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drilling thin tanks

1

120gallons

Any advice? I drilled 10g tanks, 11 of them, but broke 3. I have some more to drill and am looking for any tips. Using a hand dril with a drill guide and two pieces of plywood c-clamped to the tank. Water pumped on the bit to keep it lubed. Can't figure out what I did differently on the three that broke vs. the 8 that didn't. It's a good quality bit.
 
C

Carlo

Thin tanks are just very hard to drill since the least amount of flex causes them to crack. Probably the biggest advise is just to go very, very slow and try and keep the glass from flexing as much as possible.

Carlo
 
jimroth

jimroth

I broke one 10 gallon tank and some sheet glass getting the hang of it. You need to be supporting the weight of the drill with your hand and let just a little pressure fall on the drilling site.
 
C

Carlo

I myself don't use diamond drill bits but regular bits. On thicker tanks such as 40g breeders I just let the drill press do the work and 15-20 minutes later a good hole is done. I get about 100 holes from a bit where you might get 3-5 from a diamond bit (or so). It takes a bit longer but I just set them up and walk away. :)

10g tanks are the hardest tanks to drill IMHO as they are so darn thin! SUPPORT is the key! Using a hand drill and only breaking 3 of 11 seems pretty good to me and pretty par for the course. I bet if you were drilling 20g long tanks you might have only broken 1 if that. 10s are tough!

BTW, what are you planning with the 10ish tanks? (sounds like something good) :)

Carlo
 
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