Drilling Glass

[Jf2381]

• Prep the area
• Make a ring around the hole with plumber's putty
• fill the ring with water
• make sure your drill is fully charged if you are using a battery powered drill. You want full power

Clean the area you want to drill. Make a ring around the whole with plumbers putty and place tape on the other side. This will give you some support so the whole cuts evenly.
Fill the whole with water. When you are cutting glass water is your friend. You want to keep the area as wet as possible.
Start drilling. start of slow until the bit has cut a groove. Do not add pressure, let the drill bit and drill do all the work. All you will do is guide the drill. I can not stress enough not to add pressure, this will only lead to cracked glass!
If you need to polish or enlarge a whole use a dremel and a glass cutting/polishing bit.
Each bit will give you 6 to 10 holes depending on the glass thickness.

Video


Glass I cut and polished with a diamond coated wheel.

Where I buy my glass cutting tools


**Disclaimer** I am not responsible for any damage to property or injuries to you or others if you decide to try this DIY. If you undertake this DIY you are doing it at your own risk!

 

[Jf2381]

Finished product. About 30 minutes of work and cleaning.

 

[Phyl]

Great documentation of the drilling process. Thanks for putting it together.

 

[steve68]

Nice that's cool.
one thing i want to point out to others when doing a slot on a tank make
sure that on the corners u curve the cut not come to an L as this will
cause stress and crack the tank.
once again great job.

 

[danthemanj]

Great thread. I'll keep it in mind when I'm drilling my 215 this coming weekend.

 

[pgordemer]

This should be part of a "Reef Education" FAQ's / DIY FAQ. We have lots of tutorials, we need place to bring them together.

 

[Phyl]

We actually do have a DIY Articles section of the home page content. ;D

 

[billyr98]

that project looks awesome... nice to see a reef ready 30g tank
are you planning on documenting adding an overflow box to the back?

 

[Jf2381]

Yes.
I just have to make some time to go to the glass shop and order the pieces. I'm going to ask to have the glass tempered after they drill the 1" hole in the bottom pane.

 

[billyr98]

Cool, i can't wait to see that!

 

[danthemanj]

Any ideas on how to drill glass in a vertical position? I'm going to be drilling a 6 foot tank on the right side pane and don't think I would be able to do it with it propped up along its length.

 

[Jf2381]

Any ideas on how to drill glass in a vertical position? I'm going to be drilling a 6 foot tank on the right side pane and don't think I would be able to do it with it propped up along its length.

I have done it that way.
You need someone to spray water on the galss as you drill.

 

[steve68]

I'm going to ask to have the glass tempered after they drill the 1" hole in the bottom pane.

is this for piece of mind only?
just wondering.

 

[billyr98]

i had my glass tempered after they drilled 4 holes in the bottom and back of my tank, they builder highly recommended it.. just my 2 cents

 

[Jf2381]

I'm going to ask to have the glass tempered after they drill the 1" hole in the bottom pane.

is this for piece of mind only?
just wondering.

Yes, because of the 1" PVC that will be attached to the overflow box.
If I bump into it I might shatter the glass.
My starfire tank has the overflow, back glass and bottom glass tempered after ther drilled it.

 

[steve68]

i hear that better safe then sorry i allways say

 

[shipwrecked]

I betcha this will help alotta people...wondering how do they temper glass? ???

 

[mladencovic]

I betcha this will help alotta people...wondering how do they temper glass? ???

In general tempering of any material includes heating it to almost melting point, and then cooling it fast. This fast cooling captures the stress in the material and makes material stronger (but at the same time more brittle).

 

[Singlemalt]

I just finished using the same method. Works like a charm and the bits are fairly cheap - at least in relation to the rest of the costs in this hobby!!

 

[reseter5]

hello all. .i am new to this site.. but not new to drilling holes in glas.... i have been doing custom glass work for 11 years now... anyway... nice write up on drilling... if you want cleaner holes ,drill halfway through from both side. this will eliminate chipping.. whick is a good idea.. because a hole makes a weak point... as far as tempered goes..YOU CANNOT DO ANYTHING TO TEMPERED.. IT WILL SHATTER INTO A MILLION PIECES.. if you need to make a hole in tempered forget about it .. its physically impossible... if you drilled a hole and thought it was tempered it was not... do not attemp to do anything to tempered.... you are wasting your time.. otherwise . all the rest of the info was good.. keep the bit cool and let it do the work for you.. as you drill , wobble the bit around to reem the hole a little.. this will eliminate the bit getting caught up in the hole and causing a break... good luck!!!!