DIY - Tank drilling photo sequence - Dialup BEWARE

[dedfish]

here is a play by play of me drilling a hole

Template in place:

Beginning starter groove:

Starter groove:

Water dam and water:

Back of glass w/ duct tape and drill set in groove:

Drilling away:

Completed hole:

Plumbers putty used for water dam:

 

[Scarfish]

interesting.

good job

 

[RobboT]

This would be a great thing to put in the newsletter when/if it ever gets going again.

 

[Daragon]

Good job, those are some nice clean cuts.

 

[starrfish]

dedfish - that was very interesting. I always wondered how it was done. It's not as complicated as I thought!

 

[Fat Guy]

Awesome thread!!

I think I'm going to drill my 29g and start a 10G sump using the technique you outlined above. Any special tips other than the template that made the process easier? I've never drilled glass before so I was wondering how expensive those drill bits are.

 

[Fat Guy]

Can you by, by any chance, post pictures of what you eventually did with the tank (or are doing with the tank. Just curious how your setup looks now.

 

[clamm]

that is a awesome technique...i wonder , that faster the drill speed...does that mean you would be less likely to crack that glass...is that something i can do with a 9.6v Black and decker or should I use a 14v high end type...very nice post though, makes it look easy...im sure that its not that easy....but makes me think that I can try it.

 

[dedfish]

Fat Guy, I am still setting up the tank and I haven't finished with the plumbing yet. I should get a chance to do it next week. When I am done I will post a pick of the finished product. The bits are about $40 a piece and I ordered them from Ameriglas.com.

clamm...you actually want low speed when drilling glass. It is more like grinding than drilling. I use a cordless drill and I try to go real slow...you want to drill at about 100rpm.

 

[PyroJon]

I had a tough time drilling tanks with that method, of course I was drilling 10g tanks with very thin glass which makes it alot tougher.

I found some diamond tip bits for dremel at HomeDepot pretty cheap. You can cut out a circle (or any other shape) of any size you like pretty quick with much less chance of breaking.

 

[dedfish]

I disagree.

I broke 5 20 gal tanks in one weekend. 2 of them from trying to dremel them. The other 3 by applying to much preasure to the bulkheads after getting them set up. In any case I had a lot of practice that weekend drilling tanks with a dremel. I ended up borrowing hole bits to get everything working. I have now drilled about 10 holes with the hole bits and 12-14 holes with a dremel and I will never go back to using the dremel again.

It is true though that the thinner the glass the easier it is to crack, but the trick is to go slow and not force ANYTHING. The hole bits should be run at about 100rpm. Just nice and easy alomost letting the weight of the drill, which is a cordless and wieghs very little, do the work. Also make sure you back the hole with duct tape or something to prevent the chipping when the drill finally starts to grind through. I should of named this thread tank grinding instead of drilling.

 

[Clutchcargo]

I disagree.
I broke 5 20 gal tanks in one weekend... The other 3 by applying to much preasure to the bulkheads after getting them set up.

dedfish, what do you mean "applying too much pressure to the bulkheads"?
Twisted too tight? or after the bulkhead was installed it couldn't handle the weight of the plumbing hanging off the back?
Thx
-Cliff

 

[dedfish]

Cliff, my tank sits on a table that is about 7 inches wider than the tank. The plumbing comes off the back and instead of immediately taking a turn down it sticks out about 8 inches or so. The orginal break that started the whole weekend was beacuse I applied to much preaure to the length of pipe sticking out the back as I tried to unscrew a union. I broke the tank once by trying to screw on the plumbing to a bulkhead. As I tightened the threaded fitting to the bulkhead a portion of the plumbing started to rubagainst another part of the plumbing. I figured I could get a couple more turns out of it and I was wrong. It cracked the tank. The third time I don't know what happened. I drilled the hole fine, but the next day when I showed up at work there was a crack going from one bulkhead to the edge of the tank.

 

[Clutchcargo]

Ahhhhh, leverage is the culprit. I'll be drilling my 20 in the next couple of weeks but I'll be using a barbed elbow off the bulkhead with vinyl tubing leading to the sump so I think mine will be ok I hope.

 

[dedfish]

You should be fine. Just take it easy because the glass on a 20 is not very thick. Makes it a whole lot easier to crack. I just drilled 7 holes in my 40 breeder, the glass is a lot thicker and I found that made it easier.

Do you plan on using a diamond hole bit or a dremel?