Drilling glass with Dremel bit question.

[Philby]

ryansholl and I are going to be drilling my tank for a CL - and I'd like to ensure 1 of the bits we got will work.

One is this bit - which is diamond encrusted and says for use with glass on it - http://www.dremel.com/en-us/attachm...accessory-detail.htm?H=188537&G=66239&I=66295

The other one is a carbide tungsten bit that said it was for tile because I have read/heard that a tile bit is what people use...

Anyone have any opinion on if either of these would work and/or which one would work better?

Anyone think we shouldn't use either of these and know the number/description of the one we should use?

thanks!

 

[annamarie421]

We used that same diamond bit to drill a 20g - worked great.
hth,
Anna

 

[Philby]

Thanks! hopefully it works out as well for us tonite as it did for you!

 

[annamarie421]

Good luck! I'm sure it will work out well for you. We used a steady stream of water from the garden hose when we drilled our tank, and that worked really well to keep the glass cool and lubricated.

Anna

 

[xroads]

Let me know as I will be buying one in a couple weeks.

 

[Philby]

no prob - you'll definitely hear if it doesn't work - cause I'll be ANGRY.

 

[annamarie421]

I think the key when we drilled the tank was to be patient and go slow, and I think he also basically just used the weight of the dremmel to drill the hole, didn't use pressure. Taking a long time to finish the hole is much better than cracking the glass! It might not be a bad idea to have a second bit as a backup if you wear through the first one (I realize you have two, but I don't know anything about the tile bits). IME the diamond bits wear out pretty fast - ours was shot from the one hole.
Hope that helps, and good luck!
Anna

 

[Philby]

Thanks for the tip Anna - Ryan also has some diamond wheels that he's cut glass with, so if we wear out the bit or it's not working well we can always switch...but I'm also prepared for a Lowe's run if necessary.

And we didn't get to it last night - but we rescheduled for this evening so I'll update later today or tomorrow with pics!

 

[vikubz]

How do you insure you're getting a round hole? Does it need to be perfectly round?

 

[annamarie421]

We used the bulkhead and a sharpie to trace the hole we needed - worked perfect, we just followed the circle closely.
hth,
Anna

 

[Covey]

I've cut 3 hole with the tile bit and it seemed like it had plenty of life left.
http://www.dremel.com/en-us/attachm...accessory-detail.htm?H=188549&G=66357&I=66360

I am sure both bits would work just make sure you keep the glass cool and make sure you support the circle as its about to be cut out so it doesn't chip. Its not as hard as it seems.

 

[waverz]

I've used the same bit for atleast 5 holes but they were with smaller tanks with thinner glass.

 

[saltwater6900]

i just got on ebay and bought a glass bit off ebay works great

 

[Philby]

Well it only took us 2 hours, but we finally finished!

The bit we got was REALLY slow going - so we used some diamond wheel bits that Ryan had to get it started and go about halfway through the glass, then finished with the bits...

The next time I do this I will definitely try to get diamond hole saws as I think it would go alot quicker.

regardless I'm drilled for a CL! just need to order some bulkheads tomorrow and some flex PVC and I'll be ready for plumbing!!

thanks again Ryan for all your help

 

[annamarie421]

Glad to hear that it went well!

Anna