Best way to drill into gloss finish

[BlueTalon]

I don't have a lot of experience with it, but I had success using painter's tape, a sharp bit, and going relatively slowly.

 

[RichterScale]

Next time I drill through something delicate, I'll try to remember the -run the bit backwards- trick.
I've never thought to try that because it was permanently burned into my brain at a young age that you don't drag sharp bits backwards through the material (usually metal). Like hacksaw blades, metal files, etc.
I guess I just included drill bits by association and I've never purposely ran the cutting tip backwards in material.
Just a hard rule that was established early and I've never questioned or thought about it. Funny how the brain works.
I'm gonna live free and wild and try it one of these days.

 

[iiipopes]

If the hole is as large as a standard 1/4 inch hole for a full-sized pot, or even slightly smaller, has anybody mentioned: in addition to the above (and yes, this is overkill) take a dowel the size of the hole, place it where you want to drill the hole, and take the point of an Exacto knife and score the hole to help minimize chipping.

 

[Grindboar]

Just curious will you be using a hand drill or a drill press for this?

if you are using a hand held drill, and the surface is flat I highly recommend using a drill jig to ensure a perfect perpendicular to surface hole.

 

[Barticus]

Next time I drill through something delicate, I'll try to remember the -run the bit backwards- trick.
I've never thought to try that because it was permanently burned into my brain at a young age that you don't drag sharp bits backwards through the material (usually metal). Like hacksaw blades, metal files, etc.
I guess I just included drill bits by association and I've never purposely ran the cutting tip backwards in material.
Just a hard rule that was established early and I've never questioned or thought about it. Funny how the brain works.
I'm gonna live free and wild and try it one of these days.

Yep, I always tape and then run the drill in reverse and burn the hole down to size first. I’ve always been successful with this approach, as I’ve done this dozens of times on other projects (can’t do this with my drill press of course, so manually reversing was a good idea). I was more wondering if some of the more experienced pros had any additional ‘pro tips’. I’m going to test with a unibit so that’s another good idea.

Again thanks for all of the advice, this project is done and have another similar project next week so may try the uni…

 

[RichterScale]

I love all the new tricks I've learned here.

 

[bigdaddybass12]

1. Drill press,
2. what others said

 

[BlueTalon]

Oh, I forgot to mention -- I start with a smaller drill to make a pilot hole.