Drilling Tanks

[milkman407]

chompers,

Didn't realize you had a sticky already on drilling the tanks, makes sense now . The bit should be here before Friday, and I'm not leaving for Boston, My mom broke her foot, so we will be leaving next Friday. Anyway I'll make sure to bring the camera and video camera, so everyone can see first hand at how to drill it. Should be interesting though, I'm gona be crying the whole time I'm sure.



~ Matt

 

[bigbaddad]

The bit's worked great and were cheaper than a glass cutter even with the shipping.

 

[CHOMPERS]

I'm glad you were able to use the information here.

Keep up the good work

 

[interex216]

Hint: Take tank outside and have water continuously running where your drilling. Once you start dont stop ^^

 

[amehel0]

i find that cheap drill bits are more economical and better then the really expensive ones especially when your drilling holes atleast 5 times a week. also having a template is always good as they prevent the bit from slipping al over the glass. well as a one of thoose science water squirters that you can hold upright squeeze and it squirts horizontally. and also having someone to help is good.

 

[astronotus]

You need to use lot´s of water as refrigerant, to avoid glass broken. You must use a dimmer to control the drill.

 

[LemonHead]

Hey Chompers or anyone that know their "glasses",
How do I distinguish from glass and tempered glass? I have a 180g tank made in China,
and I would love to use bulkheads but I'm afraid of destroying it by drilling it.

 

[CHOMPERS]

There is a myth that you can see imperfectons in tempered glass with polarized glasses. I put it to the test with several sheets and all failed to show any indication of tempering.

When the glass is tempered, it is marked in a corner as in the pic below. Since your tank was made in China, I seriously doubt that it has a tempered bottom. Tempering is an expensive process and the Chinese manufacture as cheap as possible. Tempered bottoms is a sales gimmik used by American tank manufacturers in an effort to sell against foreign made tanks. There is no reason to use tempered glass for a tank bottom because plate glass will do the same job.

 

[islander671]

There is a myth that you can see imperfectons in tempered glass with polarized glasses. I put it to the test with several sheets and all failed to show any indication of tempering.

When the glass is tempered, it is marked in a corner as in the pic below. Since your tank was made in China, I seriously doubt that it has a tempered bottom. Tempering is an expensive process and the Chinese manufacture as cheap as possible. Tempered bottoms is a sales gimmik used by American tank manufacturers in an effort to sell against foreign made tanks. There is no reason to use tempered glass for a tank bottom because plate glass will do the same job.

Thats some interesting info! Is all tempered glass from american manufactureres tempered? Im just curious because my 7x2 doesnt have this mark and its been due for a hole for awhile now, but ive been hesitant to drill it.

Chompers, what are you opinions on drilling a tank with 5/8" glass that is partially filled with water? I dont plan on doing this, but was still curious on if it was even half smart to consider.

So far my record is 4 out of 5 tanks drilled successfully, i cracked my 5g the other day..lol

 

[CHOMPERS]

Thats some interesting info! Is all tempered glass from american manufactureres tempered? Im just curious because my 7x2 doesnt have this mark and its been due for a hole for awhile now, but ive been hesitant to drill it.

No, not all glass from American tank manufacturers is tempered. They only use enough to cause mass paranoia in the hobby. To make matters worse, supposedly some tanks with tempered glass are not marked in the corner. I have a feeling that these are just plate glass but the salesman charged the original customer for tempered knowing that the customer would never know the difference.

Chompers, what are you opinions on drilling a tank with 5/8" glass that is partially filled with water? I dont plan on doing this, but was still curious on if it was even half smart to consider.

'Partially' can be translated many ways. The bottom line is if you are going to do anything, you may as well do it right.
1. Tank drilling isn't for the lazy (as you already know).
2. Having water in the tank will prevent you from flushing the cut groove while you are drilling. Combine this with a lazy/impatient person running the drill at high speed and you can cause heat stress in the glass. Heat stress is the cause of cracking at a later date "for no apparent reason".

So far my record is 4 out of 5 tanks drilled successfully, i cracked my 5g the other day..lol

Drilling thin glass is harder to do than thick glass. You have to be very attentive at the point of break through because of the thinness of the glass. Thicker glass will absorb the shock that occures at break through but the thin glass sometimes propagates a crack through the glass. The trick is to take the pressure off of the bit before you get through the glass.