Drilling a hole

[Paulie 069]

I have what I need to drill hole in the tank,, my question is would a battery operated drill be good enough to use for drilling the hole or would I need a good drill that runs on electricity

 

[hsingh]

You need a good quality drill. I recently drilled a pair of 1 inch holes in a 75G Aqueon tank (Firstly made sure that the back was not tempered glass). I used a dewalt li-ion 18v drill (battery), and got good results. Just be very patient with the drill, do not push the drill into the glass, let the weight of the drill take it through the glass. Make sure to then further reduce that weight as you approach the other side else you will not get a clean hole. I used a vertical drill guide to make sure the hole remained straight (used it on the first hole, then got over confident and did not use it on the second hole, that's when i noticed that my second hole did not go straight! ). Make sure you build a water dam using putty and keep filling it with water as you drill - Many videos on youtube that show this.

 

[Paulie 069]

You need a good quality drill. I recently drilled a pair of 1 inch holes in a 75G Aqueon tank (Firstly made sure that the back was not tempered glass). I used a dewalt li-ion 18v drill (battery), and got good results. Just be very patient with the drill, do not push the drill into the glass, let the weight of the drill take it through the glass. Make sure to then further reduce that weight as you approach the other side else you will not get a clean hole. I used a vertical drill guide to make sure the hole remained straight (used it on the first hole, then got over confident and did not use it on the second hole, that's when i noticed that my second hole did not go straight! ). Make sure you build a water dam using putty and keep filling it with water as you drill - Many videos on youtube that show this.

YouTube didn’t even think of that,, thanks

 

[hsingh]

- Check out this link. Thats what i started with.

 

[DangerDave]

It's very easy to do, even without a guide. If you have an old tank to practice on, it may give you the confidence you need for your display tank. It won't take more than one or two practice holes. +1 on the putty damn, unless you want to run fresh water the entire time over the glass/bit.

 

[rrspike]

Use a backer block to drill into to prevent edge chipping as bit finishes the hole . Slowly drill and use less pressure as hole finishes.

 

[Paulie 069]

I’m gonna go for it on Saturday, had someone lined up to help but that

Use a backer block to drill into to prevent edge chipping as bit finishes the hole . Slowly drill and use less pressure as hole finishes.

I had someone to help me lined up but that fell thru because person didn’t wanna drive over. Anyway I can Handel it just wish I had a drill guide,, but going to go for it and pray for best

 

[rrspike]

Make your own drill guide . Got a scrap peice of wood or acrylic around? Pre drill a hole the size of the od of the bit you will drill with and clamp that in place and use as guide. If I wasn't working and was closer i would come help ya . Clamp that in place on outside of tank with a thin plywood sacrificial backer inside the tank and slowly drill . Backer on side will prevent blowout and guide will prevent bit wobble.

 

[Paulie 069]

Make your own drill guide . Got a scrap peice of wood or acrylic around? Pre drill a hole the size of the od of the bit you will drill with and clamp that in place and use as guide. If I wasn't working and was closer i would come help ya . Clamp that in place on outside of tank with a thin plywood sacrificial backer inside the tank and slowly drill . Backer on side will prevent blowout and guide will prevent bit wobble.

Thanks for your advice my brother but I’m sure I’ll be fine just got to get in the zone and get her done that’s all thinking about going for it this weekend but first I want to go and get my substrate that I’m gonna need for it plus I’m going out tomorrow and getting 100 gallons of ocean water I can’t wait