The fact that glass is extremely fragile and difficult to process at home is a well-known fact. However, no one will argue that it would be at least irrational to call a specialist glazier to the house every time you need to do some minor domestic work related to this material, such as hanging a bathroom mirror, installing or repairing a glass shelf in a nightstand or table. In this article, we offer you simple solutions in situations related to glass processing, which can happen in everyday life. Namely - how to drill hole in glass or a mirror.
You can make a small hole in the glass using an ordinary drill with a hardened drill bit. The secret is that the drill must be tempered in the fire until it starts to turn red. After the drill is sufficiently heated, it must be moved to a container with pre-prepared sealing wax, the drill will cool in it. After such manipulations, the drill can be safely used to make holes in glass surfaces. Immediately before drilling, the tip of the drill must be slightly moistened with turpentine. Drilling is carried out as follows: first you need to make a small recess in the glass (you need to drill at low speeds of the drill), then stop. Drop any technical oil into the resulting recess for a better drill stroke.
Attention! When working with glass, proper safety precautions must be observed! When working with glass, be sure to use gloves and goggles, this will protect the most vulnerable parts of the body. Sometimes experts also advise wearing a protective mask or respirator to protect the respiratory tract from glass chips, which are inevitable in working with glass. Glass drilling work should be carried out only in specialized clothing: glass particles tend to get stuck in clothing materials, which can later cause discomfort and cause itching on the skin.
How to make a hole in glass using wire?
This technology is almost identical to the previous one, with the only difference being that the fire-hardened drill here is replaced by wire, which, like a drill, must be fixed in the drill chuck. First you need to cover the working surface of the glass with a special composition: 2 parts of turpentine, 1 part of camphor and 4 parts of emery powder are taken. The prepared solution should be applied to the place on the glass in which it is planned to make a hole.
There is also another modification this method- with the only difference that here you do not need lubricating fluids.
For this method, you will need a glass cutter and a slightly modified “drill”. From the glass cutter, you need to remove the diamond roller, which must be fixed in a metal rod with a pre-cut groove. The roller is fixed in the rod with a rivet. This is done so that the roller is rigidly fixed in the seat and does not rotate when drilling. Further, such a "drill" is installed in the drill chuck, and you can easily perform the necessary work.
How to drill a large hole in glass?
All of the above methods for making holes in glass are only suitable for small household needs, and drill holes large diameter by such methods is extremely difficult. But what to do if you absolutely need to drill a hole in the glass or mirror big size? Below is a technology that will achieve the desired result. However, this method can hardly be called drilling.
First, it is necessary to carefully and carefully clean and completely degrease the surface of the glass or mirror in which it is planned to make holes. Next, you should pre-determine the point at which drilling will be carried out. Soaked sand is laid around this place: the planned hole will be located in its center. Let's reiterate about the maximum observance of safety regulations. Working with glass is, in a certain sense, a very dangerous and time-consuming process that requires increased concentration and accuracy.
So, solder is placed in a specially prepared container. It should be heated to approximately 250-280 ° C, no less. Calculate the amount of solder based on the fact that you will need to fill the required sand mold. After filling out the form, you must leave the tin to cool. When the tin cools, the unnecessary part of the glass will fall off along with the solder. At the end you will get a smooth hole in glass any required size.
This is where the list of household and accessible to almost everyone methods of drilling holes in glass ends.
When you need to drill a hole in glass, most people will most likely immediately turn to the services of specialists who will do this work for you and require a certain fee. In truth, this process is not as difficult as it seems at first glance. Below we will talk about how to drill a hole in the glass and what tools to use for this.
Preparatory activities
Before drilling glass at home, the material should be prepared:
So, for this purpose, you will need the following devices:
- drills for metal or ceramics;
- screwdriver or drill with low speed;
- plasticine;
- pure alcohol;
- turpentine.
Before making a hole in the glass, it must be placed on a flat surface.. There are some nuances here: the ends of the sheet should not hang down and / or stagger.
On the power tool, select the minimum rotation speed. The drill must be clamped into the chuck. Then you can start drilling the hole.
Surface degreasing should be done with pure alcohol, and then in the area of \u200b\u200bthe future hole, a plasticine recess should be fashioned. There you need to add a little turpentine. To prevent cracks in the material, do not press too hard on the tools.
Sand for drilling glass
In a period when there were no screwdrivers and drills, glass surfaces were drilled by hand using sand. To make a hole in this way, you will need the following:
- the sand itself;
- tin or lead;
- burner;
- metal alloy container.
First, you should use gasoline to degrease the surface, and then make a hill of wet sand at the drilling site. Next, using some sharp object, you should make a funnel, the dimensions of which will correspond to the dimensions of the future hole.
It is necessary to pour a pre-prepared composition of tin or lead into the prepared form. After five to seven minutes, remove the sand and remove frozen glass. The piece should easily peel off the surface. The hole should turn out to be very even, it does not even need any additional processing..
To heat lead or tin, you should use a metal container and a gas burner. If you do not have a gas burner, then you can use an ordinary gas stove.
Drilling with a homemade drill
Drilling glass sheets at home involves the use of a special drill, in which there is a diamond roller. To make such a device, you need to create a cut in the rod and place this same roller in it.
Having made a drill, install it in a drill or screwdriver, after which you can get to work.
Another option is to take an ordinary drill, squeeze it with pliers and hold it over the flame for 5-10 minutes. After the drill begins to turn white, it should be promptly cooled in sealing wax. This is how the tool is hardened.
Using a glass cutter
This tool is great for creating big holes unusual shape. The sequence of work in this case will be as follows:
- Using a marker, select the contours that will be processed.
- When using a glass cutter, do not make too sharp manipulations. You need to press on the device smoothly and as evenly as possible.
- To make the cut piece fall off, gently tap the tool handle on the surface.
- To get rid of excess material, use special tongs.
- Check the condition of the device beforehand. The cutting roller must be located strictly in the middle.
Unusual glass drilling options
To make a hole in tempered glass, you need to prepare a coolant in advance. It can be done like this: dissolve aluminum alum in vinegar. In the event that you do not have them on hand, mix camphor and turpentine in equal proportions. Treat the coating with the resulting mixture, and then you can get to work.
If you don’t have a drill, then you can use copper wire by holding it in a drill. For this, a special solution should also be used, consisting of one part of camphor, two parts of turpentine and coarse-grained emery powder. The composition should be placed on the area where drilling will be performed.
- To avoid cracks and chips, it is recommended to apply a small amount of honey or turpentine to the area where the hole will be made.
- When drilling, take small pauses of 5-10 seconds. At the same time, dip the drill in cool water to enhance the effect, otherwise it may melt.
- Do not rock the tool in different directions.
- Instead of alcohol, you can use acetone.
- When working, do not forget about safety precautions: use safety goggles and gloves.
- The hole must be located at least one and a half millimeters from the end of the glass sheet.
- It is desirable to work with glass on wood surfaces.
One of the fragile materials is glass, which must be handled with great care. To carefully drill a hole in the glass without cracking it, you should follow the recommendations, carefully select the tools for the job.
Special crowns and drills
First of all, you need to purchase special devices. For this you will need:
- Drill with pointed end.
- Drill bits.
Pointed drill mainly used in cases where you need to make a small hole. Spear-shaped can be conventional or diamond-coated, which provides smoother drilling. But it is difficult to work with such a product, so it is preferable to use the second option.
Used for making large holes diamond drill bits. The use of abrasive spraying is allowed, but with such a product, drilling is of insufficient quality. Therefore, it is recommended to use products with diamond coating, because with such crowns there is less chance that the glass will crack.
Depending on which hole you need to get, you can use drills of different diameters.
Necessary tools and equipment
In addition to the drill, you will need equipment for work:
- Drill.
- Scotch.
- Stencil (suitable thick cardboard or a sheet of plywood).
- Water.
- Gloves.
- Protective glasses.
Drill should be speed adjustable. It can be replaced with a screwdriver, which is more gentle. Can be used both manually and electrically. The main thing is that there should be a minimum runout of the drill. It is recommended to use a drill with a speed in the range of 250 - 1000 rpm.
Stencil required for accurate drilling. To do this, a hole is pre-drilled in it. desired diameter and then it is applied to the glass.
Scotch additionally protects against small glass fragments. Water needed to cool the surface to be drilled. For personal protection must have skin gloves, as well as glasses, which will protect the skin and eyes from splinters.
Glass preparation
Before starting work, it is necessary to determine the surface on which the glass will be drilled. It is best to use a table that is stable on the floor. It is desirable to cover it thick cloth or cardboard, so as not to damage its surface during work. This will also prevent the glass from cracking.
It is impossible to drill glass on weight, so a flat surface is used, to which the material will fit snugly.
Thereafter:
- Glass is degreased with alcohol.
- Wipe clean with a soft dry cloth.
- It is laid on the prepared surface.
- Adhesive tape is glued to the intended attachment point.
- A stencil with a drilled hole is applied.
Using a stencil can be done more accurately required hole. It is necessary to ensure that the distance from the edge of the glass is at least 25 mm, otherwise the product may crack.
There is a second method without using a stencil. To do this, take the usual plasticine and glued to the glass around the drilling hole. Plasticine will act as the sides. Water is poured inside, which will cool the glass.
Step-by-step instruction
After the markup is done, the main part of the work is done. For this, a drill is prepared, which is tightly inserted into the drill. You need to check that it is well fixed. Then the drill is turned on and at low speed is brought to the marked drilling site. The drill must be held strictly perpendicular to the glass.
When the recess turned out to be about 3 mm, you need to stop and drop a little water into it. To remove heat from the glass, which is released during drilling, turpentine or kerosene is also used.
Water is needed to cool the glass surface.
Then continue drilling also at minimum speed. The tool must not be pressed during operation, because the glass is very fragile, and the drill can break if these recommendations are not followed.
Drilling rules
To prevent glass from cracking during drilling, you must follow a few rules:
- Turn on the drill with a minimum rotation speed.
- Hold the instrument at a right angle to the glass.
- Do not press on the drill.
- Drill slowly in several passes.
- After each entry, moisten the recess with water.
Drilling in several passes is necessary not only to avoid overheating of the glass, but also overheating of the tool. The drill also heats up, so it must be constantly moistened with water.
When the hole is made, you can remove the small roughness that has formed around it with fine-grained sandpaper.
If the drill is held lightly, cracking can be prevented. In addition, the drill must not be swayed from side to side. It must be held strictly at a right angle.
On the video you can see the method of drilling thick glass. For this, a method is used in which a hole is made on both sides.
How to make a hole with a larger diameter than the size of the drill
If you need to make a hole with a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the existing drill, than the size of the drill, then you can use a glass cutter. To do this, a hole is drilled according to the above scheme. Thereafter:
- A nail is inserted into the hole.
- A small rope is attached to the nail.
- The end of the rope is tied to the glass cutter.
- A circle is made.
The nail must be selected clearly according to the diameter of the hole, so that it does not hang out, but stands firmly. The length of the rope, which is attached at one end to the nail and the other to the glass cutter, must be calculated so that it is equal to the radius of the desired hole.
After drawing a circle with a glass cutter, you need to make gentle tapping movements. Due to this, the circle will come out of the hole. Then the rough edges at the cut point are processed with sandpaper.
What to do if there is no necessary drill
Quite often, a suitable drill is not at hand. Therefore, you can use their replacement:
- Make a hardened drill.
- Use copper wire.
Do it yourself hardened drill possible by simple technology: taken conventional drill, clamped with pliers and hold the end of the product over the gas burner. When the point turns white, it must be instantly dipped in sealing wax. After a couple of minutes, the drill is taken out, cleaned of sealing wax particles.
To properly drill glass with a hardened drill, you can use the above diagram. The only difference is the need for constant wetting of the drill so that it does not overheat.
Copper wire It is used in the event that there is no drill at hand. To do this, the wire is clamped in a drill. Then a special solution is prepared from sandpaper powder (it is better to take coarse-grained), camphor, and also turpentine in a ratio of 0.5: 1: 2. When everything is ready, the mixture is poured onto the glass at the drilling site, and then a hole is made.
How to make a hole without drilling
If you don’t have the right drill and drill at hand, then there is another way to make a hole in the material. You can use the old method. You must have with you:
- Sand.
- Tin (or lead).
- Any thin and long object (you can take a wooden stick with a pointed end).
Work begins with the degreasing of glass, on which a small hill of wet sand is poured. A small funnel is made in it with a sharp object. The recess is made to the surface of the glass. The center of the funnel should match the diameter of the future hole. Then a mixture of tin or lead (called solder) is melted and poured into the funnel.
For the preparation of solder, a metal vessel is used and gas-burner.
After a few minutes, the sand is removed. A frozen metal is taken out, at the end of which there will be a frozen glass. It should easily peel off the surface. The result is a perfectly smooth through hole in glass.
When drilling glass, the main thing is to adhere to the technology of work and select the right material. To make a high-quality hole in the material without damaging it, it is desirable:
- It is better to use a diamond-coated drill.
- Choose your drill diameter carefully.
- Choose the right work surface: it must be stable.
- To prevent the glass from slipping, the table is covered with cloth, cardboard or plywood.
- Do not drill into tempered glass, which may break into small pieces.
- Do not put pressure on the drill during operation.
- All actions should be carried out slowly, constantly wetting the hole with water. This will help to avoid overheating of the material and prevent the formation of cracks.
- Work should be carried out in protective gloves and goggles so that fragments do not get on the skin in the eyes.
- Before starting work, it is better to practice making holes on an unnecessary piece of glass.
When drilling a hole, you do not need to try to do all the work in 1 time. This is a rather laborious process and takes a lot of time.
It often seems like this brittle material, like glass, can only be processed experienced master. But if a beginner treats the work with understanding, will do it slowly, calmly, leisurely, then you can ideally drill a hole in the glass.
Creating holes in glass may seem like a simple operation, but in practice it is a rather complicated and responsible procedure. The glass structure is malleable but very fragile. Therefore, the peculiarity of the operation lies not so much in the choice of force of influence, but in the approach to its organization. The main task of the master is not to lead to the formation of cracks, chips and breaks in the main surface. How to make a hole in the glass without violating this condition? You can accomplish this task with the help of special technologies and tricks that are available to almost any master. The most popular and effective methods will be discussed next.
Preparing glass for processing
Before any operation for creating holes or simply cutting, appropriate preparation should be made. The working surface of the glass must be clean and, if possible, have no defective areas - during drilling, they can give a side chip, which will ruin the workpiece. It is recommended to mark the lines of the future hole so that the physical flaws of the surface are inside the circle, but do not go beyond. As additional measure glass can be processed chemicals, which, in particular, will save him from oil traces. If the question is how to make a hole in a small glass, then you will have to prepare a fixing tool. The method of fixing the workpiece will depend on the technology for creating the hole, but in most cases such elements are mounted on a vise of a suitable configuration - damping soft material is placed directly into the contact areas.
The nuances of making holes by drilling
It is impossible to process glass with the usual drilling method. When it comes to preparing the same small size, then you can use standard set drills and drills, but before that, the working equipment should be prepared in a special way. First of all, a drill of a suitable size is heated to a white tint. Next, it must be immersed in sealing wax and held until the latter melts. After that, the tip is wetted in turpentine and you can start the workflow. There is another option that allows you to round hole in glass by drilling - it step-by-step instruction presented below:
- Camphor and particles of coarse-grained sandpaper are crushed.
- The prepared elements are poured into a small container and diluted with turpentine.
- A small piece is being prepared for the drill copper wire, which must be clamped in the chuck.
- The previously prepared paste is placed on the cleaned glass surface.
- To position the copper equipment, a plywood guide is prepared.
- You can start drilling.
Creating large holes
Drilling methods are not always theoretically acceptable for making holes in glass, and not only for reasons high risk the formation of the same chips. In the case of holes with a diameter of more than 10 cm, no household equipment can cope with this task. But even in this case there is a way out, in which the drill is also involved. It is necessary to make a small through point in the prepared surface in the very center of the planned hole. To do this, you can use any small-format glass with a diameter of less than 1 cm. You should not be afraid of third-party chips, because they will fall on the area that will be removed anyway. Now another question: how to make a hole in the glass, having a small through hole in the center? A piece of wire is pushed into the created small hole and fixed. The other end is fastened with a glass cutter. Further, after checking the reliability of fixing the elements and the smoothness of the tool in a circle, you can start cutting in a circle.
Hole smelting
In this case, you will need to initially prepare equipment for the preparation of liquid tin or lead. The glass surface is also prepared accordingly. It should be treated with gasoline, acetone or alcohol. Next, wetted sand is poured onto the marked zone of hole formation. There should be enough of it so that you can create a funnel, the bottom of which will fit the edges of the hole in size. After that, metal is poured into the created funnel. It will cool down in 1-2 minutes, after which it will be possible to remove the sand equipment along with the poured mold. This the best option if there is a question about how to make a hole in glass without a drill and with smooth edges. But the problem may arise in another aspect. No matter how precise the sand funnel is, it will be impossible to control the diameter that will be formed when the glass is melted with metal.
Cutting with a soldering iron
This option, in terms of the quality of the result, can be called the opposite of the previous one. In this case, the master will be able to relatively accurately maintain the boundaries of the marked hole diameter, but the edges may be uneven. The process begins with creating risks using a needle file. The task of this operation is to carefully mark for the future melt with a soldering iron in depth. Now you can proceed to the next step - how to make a hole in the glass without drilling with a soldering iron? After warming up the sting of the device, you can start cutting. Moreover, you should not rush into this process. It is advisable to perform melting in small segments, if necessary, cooling the glass - otherwise there is a risk of deformation and areas not intended for processing.
How to make a hole in heat resistant glass?
A very time-consuming operation, and in such situations, limitations in methods due to fragility no longer matter ordinary glass. In some way, such cutting is similar to processing metal surfaces. If we are talking about thin glass, then you can try drilling using diamond and solid nozzles. In any case, they cope with metal. But how to make a hole in the glass of large diameter? To do this, you can use a powerful puncher with a crown equipped with the same diamond elements. How Alternative option you can try cutting with an abrasive wheel, but it will provide a very rough result, which is not always suitable.
High-tech processing methods
This category of methods for creating holes is more likely to be industrial, although private craftsmen acquire appropriate equipment for their needs. We are talking about lathes and units that provide sandblast abrasive cutting. It is waterjet that gives the highest quality result - how can you make a hole in the glass using such equipment? First, the installation is fixed in machine clamps - there are practically no restrictions on dimensions, including thickness. Next refuel Consumables. They are sand and water. The hole is created as a result of circular cutting with a water-sand jet along a predetermined line. Automation itself will position the direction of the cut, providing an almost perfectly even cutting.
Conclusion
The fragility of the material significantly limits home craftsmen who need to make a hole in it. However, almost every traditional way the formation of round cutouts, subject to improvement, turns out to be effective in solving this problem. It is quite possible to make a hole in the glass at home using a drill, glass cutter or soldering iron. Another thing is that the quality will not always meet expectations. Nevertheless, manual processing always involves the risks of deviation from the direction of the cut. If the diameter is not of particular importance, then you can also turn to the smelting method - at least it allows you to count on the smoothness of the edge. If a high-quality hole is required, moreover, it will not be possible to do without special equipment.
Glass is a very fragile material that breaks very easily, so when performing work with its participation, you need to be extremely careful and attentive. That is why many, faced with the need to drill this material, are lost, not knowing how best to do it. Today I will share with you three ways that will be the answer to the question of how to drill glass.
The first way (the easiest).
To drill a hole in glass we need: a flat surface (board, table or other), a screwdriver or a low-speed drill, plasticine and turpentine.
So, to begin with, put the glass on the prepared flat surface so that it lies stable (does not “play” on the surface), and its (glass) edges do not hang. Now we insert the drill into the drill (screwdriver) and set it to the minimum possible speed his drilling. We scroll in the air, determining the "beat", if it is large, then you should choose another drill. Having picked up a drill, we degrease the surface of the glass with alcohol and sculpt a restrictive circle on it from plasticine, into which we pour turpentine (a small amount). Now you can drill, the main thing is not to make much effort so that your glass does not crack under pressure.
The second way.
Allows you to make a hole in the glass without using a power tool. For him, we need: a metal mug, alcohol, lead or tin, sand, gas burner or stove.
So, we take the glass and degrease it with alcohol, after which we sprinkle it with wet sand, in which we make a funnel of the desired diameter with a sharp object. Then pour pre-melted tin or lead into this funnel. We wait two minutes, remove the sand from the surface and remove the hardened solder, getting the desired even through hole.
The third way.
This method of drilling glass is not something special, but rather a modification of the first method.
Let's take a glass cutter and extract a diamond roller from it, we will need it to make a homemade drill. We fix this roller with a rivet on a metal rod (in which it is first necessary to cut a slot) so that it cannot turn and sits rigidly in the seat.