Grinding glass?

[johnnstacy]

I went with heavy duty bulkheads on a tank I am rebuilding. Problem is the heavy duty 1" are wider then the original hole. Not by much though. Can I make the hole larger by using a sanding disk or other method on a dremel? I probably need another 1/16-1/8".

 

[Tat2demon]

A sanding disk would work if you have a few extra days and nothing to do. Use a Tile and Glass bit in your Dremmel. You should be able to find them at any hardware store.

 

[johnnstacy]

Once I started grinding away with the dremel bit and the glass started chipping, I quickly realized that resistance was futile. I abandoned the heavy duty bulkheads and used the normal ones instead.

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Good call, Sch80 bulk heads are overkill IMO anyway.

 

[bkztrini465]

A friend of mine fixed my tank by extending the bulkhead holes by about the same amount you have to. He used a rotozip and a tile cutting bit. It worked great without chipping the glass. Just a thought.

 

[johnnstacy]

In the past I have regretted not leaving "well enough" alone. Sometimes I get to anal about making it perfect and then end up hating myself after I try and make it better.

 

[Daemonfly]

The key is using the right bits (diamond are best, imho) and having good water flow.

I've used both diamond as well as carbide glass & tile bits and have gotten perfect cuts with both, yet also getting very poor cuts with cheap versions.

 

[outy]

i just did mine today and i used the diamond, the trick for me besides water was to use the slow setting on the dremel. i actually beveled the edges perfect.

 

[Daemonfly]

Hint on getting good diamond bits: Good ones will have a nice well-dispersed layer of fine diamond dust, no clumping.

The cheap ones usually have big clumps here & there and aren't even worth buying for glass usage.

 

[8BALL_99]

Ok Noone has mentioned this.. But is this tank an AGA or Oceanic? If so the bottem is tempered Glass and you can't make the holes any bigger.. They drill the holes then Temper the glass. Onces thats done you cant drill anymore holes..

If its not Tempered Glass then a RotoZip Tile bit Works great.. Dremel diamond bit works to but its much slower..