drilling glass

[Andrew Larson]

is it possible to drill holes through a 2.5 gallon fish tank for a tarantula.

 

[Jilly1337]

Probable easier to vetilate the lid. I've heard a diamond bit on a dremmel tool but people have had mixed results. Maybe someone here has a better idea.

 

[Teal]

It's possible, sure... use a diamond bit, go slow and take your time.

But it shouldn't be necessary, if you a proper lid.

 

[Andrew Larson]

Well im making it a vertical arboreal set up and it came with a lid (now the front) and I was wanting to drill that. It looks to be glass like the rest of the tank.

 

[Teal]

Hmm, that's a strange lid if it's solid glass... most lids have ventilation already.

You could make a plexi glass lid with ventilation and whatnot really cheap.

 

[Jilly1337]

You can find tutorials on youtube for making all kinds of set ups. It may be easier to fashion a new lid from inexpensive plexiglass which you can drill with a hole-saw and cover with mesh. You can always try to drill the current glass lid and if it breaks, make a plexi one.

What kind of arboreal are you gonna put in it? I am an arboreal fan!!

 

[codykrr]

so convert it to plexiglass...very simple to due.

 

[Andrew Larson]

I was figuring I could just do plexi glass but since i already had the glass I thought it would be worth a shot. Maybe I will just try drilling it, if it doesnt work it doesnt really matter.

This is my first tarantula actually. It is a mature female A. Avic. I also bought an A. Avic. spiderling and they through in another sling. So now I have an adult and two baby pinktoes. I have the adult in a little gladware thing right now for a day or two.

 

[jayefbe]

Drilling glass is a pain, gotta go very slow, keep it wet, and I think you need a drill press. It's not possible unless you have a lot of hardware, and even then it's difficult.

 

[Galapoheros]

You can buy glass drilling bits at a hardware store like HomeDepot, I've never tried them out, but I've seen them there.

 

[codykrr]

for the price of the bit plus time...and knowing your probly going to break the glass..it isnt worth it.

you could make a very nice display for the cost of the bit.

for a 7.5 inch by 12 9/8 inch piece of plexi it is 3 bucks...cut. hole saw bit by black and decker(comes with the hole saw and the drill bit piece) 10 bucks. hinges....79 cents at lowes.

rubber gasklet "spud washer" 2.00 at lowes. screen(depends on what kind.

so basically for about 20 bucks. you could get one of these..maybe cheaper, because these are 5.5 gallon

 

[Galapoheros]

Those are cool!

 

[codykrr]

thanks. took me about 3 weeks to finish those 4...but that was due to lack of time..and me buying all of the rubber gaskets from lowes..i had to wait for them to get more in.

im still working on making a few more. with cork, plants, light, tanks, water dishes and everythingyou see there (minus the Ts) about 125 dollars. for 4 displays.(but i didnt skimp..lol)

 

[Andrew Larson]

So how do you cut plexi glass? Will home depot or lowes cut it for you?

 

[Arachnoholic420]

So how do you cut plexi glass? Will home depot or lowes cut it for you?

yes they can cut it for u for an extra charge..... big single cuts are free but once u get specific.... thats when it gets pricy...

 

[codykrr]

go to a hardware store instead of lowes...they usually cut it for free no matter the dimensions.

or you could get a plexiglass cutting tool(more like a knife) use a straight edge and score it several times, and then snap it.(theres videos on youtube on how to do it)

tip:when using the whole saw bit for the holes. drill fast. and always make a pilot hole.

 

[kbekker]

Type "glass hole saw" into google shopping. They are not expensive, or hard to use.

 

[Kirsten]

glue?

Did use a type of glue for those hinges on the 5 gallon tanks? If so what kind,I'm making a new enclosure and want to oglue rather rthan drill holes in the acrylic because the screws are too long.

 

[robd]

A little late responding to this, but I figure why not fire it up again. Especially, seeing as how I am preparing to take a stab at this whole drilling glass thing.

My plan is to take a 10g tank and try to design it after Robc's look for 10g arboreal tanks.

I looked very thoroughly into doing this and in the end I came out knowing the following:

You need:

1- a diamond grit holesaw
2- plumbers putty
3- cold water (a lot of videos seem to have running water, I don't believe it's necessary)
4- a non-tempered glass tank
5- patience

There's quite a few videos on YouTube about drilling aquarium tanks but they're typically authored by folks who are looking to drill a hole as a sump. Seems to me that drilling a sump hole doesn't NEED to be in an exact spot. But what I am looking to do is drill a 2 in. hole to install some screen vents that I bought from TarantulaCages.com. So understandably I want to try to keep it precise so it looks neat.

There's quite a few videos on YouTube about doing this, but I liked this one best.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKxxYpzphWo

You don't need a drill guide and chuck, but if you're looking to make precision cuts it's a good idea. I bought one. And it was only $26 at Home Depot. It was on sale though. Not sure if it still is.

Oh and you don't NEED a non-tempered glass tank and it IS possible to drill holes into it. But it's not going to be easy and it would take longer than usual. And I think the tanks cost the same anyway in comparison. I have already tried drilling two 10g tanks without knowing whether or not they were tempered and learned from the crack of glass into 8 million pieces scaring the living doodoo out of me that they were infact tempered. I'll end up using plexiglass to salvage those tanks. I am thinking of doing like a dual opening tank fit for a terrestrial T.

What I'm going to do is take the 10g tank and turn it vertical. Then drill 2 holes in the top and 3 on each side. And I'll make one of those plexiglass lids with 3 holes as well. So it'll be super ventilated. Hopefully that'll go a long way in preventing mold. I think so.

I got a P regalis for Christmas and she's hanging out in a wholesale sized big animal cracker jar for right now. I hope to get around to actually doing this project within the next few weeks. I'm not bad-ass enough yet to be YouTube partnered and have a high mega pixel camera that can do video too, but I'll take some pictures of it with my lowly 2.0 MP iPhone.

 

[robd]

Well nevermind any of that. I tried it. I don't recommend it. It's not easy. Both tanks I tried weren't tempered and they both cracked.

If you want to try to do what I proposed in my above post there, the best bet, undoubtedly, is to drill the plexiglass and then bust out the original glass and replace it.