Cutting a hole in acrylic

[revhtree]

I have a 20 wet/dry that I want to convert into a refugium. I have a smaller rubbermaid container that is the fuge. Well here is a pic of it:

The 20g wet/dry would hold alot more stuff. What I want to do is drill two holes similar to the rubbermaid container. How would I go about doing this? Is there like a circular drill bit that will do the trick?

TIA!

 

[beblondie]

hole cutting drill bit easy to find at a DYI store-Anne

 

[Serge]

How about using a holesaw, the ones used to make holes in doors? If you go at it slowly, it should work. Remember that with acrylic, if you go to fast, it will melt to your holesaw. HTH

8)

 

[Serge]

Forgot to specify that I was referring to a power drill attachment. Also, hopefully you have a variable speed drill.

8)

 

[bound_for_obx]

I'd also recommend a hole saw. for a nice clean hole, cut partially through on one side, and then finish cutting from the other.

 

[loganj]

I haven't had very good luck using hole saws with acrylic due to the excessive heat generated by them even at the slowest speeds. Acrylic has a very low melting temp and will gum up the teeth on the saw quickly IME. What I have found to work well is a spade type wood bit using low speed and very light pressure. Although the spade bit will gum up, it's easily cleared and will make a very clean hole. If you can alter the cutting edge of the bit so that it scrapes rather than cuts, it works much better.

 

[Serge]

You may also want to check on ebay for a device similar to the following link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=50384&item=4356800136&rd=1

This device can have numerous purposes around the house/workshop. I intend on using something similar when I will be cutting our the parts for my replacement skimmer. HTH

8)

 

[brndfrb]

You may want to contact sumphead when it comes to acrylic work. He is a MASTER. or go to his website. www.magnumreefsystems.com

 

[revhtree]

I used a wood drill hole saw bit. It did awesome!! I will post some pics of my new 20g fuge tommorrow.

 

[markh30]

For future reference in case anyone else wants to try this, I would highly suggest putting masking tape on both sides of the plastic where you're drilling the hole. Drill right through the masking tape. This will prevent cracks in the plastic and the area around the hole from getting scratched up. When done drilling the hole, just peel off the tape.