Drilling tanks (2 Viewers)

[NorthStarCoral]

Anyone local have experience drilling tanks? I’ve watched bunch of videos and have the tools but knowledge and experience are different.

I have a 100 gallon tank and a 75 and need to drill 8 holes in total. I have a cracked tank to practice on but would love some pointers

 

[spsick]

Get extra drill bits. All the diamond hole bits I’ve used are cheap garbage and they wear out fast. If you have 8 holes I would get 3 bits to be safe.

I use plumbers putty and make a dam around the hole to fill with water for cooling. And blue painters tape on the backside to help with tearout fractures.

 

[Varig]

Do you have a drill press of any sort? I’ve heard the number one thing is to go SLOW, like slower than you could imagine. Ben was telling me it took him like 1hr per hole on the 1/2” glass of the tank I currently have. So….yea. I think if you had even a simple drill press that would support the drill and allow it to run on just its own weight would be the optimal.

Then doing the putty to hold the water in the area is another big one.

I guess probably you know all that from your YouTubing. Sorry I don’t have direct experience.

 

[NorthStarCoral]

Do you have a drill press of any sort? I’ve heard the number one thing is to go SLOW, like slower than you could imagine. Ben was telling me it took him like 1hr per hole on the 1/2” glass of the tank I currently have. So….yea. I think if you had even a simple drill press that would support the drill and allow it to run on just its own weight would be the optimal.

Then doing the putty to hold the water in the area is another big one.

I guess probably you know all that from your YouTubing. Sorry I don’t have direct experience.

I was thinking about picking one of these up to ease the process with how many holes I have to drill

 

[Varig]

That was exactly the type of thing I was going to send you a link for. I think that will save you a ton of hassle and make your holes that much more reliable.

 

[spsick]

I was thinking about picking one of these up to ease the process with how many holes I have to drill

View attachment 72759

Yes that’s what I used for all my drilling. The cheap ones have a bit of wobble so your bit oscillates a little and makes the drilling take longer. I got the nice Rockler one now but I also use it for more than just drilling a tank once every 5 years haha

 

[Jposch]

Also, lay down a towel to catch the glass plug. Mostly an issue for smaller, thinner tanks, but I've seen the 2 biggest issues are plug falling and cracking the opposite panel, and when you finally get through, the chuck of the drill hitting and cracking the panel.
Obviously step 1 is to be 100% sure its not tempered glass.

 

[asifiqbal2]

All good advise here.
Let the diamond bit do the work and don’t put too much pressure. You are essentially carving your way through