who drills glass?

[reefNewbie]

Im calling a lot of local shops here and it doesnt sound like too many of them are willing to drill my tank. The few that are sound like they have never done it before and im kinda getting scared. Is there anybody that will gaurentee not to crack your tank. or better yet, anyone that will be experienced in drilling tanks? My LFS doesnt have the size bit i need drilled so im kinda SOL. thanks

 

[reefNewbie]

also, so far my cheapest quote has been 50 +tax for the two holes. So im pretty much paying someone 50 dollars to crack my tank so i can buy a new one!

 

[LFS42]

Drilling isn't as hard as it sounds, I did it myself with prctice.
If your nervous about them doing it, have a spare piece of glass when you go for practice.
Where are you located?

 

[Anonymous]

Call a sandblasting place and ask them if they will sandblast the holes for you. No cracking!

 

[ChrisRD]

Call a sandblasting place and ask them if they will sandblast the holes for you. No cracking!

I've heard of this before - always wondered how well it works. Righty, have you tried this? How do the holes come out - neat like drilling? Any details on how it's actually done?

 

[ChrisRD]

reefNewbie:

If you decide to buy a bit and drill yourself, check out this site.

 

[Gatortailale1]

Try a local glass shop see what they have to say about cost and guarantee

 

[SPC]

Posted by reefNewbie:

also, so far my cheapest quote has been 50 +tax for the two holes. So im pretty much paying someone 50 dollars to crack my tank so i can buy a new one!

-Starting to see what we mean now about buying a reef ready :lol: . I have always gotten holes drilled at a glass shop, they have never cracked one.

Posted by Wolfman:

I've heard of this before - always wondered how well it works.

-Someone on the boards had their large tank notched in the back (served as the over flow across the top back of the tank) with this method, I can't remeber who it was though .
Steve
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

We drill tanks regularly - I won't do 10 gallon aquariums or smaller, or the 15 gal High because the glass is just too thin - but we do a lot of 15 gallons and larger and we've never cracked a tank. Thicker glass is much easier to do than thin glass.

 

[Anonymous]

Wolfman,

I blow glass and have sandblasted perfect holes into stuff. A professional set up will do really nice holes. I have no idea what they would charge.

RR

 

[ChrisRD]

-Someone on the boards had their large tank notched in the back (served as the over flow across the top back of the tank) with this method, I can't remeber who it was though .

Steve:

Was that Sanjay Joshi?

 

[ChrisRD]

I blow glass and have sandblasted perfect holes into stuff. A professional set up will do really nice holes. I have no idea what they would charge.

Very cool Righty - it's fascinating to watch glass blowers work. How do you sandblast a neat hole in something? Do you need a template of some sort?

P.S.: Sorry for the mini-hijack Tony

 

[Anonymous]

For some glass work check out

http;//www.atomicglass.com

Hhehehehehehe

To sandblast a nice round hole you need some kind of resist on the glass - masking tape, rubber cement, newspaper or some other esoteric things. I have used those light plastic letters to sand blast words onto glass. So, for a hole, you need a circle on the glass and you need to cover all the glass you don't want sandblasted. You also need to cover the tank wall behind the wall where the hole is so it does not get sandblasted!

 

[ChrisRD]

Thanks for the info and the link Richard. 8)

 

[pncstod]

I paid $7.50 a hole at the local glass shop. He told me that 1/2 inch or thicker tank is not very likely to break. I think he does it that cheap because he is the hobby. He has a 90 gallon reef in the showroom.

 

[reef150]

I have a 150 gal (1/2" glass) that I wanted to add a 2nd return to and needed to drill a couple of holes. The tank was not yet full yet, but the closely LFS store that would drill was 1 hour away and it would have been a major ordeal to un-plumb the rest of the tank and move it So, I decided to purchase a diamond drill bit from Diamond Bit & Tool and take care of the job myself.

Below is the process I used.... your mileage may vary and no warranty granted :wink:

I purchased a cheap drill press off Ebay that I was planning to use, but it ended up due to the size of the drill needed (I had to use a 1/2" drill) and the proximity to the side of the tank I could not use the press. So, I crossed my fingers and went at it freehand.

I picked up a wax toliet ring and placed it around the area I was going to drill. I think poured a little vegtable oil in the ring to serve as a lubricant to keep the bit cool.

The toughest part is getting the hole started. This is where a press would help greatly, but I managed to get the holes started "freehand". I'd recommend some type of template next time... perhaps a piece of 1/8" plywood with a hole cut to the size of the drillbit and then tape it down. This will keep the bit from sliding around while you get it going.

Once I had the hole started, I just kept firm, but not forceful progress on the bit. Added a little veg. oil every minute or two. Probably took me about 5 min per hole or less.... just steady drilling. I was using a Dewalt 1/2" variable speed drill. Ran it somewhere around 1/2 spped. The tank was already on the stand so I had a backer there already but if you don't I'd recommend some type of backer as well.

Anyway, the holes were drilled without event and it saved me the major hasel of pulling the tank out and hauling it 1 hour to the LFS to do the job.....

I've got a slightly used bit now I that I need to get rid of..... (don't remember the specific size right now, but its the size for 1" bulkheads).

Mike

 

[dtiedke]

Mike,

I'll take the drill bit if you still have it. What were you thinking of getting for it? e-mail me at [email protected]

Dave