While a hammer drill (or a rotary-hammer drill) for drilling holes of all sizes in cement, harden mortar or concrete is a more efficient tool and an easier means to make holes in such masonry material, a regular drill can be utilized with good results in making small holes that are no larger than ¬Ω inch diameter. However, the drilling and hole-boring process is tedious and much slower this way. By following these simple instructional steps, and with patience and determination, the hole-making process can effectively be accomplished.

Items Needed: an electrical or battery-operated drill gun; masonry drill bit (choose exact bit size and length to make the correct bore diameter and extent wanted); a small spray-bottle containing clean water (to help remove lose debris and further act as a coolant as the drill bit heats up from friction caused by drilling into the masonry material); a wood toothpick (to also assist in loosening and digging out more persistent masonry debris that happens to remain stuck in the hole during the drilling process that water flushing can’t remove)

-- Step #1: Properly attach the masonry drill bit to the drill gun.

-- Step #2: Mark with either a pencil or ink-marker pen the spot where the hole is to be made.

-- Step #3: Place the drill bit’s end exactly on this mark, and while keeping the bit on this mark, slightly squeeze the drill’s trigger allowing the bit to slowly rotate and dig enough into the masonry material to make a gaping starter pilot-dimple (a deep indentation). (Note: this starter pilot-dimple will help keep the bit to stay in place with less likely to stray or wander off its mark during the initial process of drilling of the hole).

-- Step #3: With the spray-bottle, squirt out just enough water to clean and remove any loose masonry debris in the indentation, but more importantly, to provide adequate wetness to help keep the drill bit cooled during the initial deep drilling of making the hole.

-- Step #4: Put the drill bit into the pilot-dimple, and start the deep drilling process by slowly squeezing the drill gun’s trigger on-and-off to continually vary the constant rotation of the bit while simultaneously pushing and pulling in slightly back-and-forth movement on the drill gun to affect a slightly hammering-pounding motion on the rotating drill bit. (Note: the constant drill bit speed-variation and simultaneous in-and-out pulsating or thumping action against the masonry material will effectively dig the hole’s cavity deeper while removing most of its resulting masonry debris from the hole.

(SPECIAL NOTE: unlike wood where its own particular drill bit type easily cuts and slices through its soft fibrous material to make a hole, to make a hole in masonry material requires special drilling motions that at the same time has a pulverizing action to pound and grind away harden material while sweeping away ensuing powder and rock-hard grains).

-- Step #5: While drilling, when ensuing moisture vapor from the hole (caused by friction from the rotating drill grinding into the harden masonry material) ceases, or movement in making the hole seems to have slowed or stopped (caused by lose debris blocking and making the drill bit to bind up in the hole), immediately remove the drill bit from the hole. Promptly squirt water on the drill bit to cool it and water into the hole to force flush out resulting debris, and if necessary, further use the toothpick to dig out any remaining excess debris in the hole that repeated water flushing won’t dislodge.

-- Step #6: Repeat “Step #5” until the hole is finally drilled deep enough to satisfaction, or is completely cut through to the other side if that is the desired result.