Glass Drilling

[Rudy]

I need to drill the back of a 125 galllon aquarium in several (3-5) locations. I know I need to use a diamond bit to do so successfully.

In all honesty is this somthing I should attempt to do myself with a powerdrill or is it out of my league as a DIY guy or should I find a LFS and pay them to do it?

I appreciate your time in answering my question.

[T Sandman]

I would use a drill press.

[Agent_Smith]

I would suggest finding out if your tank is tempered glass!

[reefscapes]

How often do you plan on drilling glass tanks? I'd say take it to an expert if you only plan on doing this once. I think they charge around $10 a hole to do this. You'll spend around $50 if you get it done. A good diamond bit will cost you more. You then have to get a good drill if you don't already have one. I don't think you'll save much if you do it yourself.

It can be done if you really want to try. I've done it so can you. I broke the first tank that I tried to drill. It was a 20G that was purchased for $5 in a garage sale so did not hurt the pocket much. I suggest PRACTICING with scrap glass. Go to a local glass shop and ask for scrap.

You need confidence to do this job right. Any reluctance will result in shaky hands. Practicing with scraps and successfully drilling a couple of holes will help tremendously. I actually prefer to use a drill press. Takes a bit more setup time but less risk.

There are several posts in this forum on the cutting procedure. TAKE YOUR TIME. Each cut may take up to 15 minutes or more. We tend to get excited as we near the end of the cutting process. This is where the problem happens. We put too much pressure and will result in a cracked tank. This is where a drill press helps. You can put a nice even pressure.

Lastly, people under estimate the importance of supporting the area that is being cut. Unsupported cutting area results in chipped glass to cracked tanks.

Hope this helps.

Benjamin

[Rudy]

Thanks for the input and no the panels are not tempered but the bottom is. I think I will play it safe and go back to the LFS.

[ncphotoman]

I have an older tank, approx. 25-30 years old. The edges appear to be green. Is this tempered glass? Can it be drilled?

Thanks

[gixxerrder1371]

The easiest way to tell if the glass is tempered is to get it under bright light and look at it through somthing polarized . . . glasses, camera lense, gramdma's bi-vocals . . . whatever .

If its tempered you'll see a nice little criss cross pattern on the glass. Im pretty sure that glass edge color doesnt matter.

Check it out . . . see whatcha get .


Gixx.

[ncphotoman]

... and if it is tempered you cannot drill the tank?

Thanks

[T Sandman]

If it's tempered, you can't drill that particular pane of glass. Usually it's just the bottom if at all.

[gixxerrder1371]

Only tank company i know of that tempers their whole tanks is Perfecto . . . doesnt mean others dont but they are they only ones i know of .

Lots of people temper bottoms. Mine both are.


Gixx.