FAQs on Glass Aquarium Repair, Cutting,
Grinding Glass
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Grinding glass?? 1/5/11
Hi Bob,
<James>
My tank has a built in corner overflow and I'd like to grind the
top of the overflow a little. As it stands now, the overflow is
actually too high limiting the amount of flow from my main pump. If I
open the gate valve a little more, the water rises to glass cover even
though my stand pipe sits above the water's surface in the
overflow. I bought this tank used quite a while ago from a friend and
when I contacted our dealer, he said this company made several tanks
with overflows too high. Several got out to dealers before they could
correct the problem and I happen to be one of the lucky ones. Is there
a safe way I can grind the glass down.
<Yes>
Would probably need to go at least 1/8" but not the entire width
of the overflow glass. I thought of buying a diamond cutting bit for my
Dremel but I'm leery that the frequency/resonance of the tool may
crack the glass, and then I would have a major problem. Thought about
buying a HOB overflow, but I don't have the room behind the tank
and cannot move the tank forward because of a drop down step in front
of the tank.
<I'd grind it... a bit messy, but oh so satisfying>
Not really too fond of HOB overflows to begin with as they can be a
PITA.
Thanks,
James
<Do see the Net re "glass grinding wheel". B>
Re: Grinding glass?? 1/5/11
Thanks Bob. I found a Dremel extra wide diamond wheel/grinder on Amazon
for 4 bucks.
James
<I hope your Dremel is tougher than the ones I've owned/used in
the past! A regular small/is circular grinder would be my choice.
Have asked ScottV to chime in. BobF>
Re: Grinding glass??
My Dremel is pretty tough, one of the old 380 models (ball bearing). If
that doesn't work out, Dremel does make a small drill like diamond
grinder that I could try.
<Okay... I still like the hand grinder, WITH the accessory side
handle to make sure I don't drop the ding dang thing and crack the
darn tank! B>
Thanks,
James
Re: Grinding glass??
Mmm, you are making me think this is going to be a difficult task. Does
glass grind easily with the proper tool?
<It really does. Friend Mike Paletta ground off an inch or more
total of extra glass on a very large self-install panel. B>
J
Re: Grinding glass?? 1/5/11
Oh good. I don't have to grind much, probably scallop out a couple
of places 1/8" deep for starters. I'll know where I need to be
when I no longer see the water against the top glass cover...a little
at a time.
What I need to do is stay off that damn Facebook and get some things
done around here.....spend waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much time on the
computer.
Time to start scheduling time segments for my daily doings.
J
<A good idea, plan. B>
Hey James,
As Bob said it is really straightforward and satisfying to grind out
some glass! Fairly easy, I personally prefer to use a Dremel for
smaller projects like this, but you can get diamond grinding wheels
cheap and fast from Richontools.com out of Hong Kong. After you do it
you will look for other glass to grind just for the fun of it. I have
personally found line boring beer bottles to be a great time
killer.
Scott V.
Re: Grinding glass?? 1/7/11
Thanks for your input, Scott.
James
I want to grind some glass!!! Maybe even make my own 4000mm macro,
Nikon of course!
Big cracks in Hello, <I say a greeting>
I found a 55g the other day, needless to say
one of the short side panels has multiple cracks running the length of
the pane. I think my options on fixing it are removing and replacing
the whole pane. I'm not sure that siliconing a pane on either side
of the broken pane will be effective or safe. Am I correct in my
thinking? <Not worth trying... best to cut out old one, replace
entirely> I would rather not tear the tank
down, clean and rebuild it as the cost of a piece of plate glass would
be close to what I can buy a used non cracked tank for. <Bingo! If
cost is the only or primary consideration, I would buy a new tank, make
the old one into a non-aquarium... perhaps a terrestrial planted
paludarium...> Now that I have dragged this into the basement
though, I would like to do something with it. I am wondering if
55's are made with plate glass or tempered glass? <Almost all
with plate> If it is plate, I think I can cut it for lids for some
other tanks, use the good panes for a plywood tank, or cut the panes
and put them back together as a smaller tank. I
do have some experience cutting single and double strength glass from
the hardware store. I've never done anything that big though.
Thanks for any advice. Peace, -Z- <I would get some help... have a
glass shop cut the glass for you if you have any concerns... or lack a
cutting table big enough... Bob Fenner>