I've been asked many times in the past how to cut out a square in the top of a vertical 10-gallon aquarium for a screen to be installed...Well today I was doing a few for some new setups and decided to make a DIY!!! Here goes
* The most important thing to remember when you are working with glass is that:
A.) It is very sharp! Wear gloves if you are a novice!
B.) It is FRAGILE! As strong as glass is, when the right things happen, it breaks and it breaks FAST!!!
-With that being said, lets begin...Start by tracing a square out on your cage. The hole in the middle is for an "old school" misting system i've had for 10 yrs from Patrick Neighbors of Saurian Enterprise! That's right, back in the day we couldn't adjust them 360 degrees like we can now!
View attachment 26334
-Next you are going to drill the glass at all (4) corners...Be patient, this takes 2-4minutes a hold and you need to constantly flush with water and drill at a relatively slow speed so you don't burn up your bit. Glass bits can be had on ebay at a very reasonable price, smaller is better for these (4) holes as it take less time to drill through. Keep consistent pressure without overdoing it or you will crack the glass!
-The above photo shows the (4) holes drilled at the corners of your square. You can also see that i've also scored the glass from hole to hole at this point. Remember, when you score glass that is exactly what you are doing, scoring, not sawing! One zip from hole to hole is all you need. At his point you should have a (4) holes with each being scored in between them...
-Next you are going to score an (x) from the top corner of the left hole to the bottom right corner and vice versa for the other (2) holes. Remember, score, don't saw! It should look like this.
-Now you will score a square around the middle of the (x). These serve as a place to "break out" so you can break the square out later. We will get to that...It should scored like this, in a square pattern...
-Now you have to "break out" the square you've scored into the glass. Put the cage on the carpet with the lines you've scored facing "down" on the carpet. Place a folded T-shirt under the scored "sqaure" and press with your thumb on the "backside" of the score line to create a "break", you will be pressing 1st from the start of the score at the hole you've drilled.Once you hear it break, move along the line and apply the same pressure to "run" the line to the other hole.Repeat this for all (4) holes...
-It will look like this once all score marks around the square have been "run" to the holes
-Now that you have the square "cut" and all (4) lines around the sqaure at "run" you'd think that it would just "fall out". This is not the case, so now you will need to place the aquarium with the scored side down into the trash can. Now you will use the "ball" end of your glass cutter to "tap" the center of the (x) you scored earlier from the inside of the cage, the same side you used your thumb on to make the break around the "square" earlier. NOTE: you will need a towel or something soft to soften the "taps" you will be doing using the "ball" of your glass cutter. I use a snake bag. This will also keep you from getting glass chips flung into your eyes! I suggest GLOVES and GLASSES!
-You will begin to see the glass start to break and fall into your trashcan...Usually once a few pieces fall in, the whole sqaure will "free up" and fall in as well...! It will look like this:
-Flip it back over so your "new hole" is on the top where it should be and it will look like this:
*Here it is with the new style misting nozzle and bulkhead installed...
* The most important thing to remember when you are working with glass is that:
A.) It is very sharp! Wear gloves if you are a novice!
B.) It is FRAGILE! As strong as glass is, when the right things happen, it breaks and it breaks FAST!!!
-With that being said, lets begin...Start by tracing a square out on your cage. The hole in the middle is for an "old school" misting system i've had for 10 yrs from Patrick Neighbors of Saurian Enterprise! That's right, back in the day we couldn't adjust them 360 degrees like we can now!
View attachment 26334
-Next you are going to drill the glass at all (4) corners...Be patient, this takes 2-4minutes a hold and you need to constantly flush with water and drill at a relatively slow speed so you don't burn up your bit. Glass bits can be had on ebay at a very reasonable price, smaller is better for these (4) holes as it take less time to drill through. Keep consistent pressure without overdoing it or you will crack the glass!
-The above photo shows the (4) holes drilled at the corners of your square. You can also see that i've also scored the glass from hole to hole at this point. Remember, when you score glass that is exactly what you are doing, scoring, not sawing! One zip from hole to hole is all you need. At his point you should have a (4) holes with each being scored in between them...
-Next you are going to score an (x) from the top corner of the left hole to the bottom right corner and vice versa for the other (2) holes. Remember, score, don't saw! It should look like this.
-Now you will score a square around the middle of the (x). These serve as a place to "break out" so you can break the square out later. We will get to that...It should scored like this, in a square pattern...
-Now you have to "break out" the square you've scored into the glass. Put the cage on the carpet with the lines you've scored facing "down" on the carpet. Place a folded T-shirt under the scored "sqaure" and press with your thumb on the "backside" of the score line to create a "break", you will be pressing 1st from the start of the score at the hole you've drilled.Once you hear it break, move along the line and apply the same pressure to "run" the line to the other hole.Repeat this for all (4) holes...
-It will look like this once all score marks around the square have been "run" to the holes
-Now that you have the square "cut" and all (4) lines around the sqaure at "run" you'd think that it would just "fall out". This is not the case, so now you will need to place the aquarium with the scored side down into the trash can. Now you will use the "ball" end of your glass cutter to "tap" the center of the (x) you scored earlier from the inside of the cage, the same side you used your thumb on to make the break around the "square" earlier. NOTE: you will need a towel or something soft to soften the "taps" you will be doing using the "ball" of your glass cutter. I use a snake bag. This will also keep you from getting glass chips flung into your eyes! I suggest GLOVES and GLASSES!
-You will begin to see the glass start to break and fall into your trashcan...Usually once a few pieces fall in, the whole sqaure will "free up" and fall in as well...! It will look like this:
-Flip it back over so your "new hole" is on the top where it should be and it will look like this:
*Here it is with the new style misting nozzle and bulkhead installed...
