Large hole in glass?

[bigrock]

How would you cut a 7" hole in a thin piece of glass?
They don't make hole saws that big I don't think.
I want to put this hole to hold my filter socks.
Any tips?

[ejk17]

Get acrylic

[bigrock]

I was thinking acrylic as well but it doesn't bond well to glass I thought?
What bit would you use to cut the hole in acrylic?
Thanks

[ejk17]

If the whole doesnt need to be perfect and you dont see it i would use a diamond bit on a dremel and just trace it out and cut. Ive cut large pieces of acrylic for my sump with the same thing. I know they sell 4" hole drill bits for like $24 doesnt really help for a 7" hole tho

[jeff@zina.com]

Circle cutter. You see them in all the burglary movies where the guy sticks a suction cup on the 23rd floor window and spins the cutter around and removes a section of glass. They actually won't work that way since you need access to both sides, but they're cheap and work fine.

I don't see them in craft shops anymore, might have to order one online. Inland makes one that holds a standard glass cutter or most stained glass suppliers will have a more sophisticated one like the CircleMate.

Jeff

[bigrock]

Thanks that's a great idea, never thought of that but if it works in the movies it must work in real life:)
I'll find one online.

[TruReef]

Plastic egg create works too. Easy to customize hole size and location. I use that to hold my filter in my frag tank, if you neglect cleaning the filter too long and plug it up with junk, the water flows out the filter and thru the egg create. There would be a flood if you were to use glass or acrylic and this happened.

[bigrock]

Thanks for the suggestion of eggcrate but I need glass as the water will flow over a baffle into a compartment with the socks so glass will force the water to flow through the sock. If they overflow it will just go over the next baffle into the protien skimmer section of the sump.

[boilermaker1]

just have a glass shop cut the hole for you.... I doubt it would be any more expensive than you paying for the tool to use it once.