• Folks, if you've recently upgraded or renewed your annual club membership but it's still not active, please reach out to the BOD or a moderator. The PayPal system has a slight bug which it doesn't allow it to activate the account on it's own.

Drilling a tank

Explain.....was it tempered glass? What happened?


If you want to bring it to me, I'll drill it.....NO GUARANTEES

I don't think it's tempered. I was squirting it with a spray bottle and I thought I was going to get it and about half way through it broke. I'm not sure if I went too fast or if I didn't keep it wet enough.
 

redfishbluefish

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
You need to actually have a reservoir of water so that the bit is sitting in water. I would think simply spraying would cause for hot spots, that once wetted, would cool too quickly and cause it to crack. If you had a drill guide (which I highly recommend), add a little plumber’s putty to the bottom of this and then tape the guide to the glass. Fill this reservoir with water and begin drilling. Drill speed needs to be very slow, no pressure on the drill. When I say “no pressure,” if anything you are lifting the drill to take the weight of the drill off the glass. Let the bit do the drilling.

It wasn’t tempered. If it was tempered, as soon as the bit hit the glass, it would have shattered into a million and one pieces.
 
You need to actually have a reservoir of water so that the bit is sitting in water. I would think simply spraying would cause for hot spots, that once wetted, would cool too quickly and cause it to crack. If you had a drill guide (which I highly recommend), add a little plumber’s putty to the bottom of this and then tape the guide to the glass. Fill this reservoir with water and begin drilling. Drill speed needs to be very slow, no pressure on the drill. When I say “no pressure,” if anything you are lifting the drill to take the weight of the drill off the glass. Let the bit do the drilling.

It wasn’t tempered. If it was tempered, as soon as the bit hit the glass, it would have shattered into a million and one pieces.
Thanks for the tips. Silly question: I can't find my battery charger for my drill. Would I electrocute myself if I used an electric drill?
 

redfishbluefish

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Would I electrocute myself if I used an electric drill?


I would hope not.....it's the only drill I've used to drill a tank:


IMG_1273.jpg
 

motortrendz

NJRC Member
Haha 10g glass is way too thin to cut thru. Ive never had luck doing it. It always pops right at the end. The smallest Ive ever been able to go thru was a 20g.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
 
Haha 10g glass is way too thin to cut thru. Ive never had luck doing it. It always pops right at the end. The smallest Ive ever been able to go thru was a 20g.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
I propped a running garden hose up and took my time. Really wasn't too bad.
 
Here is a quick video of a non-professional tank drilling.:eek:
[video=youtube;PdFj4jJjfbo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdFj4jJjfbo[/video]
 

Fish Brain

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
On thinner glass tanks, it's better to use a Dremel with diamond bit. I've done a large range of sizes even down to a 2.5G with 1/8" glass.

86D2CCA5-B83E-41DE-BC4F-83D065EA4D73-15968-000010649CA38A82.jpg
 
Top