In life you often come across such moments that you need to drill a hole in glass and you don’t know how to do it. It seems that there must be special skills here, because glass is expensive and it is a very fragile item. It turns out there is nothing complicated, this procedure can be done at home, the main thing is to know how. This is what the story will be about.
Small hole in glass
If you need to make a small hole in glass, you can use a regular wood drill. But this drill must first be hardened. You need to harden it as follows: heat the tip of the drill until it turns white, then press the sealing wax against it and hold it until the sealing wax stops melting. And now you can safely start drilling. But do it very carefully to avoid any troubles (for example, to avoid cracking the glass). To avoid these very troubles, you need to moisten the drill with turpentine, and if the glass is small, then it is better to drill in water.But if you don’t have a drill, and you urgently need to drill a hole, then you can use copper wire. For this you will need: coarse sandpaper, camphor and turpentine. Mix one part camphor with two parts turpentine and four parts emery. You should end up with something resembling a paste. Then apply this paste to the glass, in the place where the intended hole should be. Place a piece of plywood on the glass with drilled hole in the place where it should be and near the glass. Clamp copper wire in the grooves of the drill and start drilling. Do not forget that the glass must lie on a hard, level and stationary surface so that it does not break.
Drilling thick glass
If you need to drill through thick glass, then you need to take a copper tube with a slightly smaller diameter than the intended hole and fix it on the drilling machine. Then, around the place where the hole should be, make a small pool with approximate dimensions: 40-50 millimeters in diameter and 8-10 millimeters in height (can be made using plasticine or putty). Next we prepare corundum powder from an unnecessary emery wheel. Pour water into the powder to make a paste. We put this mixture into the basin and start drilling.Another simple way to make a hole in your glass. To do this, wipe the glass with acetone, alcohol or gasoline to degrease. Then pour slightly moistened sand onto the glass. Using a sharp stick, we make a hole in the shape of a cone in the place where the intended hole should be and clean it of sand. Pour molten solder into the resulting mold at a temperature of 200-300 degrees. After the solder has cooled and hardened, we remove the sand with the solder, and the glass hole stuck to it will come out along with the solder.
Make a small hole in the center of the glass
And the last method that I would like to tell you. To do this, make a small hole in the center of your intended hole. Take a wire and place one end in this hole, and attach a diamond or glass cutter to the other. And like a compass, cut a circle of the diameter you need in it. Then, from the center to the line of the circle, draw several straight lines around the entire circle. When everything is done, take a wooden object and quietly hit the hole, and it should successfully fall out. But it’s better to do all this in water to make it more accurate. Finally, take pliers and trim the edges (break off the protruding edges of the glass). Do not forget to be careful; all this must be done with the edge of pliers, pressing and crumbling the edges of the glass.Don’t be upset if suddenly, while making a hole, the glass cracks or breaks. Even professionals don't always succeed. And just don’t be nervous, take another piece of glass and try to do everything again. Good luck to you.
The fragile, capricious and brittle structure of household glass introduces very significant difficulties into the processing of this material. Glass It’s quite difficult to cut into shaped canvases, but to make them through holes even more difficult. Still, sometimes it is simply necessary to sample the material in the glass sheet. However, in order to successfully drill glass V living conditions you need to know a few specific tricks.
Before you start drilling holes in glass it needs to be prepared for work. Initially, it needs to be dismantled or released from the frame, if any. Then you need to remove all external decorative elements, such as corners, decorative rivets, suction cups and other materials. After that, it is necessary to remove stickers and transfers, and then the front sides of the glass sheet should be treated with degreasing agents.
You can drill glass either manually or by drilling, but experts recommend sampling material from glass sheets using an electric drill. This recommendation is explained by the density of the glass structure, because its removal requires high drill speeds with minimal load on the material being drilled. During the drilling process, the glass sheet must be located on a perfectly flat, smooth surface; the material must lie flat against the working base, otherwise the glass may simply crack.
Also, before starting to drill glass with any of the point drills, it is advisable to seal the drilling site. To do this, you need to place a roller glass cutter in the center of the future hole, lightly press on it and turn the tool one turn along its longitudinal axis. This creates a tiny depression on the glass sheet, and from the very beginning of drilling, the drill bit will not float on the surface of the glass. You can also stick 2-3 layers of transparent tape onto the drilling site.
Glass can be drilled using traditionally hardened drills, this tool Unlike conventional ones, it has a stronger material of the cutting part, which allows you to slowly but surely drill out the glass structure. Hardened drills can be purchased in specialized stores, or you can make them yourself.
To harden a regular steel drill, it must be heated red hot on an alcohol burner or a regular kitchen stove. Then the heated drill must be sharply lowered into a container with sealing wax and the tool must be cooled. It is better to lubricate hardened drills with turpentine before direct use. But still, better results can be achieved by using a special diamond drill.
You can sample glass material using copper wire or a hollow copper tube. These tools are an alternative to hardened drill bits and are also used as attachments for electric drills.
Drilling glass with thick copper wire is only possible when a special composition is applied to the glass. The working mixture should consist of one part camphor, two parts turpentine and four parts emery powder. The prepared composition must be applied to the area of the glass in which the material will be sampled.
Hollow glass drilling copper tube only possible using corundum powder. To do this, the drilled area must be surrounded within a radius of two centimeters with a plasticine barrier one centimeter high. Then you need to pour corundum powder moistened with water into the formed cavity and you can start drilling.
The formation of large round holes in glass sheets can hardly be called drilling, since their implementation is based on cutting glass. Initially, exactly in the center of the future circle, you need to drill a small through hole. Then the glass must be placed on a flat wooden surface and through the formed hole, you need to drive a small nail into the wooden base. A nylon thread should be tied to the nail, and a glass cutter should be fixed to the end of the thread at a distance from the future radius of the hole. Using the tool, you need to draw a circle along the border of the stretched thread, and then knock out the unnecessary material by lightly tapping it. Sand the sharp edge with fine sandpaper.
How to make a hole in glass
Making holes in glass.
There is an ancient, but for some reason now forgotten method of making holes in glass. The place on the glass where the hole should be is thoroughly washed from dirt and grease with gasoline, acetone or alcohol. Then wet fine sand is poured onto the washed area and a funnel is made in the sand up to the glass with a sharpened stick of the required diameter. Molten solder (can be lead or tin) is poured into the mold prepared in this way in the sand. After 1-2 minutes, the sand can be discarded and the solder cone can be removed. An even through hole is formed in the glass.
Drilling a hole in glass.
A hole in the glass can be drilled using a carbide drill. The secret to the success of this operation is in the liquid with which the glass is wetted. It is prepared from aluminum alum dissolved in acetic acid, or from a one-to-one mixture of camphor or turpentine. A plasticine roller is made around the drilling site. Liquid is poured into the resulting bath. The glass should lie on a soft cloth during processing.
Another way to make a hole in glass.
To work, you will need a carbide drill, plasticine for making a small bath, a mixture of equal parts of camphor and turpentine, and a piece of thick rubber.
Once again about how to drill a hole in glass.
How to drill a hole in glass in 10-15 minutes. To do this, you need to sharpen a flat file like a chisel and secure it in the chuck of a hand drill. Just remember to let the file cool while drilling and sharpen it periodically.
Drilling a large hole in glass.
The drill is made from a piece of aluminum, duralumin or copper tube 40-60 mm long. A wooden plug is hammered into it at one end to a depth of 20-25 mm, and teeth are cut out at the other end with a triangular file. A short screw 4-5 mm thick is screwed into the cork so that its smooth part protrudes 10-15 mm. The head is sawed off. A cardboard washer with a hole equal to the drilled diameter is glued to the glass on both sides. The glass is placed on a piece of rubber. A pinch of abrasive powder is poured onto the drilling site. Then insert the end of the screw protruding from the cork into hand drill, lubricate the teeth with turpentine and begin to drill. When the tube goes deep into the glass by at least 1/3 of its thickness, the glass is turned over and the drilling is completed on the other side.
Cutting round glass.
We offer a method for cutting round glass. A roller from a glass cutter is attached to one jaw of the caliper. The other sponge rests on the glass through a rubber washer. The roller is rolled in a circle several times, after which 3-4 tangents are made with a regular glass cutter, making it easier to chip the glass along the boundaries of the cuts. Sharp edges are cleaned with a file or emery under running water.
Marking a circle on glass.
An experienced craftsman will never begin marking a circle on a slippery surface before sticking a piece of adhesive plaster or electrical tape in the center of the circle (under the leg of the compass).
Curvilinear cutting of glass.
Glass can be cut along any curved line using a soldering iron.
A mark is made on the edge of the glass at the beginning of the line with a needle file. A few millimeters from it along the line of the future cut, the glass is heated with a soldering iron tip until a crack appears from the mark to the heating point. So, gradually moving the soldering iron, we go along the entire line. To speed up the process, you can periodically cool the glass with a damp cloth.
Drilling glass
1. Small holes in the glass are drilled with an ordinary drill, which is pre-hardened. The tip of the drill is heated white, and then quickly pressed into the sealing wax and held until the sealing wax stops melting. When drilling, the tip of the drill is generously moistened with turpentine. Small glass objects can be drilled in water.
2. A hole in the glass can be drilled using copper wire. To do this, you need to prepare a paste consisting of coarse emery, camphor and turpentine. One part of camphor powder is dissolved in 2 parts of turpentine and mixed with 4 parts of coarse emery. The resulting paste is applied to the place where the hole needs to be drilled. A piece of copper wire is clamped into the drill chuck. It is convenient to drill glass through plywood (conductor) that has guide holes. The glass must lie on a hard and level surface.
3. To drill a hole with a diameter of more than 4 mm in thick glass, use a copper tube. On the glass around the intended hole, a fence in the form of a ring with an internal diameter of 40-50 mm and a height of 8-10 mm is made of plasticine or putty. Corundum powder is poured inside the ring (it can be easily prepared by grinding a piece of unusable emery wheel). The powder is poured with a small amount of water to form a liquid paste. Drill holes with a copper tube clamped in a chuck drilling machine. The diameter of the tube should be slightly smaller than the diameter of the selected hole. It is very important that the end of the tube is strictly perpendicular to its axis - this can be easily achieved by protruding the tube onto lathe.
4. A hole in the glass can be made using molten solder. A small mound of slightly moistened river sand is poured onto the surface of the glass, previously thoroughly degreased with acetone, gasoline or alcohol. Using a sharpened stick, make a conical depression in it and clear an area equal to the future hole from sand. Molten solder is stuck into the resulting sand mold at a temperature of 250-300 °C. After the solder has cooled, the sand is removed, and the solder cone is removed along with the glass circle stuck to it.
Unconventional glass drilling methods.
1. A thin steel drill, heated white, is hardened in mercury or a piece of sealing wax and sharpened. Then prepare a saturated solution of camphor in turpentine, moisten it with a drill placed on the brace, and quickly drill the glass, which is then wetted at the point of convergence with the said solution. This method can drill through 1cm thick glass in less than one minute.
2. In order to drill a hole in the glass, we recommend taking a triangular file, dipping it in turpentine and carefully drilling the hole.
3. You can also drill the glass on a lathe with a copper rod, lubricating it with oil and sprinkling with sandpaper. Special attention should be turned to the hole when the drilling process comes to an end and only the last thin layer remains, since the glass can easily crack.
How to make a hole of any diameter in glass.
The glass is thoroughly degreased with acetone, gasoline or alcohol. Then a handful of slightly moistened fine river sand is poured onto the place where the hole will be. After this, using a pointed stick, a cone-shaped hole is made in the sand crust down to the glass. Its diameter at the bottom of the cone should be equal to the diameter of the hole being made in the glass. Then molten solder (tertiary or tin) with a melting point of 200-300 ° C is poured into the sand mold. After the solder has hardened, its cone is removed... along with the column of glass stuck to it: the hole is ready.
If the glass is not properly degreased, it can burst in any direction and ruin the work.
How to make an attachment for an electric drill
for drilling holes in glass.
Take a diamond or roller from any glass cutter and secure it in the slot of the steel rod. The diameter of the rod should be slightly smaller than the diameter of the diamond or roller. The roller is attached to the holder with a rivet, and so that it cannot turn. Then attach such a device to a steel rod in a drill instead of a drill - and you can drill holes in the glass.
The operation of such a device is shown in the figure "Drills the roller".
Cutting large holes in glass.
To cut a large glass round hole, you must first drill a small hole in the center, then strengthen one end of the wire in it, and attach a glass cutter or diamond to the other end and cut a circle with it. Then, using a glass cutter or diamond, several radii are drawn along a ruler from the hole to the circle line. After this, they take the glass in their hands and reverse side quietly hit with the wooden handle of a hammer. The cut pieces of glass should fall out. It is advisable to knock out the cut out pieces of glass in water. This reduces the likelihood of damage to the glass being processed.
© "Encyclopedia of Technologies and Methods" Patlakh V.V. 1993-2007
When the need arises to drill glass, most will most likely turn to specialists who will do this work for you, but not for free. In fact, the whole process of drilling at home is not as complicated as it might seem. In this article we will understand how to drill glass, as well as how and with what it can be done.
Preparing for work
- Before you drill glass at home, you need to prepare it for work: use turpentine or alcohol to degrease the entire surface, and then wipe it with a dry soft cloth;
- Do not allow the glass sheet to slide during operation.
- The sheet must be completely positioned on the base.
- The place where you decide to drill a hole should be marked with a marker or construction tape.
- If you do not have the skills to drill holes, we advise you to practice on small pieces so as not to spoil the main sheet.
- Drilling glass at home is not fast. The process will take quite a long time. While working, do not press too hard to speed up the work.
- The drill should be positioned at right angles to the plane. One hole should not be made at a time. From time to time you need to stop and let it cool a little.
- When you are in the final stage, i.e. When the hole is almost ready, you need to turn the glass sheet over and drill a hole on the other side. This operation allows you to avoid cracks or chips, and you will also get a hole of the correct shape.
- In order to get rid of small irregularities or roughness on the glass surface, take fine sandpaper and sand the sheet.
Drill glass with a regular drill
To drill holes in glass you will need the following:
- Drills designed for drilling ceramic or metal materials;
- Low-speed drill or screwdriver;
- Turpentine;
- Plasticine;
- Alcohol.
The sheet must be placed on a completely flat surface. There are some nuances here: the edges should not hang down, and it should not wobble.
The drill or screwdriver should be set to the lowest rotation speed. Clamp the required drill bit into the chuck. After this you need to check the drilling. If there is increased runout, then it is advisable to change it. The lowest speed for drilling is 250 rpm, and the highest is 1000 rpm.
The surface should be degreased with an alcohol solution, and then make a recess made of plasticine in place of the upcoming hole. Pour a little turpentine into this recess and start working. To avoid cracks, do not press too hard on the tool. Without any effort, lightly hold the screwdriver or drill over the glass and drill holes in the glass.
How to drill glass using sand
At a time when there were no drills and screwdrivers, glass drilling was done using this method. In order to make a hole using sand you will need the following things:
- Naturally sand.
- Petrol.
- Lead or tin.
- Gas burner.
- A metal mug or other similar vessel.
The surface must be degreased with gasoline, and after that you need to pour a pile of wet sand onto the future drilling site. Then, using some sharp object you need to make a funnel of exactly the same diameter as the future hole should be.
A pre-molten mixture of lead or tin must be poured into this resulting form. After a few minutes, you need to remove the sand and remove the frozen part of the glass. It should come off the surface easily. The resulting hole will be perfectly smooth and will not require any additional processing.
To heat tin or lead, use a metal mug or other container and a gas burner. If you don’t have a burner, then a regular household gas stove will do.
How to drill with a homemade drill
Drilling glass at home will require preparing a special drill, which consists of a diamond roller located in a regular glass cutter and a metal rod. It is necessary to make a cut in this rod into which this diamond roller will be placed so that it is stationary in relation to the rod.
Having prepared such a drill, fix it in a screwdriver or drill and start drilling a hole. It can be called a modification of conventional diamond-coated drills. Therefore, if you do not have the opportunity to purchase such a factory drill, then you can easily make it yourself.
There is another way to prepare a homemade drill. You need to take any regular drill, hold it in pliers and hold it in the flame gas burner within a few minutes. After the end of the drill turns white, you need to quickly cool it by dipping it into sealing wax. Once it has cooled, remove any remaining sealing wax if present. Through this simple operation you get a hardened tool that can be used to drill through hardened material.
- In order to prevent the appearance of splits and cracks on the surface, it is necessary to apply a little turpentine or honey to the place that needs to be drilled.
- The drill or screwdriver should not be pressed too hard from above.
- It is necessary to take breaks during the drilling process. Intervals should be between 5 and 10 seconds. Also, during a break, it is advisable to lower the drill into a container of water to cool it down. This is necessary in order to avoid melting.
- Do not rock the screwdriver or drill from side to side.
- If possible, it is better to use a screwdriver, because... it will work in a more gentle mode with its low speed.
- In order to treat the surface, you can use not only alcohol, but also acetone.
- When working with a drill, you should take care of safety precautions: use gloves and goggles.
- The drilling point for fragile glass should be no less than 1.5 mm from the edge of the sheet, and for ordinary glass no less than 2.5 cm.
- It is best to work with the material on a wooden surface.
Working with a glass cutter
To fully cover the topic, it is worth learning how to drill glass at home using a glass cutter. It's perfect for creating unusual shapes or large sizes. In this case, the sequence of actions will be as follows.
1. Using a marker or felt-tip pen, create the necessary contours along which the processing will take place.
2. When working with a glass cutter, you should not make sudden movements. Pressure on the instrument should be uniform and smooth.
3. To make the cut part fall off, use the handle of a glass cutter to lightly tap the surface.
4. Use special tongs to remove excess.
5. Before starting work, you need to check the condition of the tool. The roller should be in the middle and rotate evenly and smoothly.
Unusual ways to drill a hole in glass
1. To drill tempered glass, it is necessary to prepare the cooling liquid. It will be prepared as follows: aluminum alum must be dissolved in acetic acid. If you don’t have them, you can mix turpentine with camphor in a 1:1 ratio. Treat the glass with the resulting solution and then begin work.
2. If you do not have a drill, you can use copper wire, which must be clamped into the drill. In such a case, the process will take place using a special solution: 2 parts turpentine and 1 part camphor, to which coarse sandpaper powder should be added. The mixture must be placed in the place where you need to drill a hole and get to work.
3. There is another method of using a similar solution. It is possible to work with a metal piece of pipe, which can also be inserted into the drill chuck. Make a plasticine ring 10 mm high and 50 mm in diameter on the glass surface. Pour a solution of camphor, turpentine and emery powder into the recess of the ring and drill.
Glass shelves, tables, boards for the kitchen are not only beautiful, but also practical. However, to make this shelf or table, you need to attach the glass to the other parts using self-tapping screws. Not every person is able to correctly make holes in a transparent surface without damaging the glass itself.
Watch our video on how to drill glass at home and try decorating your home with original glass shelves.
To make holes in the glass, we will need:
- a special drill, we will use a crown with diamond coating with a diameter of 8 millimeters;
- drill or screwdriver;
- glass;
- glass blank;
- scotch;
- masking tape;
- a container of water to cool the surface to be cooled.
We insert the drill into the drill and firmly clamp it there so that the drill does not dangle while drilling, but is exactly in the center.
Before we start drilling our main element, we must first prepare our workpiece. To do this, we attach tape to one side of it; it is needed so that when we drill a hole in the glass, small fragments do not fly off or lie on the table, but are glued to the tape.
We moisten the place that we will drill with water. This is necessary in order to cool the surface of the glass and the drill itself.
It is impossible to immediately drill a hole in the glass; the drill will crawl along the surface. For this, we need a template, so that by inserting a drill into it, we can easily drill a hole in the material we need.
To avoid damaging the table, place a small piece of cardboard or a regular board.
Everything is ready, remove the tape and wipe with a damp cloth.
Now you can start drilling through the main glass blank.
We glue the workpiece to the place where we will drill the hole and secure it with masking tape so that it does not move.
Water the workpiece with water.
The workpiece can be removed when the drill fits tightly into the main glass and does not slip off to the side.
It is better to drill glass from both sides. For the second side we will also need a template to go a few mm deeper inside.
Then we remove all excess from the glass with a cloth so that there is no dirt or smudges.