Drill Tank, protect backend of hole?

[World Citizen]

Hi!,

I am working towards drilling my tank, and I think I want do to something, but no one is doing it as far as I can find.

I need to drill the bottom, so I am planning to place the tank on a wooden board, and then drill it from inside out.
The question is about placing it on the board.

Whenever I want to saw something and have very nice edges, I clamp it between wood. This way you can't have blowout on your cutting.
If I see youtube examples, they never use to protect the bottem. They put on some tape and indeed get some blowout on the edges.

I was hoping to minimize this by placing the tank on a wooden board.


But.. maybe I am missing something here . Maybe you people tried this, and it is not a succes.

Other benefits of doing this is.
- Cooling is simple
- The outside of the tank has possible blowout and not the inside (better for seal of bulkhead)
- Good support of glass during drilling
- And hopefully less blowout.

What am I missing?

 

[markwayts]

That's how i did it. Drilled a side not the bottom but i put the side down on a board then drilled from the inside down onto a board. Keep it wet, go slow.

 

[vtecintegra]

I did the same. Still minor chipping. I think the best way is to drill from both sides half way. That would take a double template that would be hard to implement on the bottom.

 

[Johnz]

I've done this a few times. I assume you are using a diamond hole saw? Putting a board on the backside to prevent your drill bit from tearing the edges, or getting stuck is very common in metal working and carpentry. If you were drilling acrylic with a wood bit then this would be the way to go. However, drilling glass with a diamond bit this isn't necessary since the drill bit is grinding, and not cutting. There is no point where the cutting edge breaks through and tears since there is no cutting edge, just a grinding edge. You definitely need to keep it cool with water as others have said, but that is all you need to do. Also I assume you have made sure the bottom isn't tempered glass.

Go slow, watch some videos on how to get the hole started so the bit doesn't "walk" all over the place and you'll be all set.

And in regards to putting a backer board when drilling through acrylic or wood or whatever; it only works if it is clamped tight. You have a hard time doing that with the bottom of a tank.

 

[Coolcasino]

Most tanks have tempered bottoms.

 

[World Citizen]

Thanks for all the responses.

The bottom is not tempered . I am 100% sure.

As said here, I will put the tank on a board and use a template on the inside.
Cooling wil be plentyfull.

Ill post some photo's when I have results. This will be before the end of the weekend.

Thanks again!

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Thanks for all the responses.

The bottom is not tempered . I am 100% sure.

As said here, I will put the tank on a board and use a template on the inside.
Cooling wil be plentyfull.

Ill post some photo's when I have results. This will be before the end of the weekend.

Thanks again!

One thing. Be sure to go very slow when almost through, would suck to have the bit bite into the wood, shift and crack the bottom. While not a. common occurrence, I have watched it happen.

 

[World Citizen]

One thing. Be sure to go very slow when almost through, would suck to have the bit bite into the wood, shift and crack the bottom. While not a. common occurrence, I have watched it happen.

This is what I was thinking. I was convinced the board was a good plan, until I thought the same thing as what you are writing.

I am not going to use a drilpress. I am going with a template and free handing. And I don't know how much of a risk that shifting is.

 

[World Citizen]

I am also in doubt.

Which of the 3 will it be?

Relative to the amount of pipes, the box gets bigger. I don't want to lose that space, but it would be nice to have 3 drains and a return.

 

[World Citizen]

Ill post a video later but,

It worked!!!
I have 4 beautiful holes in de bottom of my tank!

 

[jacryan1]

Congratulations!!
I side drilled and used 2x8 on backside to drill into. Clean edges.

 

[World Citizen]

And here goes!

This is me and my dad. My dad is a car guy and I am an IT dude. So we both where amazed this was going so smooth. We had fun!!!!



And some foto's,

Result

 

[mermaid_life]

Nice!!!!

 

[jacryan1]

Super clean!! Pro level!

 

[reeferslav]

great post, what brand was the drill you used?

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

It’s been quite a while since I’ve been involved in drilling an Aquarium. We used the 50/50 Green Antifreeze as the Lubricant, and we got some really nice looking holes. Recently I saw a kit, that had the Glass Hole saw, and a plastic jig. I believe it was on Amazon.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Hi!,

I am working towards drilling my tank, and I think I want do to something, but no one is doing it as far as I can find.

I need to drill the bottom, so I am planning to place the tank on a wooden board, and then drill it from inside out.
The question is about placing it on the board.

Whenever I want to saw something and have very nice edges, I clamp it between wood. This way you can't have blowout on your cutting.
If I see youtube examples, they never use to protect the bottem. They put on some tape and indeed get some blowout on the edges.

I was hoping to minimize this by placing the tank on a wooden board.


But.. maybe I am missing something here . Maybe you people tried this, and it is not a succes.

Other benefits of doing this is.
- Cooling is simple
- The outside of the tank has possible blowout and not the inside (better for seal of bulkhead)
- Good support of glass during drilling
- And hopefully less blowout.

What am I missing?

You aren't missing anything. Just as we do in woodworking, using a backer board to support the cut is a good idea and is used by some. I use acrylic personally.

 

[Topaz]

Glue a piece of flat glass to the side that it will come through (if drilling from inside out glue to the outside). Use a glue that you can disolve either in water or solvent (becarefule here with the seams of tank). When drilling through the breakthrough chips will actually be on the added glass not the tank glass. Get a good bond between the 2 flat glass surfaces. Alway drill lubricated or in water. Iebfill the bottom of the tank. You can try Clear Elmer's glue my favorite 'glue' for cutting and drilling glass is crystalbond 509 (higher temp and acetone) or crystalbond 555 (lower temp and water)