dremmel .. like how hard could it be??

rossb · #1 12-10-2002, 11:22 PM

Well I had the afternoon off and I thought I'd try drilling a 1 1/4 inch hole in my refugium. I have a couple of tips..if anyone is interested..
1... after everything is all ready and you have done your test drill on your very thin peice of glass...well check out the thickness of your aquarium first. If it's 3/8"...well stop now.
2...if you still decide to continue...well it takes a long time...like 3 1/2 hours
3...if you get impatient and decide to drill on the inside of your half full aquarium remember dremmels don't work underwater...and then Don't touch the grounded stand!
4...If you are working in a cramped spot, something that is immediately apparent is that although the dremmels are quite slow on glass...they work great on skin
5...As your dremmel heats up...and gets too hot to hold...well stop then. Apparently you can burn out dremmels
6...After you switch to your drill...remember they don't work under water either..and then they spit water all over you..and then DON"T touch the stand either (especially with your head!)
7...And finally if you have the afternoon off sometime..and your thinking "how hard could it be" ... run away...

Josh23 · #2 12-11-2002, 12:14 AM

Like the post.
I take it you learned all this from the experience of drilling your sump.
So the question is did you get the hole made?

Aquattro · #3 12-11-2002, 12:17 AM

ya, did you actually get the hole done? I think that's hilarious!!! :P

rossb · #4 12-11-2002, 12:40 AM

Oh the hole turned out great...close to round...and the overflow is working very well.

On the down side I think I have to replace the brushes on the dremmel :x

Josh23 · #5 12-11-2002, 12:55 AM

So what tip did you use to drill the hole through your tank. (BRUSH)
Did you use the metal brush and scratch your way through the glass.
Wow that would take some time

rossb · #6 12-11-2002, 01:19 AM

Oh more details. I used a pinpoint diamond bit to scribe the initial circle, then two diamond cutters to drill through the glass ( I sort of kept enlarging the initial groove) .. this took about an hour. Once through I used a hardened tungsten carbide porcelon cutting bit. This one worked the best but on the thick glass but it was quite slow. The diamond bits are $1.50 at princess auto...but the carbide is 17 bucks at revy...amazingly it didn't dull that much

one more point
8..dremmel..skin...fast cutting action....salt water...typing...ouch :x

Troy F · #7 12-11-2002, 01:21 AM

Ross, that's the funniest thing I've read in a long time. Lisa and I had tears in our eyes.

Canadian Man · #8 12-11-2002, 02:36 AM

Great Story!

BC_Grl · #9 12-11-2002, 03:13 AM

What an awesome story!

I almost peed my pants laughing.
Our tank isn't drilled... want to come over to drill the hole for us?? lol

TANGOMAN · #10 12-11-2002, 02:14 PM

Ross, I admire your courage in sharing that experience. If it were me, I'd have started by saying..."I have a friend who..."

ops:
I am however, dissapointed I wasn't there to observe. I'm off with this back injury and I do need some amusement in my day...I coulda' brought a six pack, well you said 3 1/2 hours ? hmmm, two people ? OK, a 12 pack. I coulda' kept refreshments comin' your way with one hand while the other hand held the cel. phone with 911 entered and a finger on send... :shock:
Glad to here it worked out in the end with only some power tools that died !