cutting tank

mike31154 · #1 12-09-2014, 02:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Masonjames

Score it first if your going to attempt to cut it in this manner. Risky venture! Good luck : )

The way things are going at the moment, it will be quite a while until I'm ready for the planned upgrade, so won't be any cutting in the near future. I like to keep tabs on threads like this to see what folks' experiences with cutting tanks/glass are. The old 77 will have to do as a display until I finish all the renos on my even older house.....

I assume scoring the glass will minimize the chance of the thing shattering as I push it along into the blade? What do I score it with, a glass cutter? I've never been any good at that!

SeaHorse_Fanatic · #2 12-09-2014, 03:06 AM

When professional glass cutters do it, they score and snap a flat piece of glass. They would probably never even attempt to cut an aquarium that is still intact.

mike31154 · #3 12-09-2014, 03:29 AM

Well, I'm not a professional (glass cutter that is) & am not dealing with a flat piece of glass. Neither is the OP. Maybe in a year or so, I'll give it a go & report back. In the meantime it would be great if someone that's actually tried this would chime in.

Masonjames · #4 12-09-2014, 04:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mike31154

Well, I'm not a professional (glass cutter that is) & am not dealing with a flat piece of glass. Neither is the OP. Maybe in a year or so, I'll give it a go & report back. In the meantime it would be great if someone that's actually tried this would chime in.

I have cut down three tanks for use in sump, ato and frag tank. I did however use a simple glass cutter, snap into tank pane by pane after cutting silicone out to cut height.

Cutting with a wet saw will most certainly cut glass. However by hand on a four foot long pane you will probably get 75-90% of the way through then it will most likely break. Why I suggested scoring it prior. An initial score may keep a break controlled. It may not. But for a sump to reuse a tank you already have, sure give it a shot if you want. I can't promise you won't break it, and a good chance you will but it's your tank, have fun with it if you want. Even a grinder with a dry diamond blade can cut a tank in half. Just play safe. I'm sure I don't need to tell you glass is sharp.

Masonjames · #5 12-09-2014, 04:13 AM

Just don't try it on a tank you don't want to loose. OP!

SeaHorse_Fanatic · #6 12-09-2014, 05:08 AM

Also make sure the bottom pane is NOT tempered (if any panes are, its usually the bottom). A tempered pane will shatter into thousands of shards (have seen this happen - cool but PITA to clean up without cutting yourself). My friends and I have cut panes of glass for baffles several times. Not too bad if you can score well and then snap. When a friend of a friend tried it with a tank, it didn't go too well. I will see if I can track him down and get a pic from that fiasco. The break curved as it broke and he ended up trashing the whole thing. BTW, he contacted a few local glass shops and none of them would touch the project, which is why he ordered a diamond glass cutter from eBay (or might have been Amazon) and tried it himself. I wasn't there but visited later to pick up a frag, just before he tossed the tank into the garbage. The only guy I know who successfully shortened his tank took the trouble to cut apart the tank first and then scored and snapped each piece. It worked but was again a total PITA project. Don't know if he ever researched trying to cut a tank that was still siliconed together.

Good luck.

Anthony

carnut · #7 12-09-2014, 09:41 AM

might have to try on one of the old small tanks lying around. May try the score and tile saw method. Getting a custom tank built to grow frags is really cost prohibitive.

I think I might cut the silicone down to the score line then try and snap the glass. Each piece could be snapped individually.