Does anyone have any experience with drilling holes in glass tanks to install bulkheads. I want to drill holes for a drain and for returns. I already am aware that I cannot drill the bottom of the tank due to the fact that it is tempered. I would like to know if it is possible to use a diamond tipped hole saw with a hand drill and be successful. Please share your stories.
Drilling Holes in a Glass tank!?!?!
- Thread starter johnfluevogs
- Start date
Oh and I love my Fluevogs too!! That's neat that someone knows what those are.
Cool, thanks for the reply, I have access to a 3/8" chuck cordless and a 1/2" chuck wall powered Milwaukee. Do you think those would be sufficient?
Where did you get your Diamond Hole Saw?
Which would you recommend hole saw or dermal? I figure a hole saw would give a more accurate and round hole?!?!
Any tips are GREATLY appreciated. Thanks!
Cool, thanks for the reply, I have access to a 3/8" chuck cordless and a 1/2" chuck wall powered Milwaukee. Do you think those would be sufficient?
Where did you get your Diamond Hole Saw?
Which would you recommend hole saw or dermal? I figure a hole saw would give a more accurate and round hole?!?!
Any tips are GREATLY appreciated. Thanks!
IMO a cordless drill will be insufficient.. My cordless tools don't last all that long with sustained use - I doubt you'd get enough continuous juice to get through a pane of glass.
I've personally only drilled tanks with a Dremel (bit #7134) - keep the site wet at all times and it's a piece of cake. Provided you trace you cutting around properly there's not a whole lot of "bad" cutting you can do.. If you notice that you're veering from the line you traced, just make your way back. A hole with very minor jaggedness isn't going to make a substantial difference, and if you make the hole *just* large enough to accept the bulkhead threads it'll be a nice, snug fit anyways.
I've personally only drilled tanks with a Dremel (bit #7134) - keep the site wet at all times and it's a piece of cake. Provided you trace you cutting around properly there's not a whole lot of "bad" cutting you can do.. If you notice that you're veering from the line you traced, just make your way back. A hole with very minor jaggedness isn't going to make a substantial difference, and if you make the hole *just* large enough to accept the bulkhead threads it'll be a nice, snug fit anyways.
In respect to drilling with a dremel...How do you start? Do you start grinding the entire circle and work your way through the thickness of the glass or do you work your way all the way through the glass like a drill bit and then work your way around in a circle?
Thanks again!
Thanks again!
not all tanks have tempered bottoms....so drilling the bottom glass is a realistic option....i'm not experienced in using the dremel-type tools to drill, but i have used cordless drills with the proper diamond-coated bit....if you plan on drilling more thanone, you'll need something with a lot more juice than a cordless drill...or maybe a lot of batteries...
There was a great thread on RC a few months ago but sadly all the images disappeared and it became somewhat useless... 
I'm going to take a detailed photo log when I redo my refugium and set up a website for stuff like that.. Until then, what follows is a crappy narrative explaining it:
Track the exact hole you want to make.. Couple ways to go about it.. One way is just to stick your bulkhead onto the tank and trace around it with a marker and then when you drill the tank, make sure you're grinding away on the INSIDE of the circle you drew. Another way is to use a compass. I won't go into the nerdy details of how I did it with the compass.
Get ye your tank out back (ideally). Turn ye garden hose on and keep a constant flow of water over the site you're drilling (not a torrent, you just need the diamond bit to remain wet or you'll wreck it). Some folk just use a spray bottle to keep it damp but I'm a little leery about so little water.
Initially, you want to make a pretty chubby hole to get the bit down and through the glass. This is really the only dangerous moment - if you were to plunge straight down, you could get through the glass fast, but what happens if you were you twist the Dremel tool just then? You'd have no room for error, and you've essentially have a very strong lever through the glass and end up breaking the pane.
To mitigate the risk of that, do a very lazy hole initially. Remember when you were just learning to write and you were very conscientious about dotting your 'i's? Instead of a lazy man's dot, you did a little swirly dot, didn't you? Do that through the glass. The hole you're boring will end up being about twice the size of the bit, but it only takes a few seconds longer and guarantees nothing stupid happens.
Once you're through, the fun begins. I will say this in bold, but you will probably still be hesitant like I was my first time: You can push pretty hard with that Dremel! The first hole I drilled in a 10 gallon tank (3mm glass) took me about 45 minutes, maybe even an hour. Now when I did the 20 gallon tanks in the store (5mm glass), holes that were even bigger than my 10 gallon took about 4 minutes each. As you grind your way along, you need to make sure the bit remains wet - that's the only criterion for success. To get the cut going faster, I suggest "sawing" the Dremel up and down.. The varying thickness of the bit makes pretty quick work of the glass.
I'm going to take a detailed photo log when I redo my refugium and set up a website for stuff like that.. Until then, what follows is a crappy narrative explaining it:
Track the exact hole you want to make.. Couple ways to go about it.. One way is just to stick your bulkhead onto the tank and trace around it with a marker and then when you drill the tank, make sure you're grinding away on the INSIDE of the circle you drew. Another way is to use a compass. I won't go into the nerdy details of how I did it with the compass.
Get ye your tank out back (ideally). Turn ye garden hose on and keep a constant flow of water over the site you're drilling (not a torrent, you just need the diamond bit to remain wet or you'll wreck it). Some folk just use a spray bottle to keep it damp but I'm a little leery about so little water.
Initially, you want to make a pretty chubby hole to get the bit down and through the glass. This is really the only dangerous moment - if you were to plunge straight down, you could get through the glass fast, but what happens if you were you twist the Dremel tool just then? You'd have no room for error, and you've essentially have a very strong lever through the glass and end up breaking the pane.
To mitigate the risk of that, do a very lazy hole initially. Remember when you were just learning to write and you were very conscientious about dotting your 'i's? Instead of a lazy man's dot, you did a little swirly dot, didn't you? Do that through the glass. The hole you're boring will end up being about twice the size of the bit, but it only takes a few seconds longer and guarantees nothing stupid happens.
Once you're through, the fun begins. I will say this in bold, but you will probably still be hesitant like I was my first time: You can push pretty hard with that Dremel! The first hole I drilled in a 10 gallon tank (3mm glass) took me about 45 minutes, maybe even an hour. Now when I did the 20 gallon tanks in the store (5mm glass), holes that were even bigger than my 10 gallon took about 4 minutes each. As you grind your way along, you need to make sure the bit remains wet - that's the only criterion for success. To get the cut going faster, I suggest "sawing" the Dremel up and down.. The varying thickness of the bit makes pretty quick work of the glass.
Nope. I have a holsaw for a 1" bulkhead. And I've drilled 3 or 4 in 1/4" (20 gal) glass before I have to change the battery in my 14.4v dewalt.
I also use one of the 'clamp on' drill presses. (the kind you stick in the drill, then put the bit in the press)
It's easy, but the hard part is getting it lined up perfectly square so it doesn't chip out the back.
The one on the bottom of my external overflow chipped out a bit. I just used the rotozip to clean it up. Since it has less than 1 gallon of water on the pane, I'm not to concerned.
B
I also use one of the 'clamp on' drill presses. (the kind you stick in the drill, then put the bit in the press)
It's easy, but the hard part is getting it lined up perfectly square so it doesn't chip out the back.
The one on the bottom of my external overflow chipped out a bit. I just used the rotozip to clean it up. Since it has less than 1 gallon of water on the pane, I'm not to concerned.
B
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