glass drilling help

[bowlsnapper2012]

how do i do this ? i blew a bong but now i gotta drill the hole what do i need to do other than just drill?

[slipknotpsycho]

it would be wise to spend ten bucks on a couple of glass drill bits....even walmart has them if you look hard enough or ask someone....

[slipknotpsycho]

oh yea you need to look this up but it's etiher go as fast as possible or go slowly with as little pressure as possible..

[bowlsnapper2012]

sorry i got the diamond bits too just need to know how to drill it

[pez]

yeah just wanted to keep this at the top, i too im in dire need to learn how to put a smooth hole in some glass, and there doesnt seem to be an easy way of looking it up.....blazed right now....

young till i die
pezizzle

[Bel Acres]

I just drilled through glass a few minutes ago using a wood drill bit. It turned out pretty good.

There's not much more to it than taking it slow and steady. It's a good idea to keep the speed of the drill pretty low when you start though.

[dylan]

would putting some masking tape over the area you are going to drill help keep the glass from chipping......just a thought.

[slipknotpsycho]

yea i seem to remember there being a need for a few layers of tape around and over the hole...

[chattersjb]

Use a "stone" usualy on a small shaft, or a hobby drill, dremel? MOST important thing, use under WATER! running water from the tap will do, just make sure the bottle/bong is full of water as well. Main reason glass breaks is from friction, glass expands rapidly around hole and the surrounding glass remains cool.
Later

[Canadabis]

You need glass drill bits, they are like sand paper sort of things, dont apply any pressure, but drill quickly, to sort of grind a hole rather then cutting through it.
glass pretty much always needs special shit to work with, theres pretty much nothing you can do without tools.

[stonerboy40k]

would putting some masking tape over the area you are going to drill help keep the glass from chipping......just a thought.


yeah make a cross wit a few lavers of tape and it shouyld be cool thats what you use for drilling wall tiles too

[ganja is my game]

nice cuz i have a sweet flower vase that i want to drill to make a killer bong but i didnt know how to. i think i will try it

[Ocram]

The Key to Drilling Glass is Take your Time!!!!.. Bowls for everybody Woo Hoo!!

[litespeed]

sand paper or a small grinding wheel or copper tubing the size hole u want copper takes a long time to do

[FlyMeHigh]

ya i've drilled myself a bong before too, heres what to do:

get a glass drill bit
use water to reduce friction
don't apply to much forward pressure
and tape can be used if desired, but it is not essential

also an alternative to drilling that works very well and gets you a perfectly smooth hole is burning through... if you have thin glass and a real small hot torch, you can concetrate the flame in one area to burn through (this would be very hard for thick glass) you might want to research this if you try it, but its a possiblilty... good luck

[Likes to build bongs]

It might not be a bad idea to get a fase mask from 3M or something. I've never drilled through glass, but if there is any dust, you won't be wanting to breathe that in. That would probably be like breathing in asbestos, I would think.

[cbfull]

ya i've drilled myself a bong before too, heres what to do:

get a glass drill bit
use water to reduce friction
don't apply to much forward pressure
and tape can be used if desired, but it is not essential

also an alternative to drilling that works very well and gets you a perfectly smooth hole is burning through... if you have thin glass and a real small hot torch, you can concetrate the flame in one area to burn through (this would be very hard for thick glass) you might want to research this if you try it, but its a possiblilty... good luck

I did some research on the two methods, drilling and spot heating. For the spot heating, a glassblower told me to heat a suitable size spot where you want the hole, with a high-temperature flame, like oxy-propane (not air-propane). When the spot starts to turn red, stopper the opening with a tube through the stopper and blow (you have to hold the stopper from popping out) until the hot spot starts to form a small bubble. Stop growing the bubble when the opening at the spot looks good. Allow it to cool and then carefully break the bubble off, using a file to score the side of it first if you can fit it in there. Fire polish the edge to your liking.

The second method, which is FAR simpler and superior, is to get a "diamond core drill bit". These can be found on-line if you use the phrase just as I typed it. Don't get the fancy expensive (80 dollars and up) one, instead find a bonded one for around twenty buck. With proper water flow, you can drill 100-200 holes, which is more than I care to ever do. I tried one of these this weekend and the instructions said it would take about 30 minutes (I can deal with that, I HATED those spade things). I rigged up a table-top drill press (got lucky with that, it was loaned to me without hesitation...yay!) and stabilized the vase with whatever I could think up. It needs to be pretty secure. I eyeballed the point of contact and made it level (since this vase is essentially a sphere). My friend held a piece of tubing to supply continuous cold water. It started with a chirpy sound and quickly turned into a very smooth sound. I pressed as gently as I could without letting it stop. Breakthrough occurred in about 2 minutes. When I backed the bit out and inspected the whole, it was simply beautiful. We looked at each other in shock and I said, "Go get ALL of the vases and start marking where we want to drill!. We practiced on a couple of crappy ones, and learned that it is best to keep the drill bit as close to perpiducular to the glass as possible. Angling it in is okay but it makes the hole less circular and more oval. Circular holes make a grommet very cozy.

I'll check on this message from time to time if anyone wants to ask any questions.

[bizzong]

i just drilled a vace for a bong just go fast but dont rush

[Hempamasta]

That would probably be like breathing in asbestos, I would think.

Nah.. it wouldn't cause cancer, probably... it would be more like breathing in fiberglass... little fibers of glass... could probably tear up your lungs. :(

[bowlsnapper2012]

alright so i drilled through it and it turned out beautifully im gonna start selling bongs cuz i blow them and its pretty easy thanks guys!!