I want to remove a section of the lid shelving on my 4ft, so as to allow fittment of a HOB filter. However it's proving a bit difficult being it's 6mm glass and I only have a one-wheel glass cutter. Plus it's an area attached to the actual tank, so I can't cut the glass in the normal manner by placing a glass sheet flat against a surface and snapping off the unwanted section.
After scoring off a section, I tried gently levering it away but I think it's too thick to break off easily (and I obviously don't wanna be too heavy handed and crack the actual tank).
Anyone have any ideas or tips on how to achieve this? Should I try a 6-wheeled cutter or something?
Thanks.
by no means am i reccomending to do this, but.
i did the same thing for a few 4 foot tanks and i just got a shifter and tightened it onto the shelf and snaped it of and just kept going along till it had gone far enuf. the tanks were full aswell.
for liability reasons please do not try this at home, do it somewhere that the blood wont stain the carpet LOL
seriously though when i did it it just snapped off perfectly. it was 6mm too
hit it under the score you made with the class cutter.
we do this with one wheel cutter on 12mm glass.
kev
Hey cool :D . Many thanks for the tips guys. I'll have another go next weekend and hopefully won't be a problem.
cheers!
A tip !!!
It does not matter if it is a one wheel cutter, 6 wheel cutter, or what ever. The important thing is to have the wheel well lubricated with fine oil.
Professional glass workerws use single wheel cutters with an oil resovour like a fountain pen so the wheel is continually oiled.
I have no idea the science behind it, but a well oiled score on glass of any size seperates 100 time easier than a dry sratch.
50/50 machine oil & kerosene or deisel is the prefered lube.
Dip your cutter in a moistened felt pad or substitute.
P.S.....I am not sure that mucking around with the stiffening bars on a tank is a wize thing. They are made to a specific width for a reason,,,,they are not just there to hold up lids!!. They are actually reinforcing bars....Compromising any edge of a piece of glass introduces a weekness, so there are risks in altering the construction of a tank.
Veteran of 100,000 cuts :D