in the processing of objects and structures of various kinds. Not forgetting those who operate in hydraulics and mechanics. In addition to evaluating the best bits for drilling metal or concrete, it's right to discover together the characteristics of solutions for operating on plastic, hard rubber, plexiglass, rigid polyurethane.

Technical characteristics of plastic

To understand the right characteristic of the drill bit needed for plastic drilling, you must first evaluate its behavior at the time you modify it. First of all, you must consider that not all plastics have the same hardness characteristics.

Plastic quality can vary if, for example, it is polyethylene, PVC or polycarbonate. The latter option, for example, tends to offer greater resistance to drilling and to forces that push towards fracture compared to softer plastic.

Another aspect to be evaluated with extreme care: overheating during processing. Plastic - at the moment it is drilled - tends to deform more easily than, for example, metal. This can lead to deformation of the hole, to important friction with the metal of the drill bit that moves at high speed and to the creation of work with irregular and imprecise edges.

Which plastics are easy to drill?

Before choosing the right drill bit for plastic drilling you must evaluate the type of structure you are working on. For example, polycarbonate is a type of plastic so resistant that it is used in construction instead of glass and in the transport world for making helmets or headlight covers. So it will be hard to drill. While polyvinyl chloride, more commonly known as PVC, is easier to work with and is always used for numerous solutions such as, for example, pipes for hydraulic applications.

Whoever works on this material must know, for example, that it can melt easily. But other solutions, like acrylic or the already mentioned polycarbonate, tend to chip or crack. Therefore drilling must be performed with great care.

Which drill bit to choose for drilling plastic?

The simplest answer: basically, drill bits for drilling metal are perfect for drilling plastic and related materials such as, for example, plexiglass. In some cases you can use universal drill bits that allow you to work on different materials. For example, one of the best solutions is the helical drill bit with Step+ step geometry which offers excellent performance on iron, wood and, precisely, plastic. For hard material, there is an option for those who need to drill large holes: the bimetallic HSS hole saw.

Alternatively you can use conical drill bits, always in high speed steel, which allow you to manage the hole width with maximum flexibility. What is not compatible with plastic is everything related to the world of stone and reinforced concrete drilling: before using a drill on plexiglass or PVC make sure you have mounted a compatible tool.