Drilling Glass

[Aquascaper]

Who's done it?
How did you do it?

*Eagerly awaits someone to say "don't worry, i'll pop round and sort it for you"*

 

[eric1514]

Who's done it?
How did you do it?

*Eagerly awaits someone to say "don't worry, i'll pop round and sort it for you"*

Have it done. I had mine done at an auto glass shop. Owner said if I buy the bit and give it to him, he'll drill all the holes I wanted. It was like $10 bucks, 30 years ago. I'd do the same today.

I personally don't think it's worth the expense in bits and the learning curve involved to do it yourself. Hire it out. Your LFS or phonebook will have lots of names of people who can do this right and cheap.

Eric

 

[Cichlidkeeper]

I've done it, it not that hard. This first time is always the worst though.

First thing you need is a diamond tipped hole saw. A variable speed drill, some clamps, glass of water and a piece of wood.

You use the wood as a template. 1x6 works great, drill a hole slightly bigger that the hole saw bit. Then you clamp the template to the tank where you want your hole. Pour some water in the hole in the template and start drilling. You need to drill slowly with little pressure. About 600-800 rpm is good and keep the glass wet. It will take a while but there is no rushing the drill.

I would suggest using a old tank or piece of glass before attempting on a expensive aquarium. Also Tempered Glass can not be drilled.

EDIT: Most LFS will drill tanks in my area. It is around $10-15 a hole so it can get expensive if you want a holey tank

 

[Sean_Buckley]

600-800 rpm??? Are you serious??? This is the method I used: glass drilling site But, don't buy $30 worth of Dremel bits, if you can help it. I bought 30 cheap, diamond drill bits for $5 (yes, $5) at an auto supply surplus store, and they worked great. If you have access to an air compressor and a die grinder, use it to drill, its faster than a Dremel tool (30,000 rpm or so). MAKE SURE YOU KEEP THE GLASS AND BIT COOL! HTH. PM me if you have any other questions.
Sean

 

[BigC]

Hi,
I work in a glass factory and these are the bits we use in our drilling machine. Diamond Core Drills, Industrial Quality http/213.68.208.162/Magic94scripts/mgrqi...GUMENTS=-N2,-N1
You will have to navigate to the drill bits as the link will only let me exibit the home page.
The machine itself is basically 2 drills one on top of the work table and one beneath. The glass is cooled by water and the top hole is drilled first (downwards) to halfway through the piece of glass, then the same is done from below (upwards)
Regards
BigC

 

[Aquascaper]

Ok, i'm going to place the tank on it's side with the glass side to be drilled flat on a wooden tabletop. I will then make a wooden template as Cichlidkeeper mentioned and clamp the template & tank to the tabletop. I'm going to drill from inside the tank as I don't want to put pressure on the tank side as I drill, also this way any coolant will run back into the tank instead of on the floor. The fiancee will be on hand to add coolant and I will be using a 42mm diamond tipped hole drill with an 18v variable speed power drill.

Wish me luck

 

[andywg]

My advice, get a scrap piece and PRACTICE!

Also, once you have made a hole in a practice piece you may find you can use that as the guide and to hold the coolant (though ideally a bigger hole should be used).

There are two ways to drill glass. You either use a diamond hole drill bit at low speed (to avoid catching) or you use a dremel at high speed.

But definately practice first....

 

[deliverance]

i would also put 2 piece if masking tape to make a + and drill the center i have to drill glass all the time and that works just fine for me

 

[The Glassblower]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=115800