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Drilling Holes with a dremel?
- Thread starter jceli728
- Start date
Be extremely careful!!! 10 gallon tanks have very very thin glass at will crack under the slightest pressure. They are one of he hardest tanks to drill.
I've cut a few holes with a dremel. The key is to always remember what the Jamaican's say: No Pressure, No Problem! On a 10g tank, you definitely have to let the bit do the work. Go really slowly and don't apply any pressure. It'll cut but if you rush it, it's gonna crack.
Luckily a 10 gal tank is real cheap. With that said, I drilled a 15 gal with a dremel and it works great. Make sure you use water on the spot your drilling as a lube. It keeps the dust down and reduces vibration.
I use diamond point bits in my dremel. The two I've used are the ones on the right side of the drawing on THIS PAGE.
The process I used was pretty straightforward. I first marked the outline of the hole with a Sharpie marker. Then a made a water dam out of duct tape and filled it with water. After that I went around the entire hole a few times until I had etched a groove into the glass. The rest is all about going slow. I worked in an area to get a plunge cut (have the bit go all the way through the glass). It took time and patience but eventually the bit made it through. From then on its just a matter of slowly going around the etched line. One thing to note is that as soon as the bit plunges through, the water dam is useless. You'll need to have someone continue to hold a hose or something to keep the cutting area wet.
A tip I learned to make the cutting go a little faster is to lean the bit on a bit of an angle along the cut line so that you are grinding a long, flat area on the circle. After you've done that of for a few minutes, stand the bit straight up and it'll cut pretty quickly to the end of the line you were working on. Just keep repeating this process until the hole is cut.
Oh yeah, one other thing is to put a towel or something on the far side of the tank below where the hole is being cut. This is so that the piece that falls out doesn't break the side it lands on!
HTH
The process I used was pretty straightforward. I first marked the outline of the hole with a Sharpie marker. Then a made a water dam out of duct tape and filled it with water. After that I went around the entire hole a few times until I had etched a groove into the glass. The rest is all about going slow. I worked in an area to get a plunge cut (have the bit go all the way through the glass). It took time and patience but eventually the bit made it through. From then on its just a matter of slowly going around the etched line. One thing to note is that as soon as the bit plunges through, the water dam is useless. You'll need to have someone continue to hold a hose or something to keep the cutting area wet.
A tip I learned to make the cutting go a little faster is to lean the bit on a bit of an angle along the cut line so that you are grinding a long, flat area on the circle. After you've done that of for a few minutes, stand the bit straight up and it'll cut pretty quickly to the end of the line you were working on. Just keep repeating this process until the hole is cut.
Oh yeah, one other thing is to put a towel or something on the far side of the tank below where the hole is being cut. This is so that the piece that falls out doesn't break the side it lands on!
HTH
It is really not as hard as it sounds. I used the same technique as JohnS except that I etched the whole circle deeper all the way around so that I didnt lose my water well right away. I used a ball point to start with, then switched to a longer tip <1/4" roughly> to break through and finish off.