Sounds like a name for a neat book or a movie, right? Well, sorry to disappoint, but for once I'm being completely literal. I need to find out how to put a hole in glass.
It's like this - I have this shard of glass about one inch by one half an inch. It's irregularly shaped, but those are the rough dimensions. It's actually part of a beer bottle, so it's slightly curved. And I want to put a string through it. Maybe end up hanging it around my neck, but maybe just hanging it from a tack on my wall. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I might go about this? Do I need to heat it up? Just grind away at it? My resources are pretty rudimentary, so nothing too complicated.
Any help would be appreciated. It's not urgent or anything, and not really even necessary. I could just tie a string around it. But if possible, I'd rather go through it, not around it.
Hatrack hive mind ... do your thing!
Posted by Flaming Toad on a Stick (Member # 9302) on :
Do you have a high-speed drill with a very small bit, and a way to hold the shard steady?
Posted by Fusiachi (Member # 7376) on :
I would use a soldering iron, lead-free solder, flux, and foil. Foil the edge of glass, solder a jump ring to glass. That's how my mother used to do stained glass. Don't know if it'll suit your needs, but it is an option.
Edit: A drill with a -very- fine tip (ideally, diamond) might do the trick, but you run this risk of breaking this glass if you're not careful.
Posted by Flaming Toad on a Stick (Member # 9302) on :
Better yet, do you have a sledgehammer?
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
Without a diamond-tipped bit, you stand a high chance of breaking it if you try to put a hole in it. I would wrap it instead, with jewelry wire if you want it to look nice.
I'm hoping it is beach glass, so it has no sharp edges? If not, I really hope you do not hang it around your neck.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
Unless you have special tools, cutting glass (straight edge, curved, or a hole) will usually lead to it shattering. It would be safest to leave it whole, especially if it is important to you to keep it intact.
There are ways of safely puncturing a whole in thin plastic with common kitchen implements, but that isn't relevant to your situation.
Maybe you could hold the glass shard in a little tight cage of twisted wire, then suspend from that?
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Edited to add: Or, more simply, what ElJay said. And I second her concern about the edges.
Posted by Fusiachi (Member # 7376) on :
I'm still thinking soldering might be the way to go. (And, if the glass is sharp, you could use a diamond grinder to smooth it out.)
That is, if you have access to the tools.
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
He's already said he doesn't have accress to many tools. That's why I thought of wire wrapping. . . all you really need is a needle-nosed piers and a file.
Here's a page with pictures of some wrapped glass beads. I'm betting you'd do something a bit less, um, ornate, though. Posted by Fusiachi (Member # 7376) on :
quote:Originally posted by ElJay: He's already said he doesn't have accress to many tools. That's why I thought of wire wrapping. . . all you really need is a needle-nosed piers and a file.
Here's a page with pictures of some wrapped glass beads. I'm betting you'd do something a bit less, um, ornate, though.
Right on. Wire-wrapping looks simple enough, and in the examples above quite elegant.
Posted by Dr Strangelove (Member # 8331) on :
It is pretty important to me not to break it. And while its not sharp, it does have a pointy end. Those two things, plus the actual significance behind it, make me loathe to wear it, so I probably won't. But I do want to do something more with it than just have it sitting on my dresser. Wrapping it in wire is a good idea, but now that I think bout it and don't really want to have it around my neck, can anyone think of anything else to do with it?
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Stick it in a box and forget about it until you stumble across it in a move 10 years from now? That's generally been my modus operandi.
But seriously, if you don't want to wear the thing and don't want to hang it on a wall, you could encase it in something clear and make it into a keychain pendent, or encase it in a larger something clear and use it as a paperweight.
If you do decide to try drilling a hole in it, be sure to wear safety goggles. I'd also recommend practicing on a couple of shards of glass that don't have sentimental value first, just to get a feel for working with that type of glass.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
About the thread title, yes! I just assumed that this was going to be a thread about a movie you'd seen. I imagined that it probably starred Julianne Moore, featured a somewhat washed out palette colors, and took itself very seriously.
No, seriously--I got a such a clear picture of it that I'd almost think that I were recalling an actual movie.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
Drip hydrofluoric acid on it.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by Noemon: No, seriously--I got a such a clear picture of it that I'd almost think that I were recalling an actual movie.
Actually, I think they ran a trailer for A Hole in Glass during last week's Hiatus. I'll have to rewatch it to be sure, though.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
You have no idea how much I wish I'd thought of that.
Posted by Dead_Horse (Member # 3027) on :
For a few dollars, many home/auto glass service shops will drill a hole in glass for you. When I make sliding glass cabinet doors, I use a hole to attach the knobs. Of course, they are selling me the glass, too. I would imagine there are no guarantees against breakage for something like a piece of beer bottle.
So, can you share the significance of this particular piece of glass?
Posted by HollowEarth (Member # 2586) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lisa: Drip hydrofluoric acid on it.
No.
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
quote:Originally posted by HollowEarth:
quote:Originally posted by Lisa: Drip hydrofluoric acid on it.
No.
Agreed. Even the suggestion is scary.
My preferred way of drilling holes in glass is to chuck a pencil in a drill press, with the eraser end where the tip of the drill should be. Put a puddle of valve grinding compound (or other abrasive) on the glass, and place it under the drill. With the drill running, bring the eraser down into the puddle of abrasive, and apply pressure in short bursts, lifting the drill slightly every few seconds to allow the abrasive to repuddle. It takes a while, but it cuts well, and leaves a stress free hole. Make sure you flip it and cut from the other side when you're part way through.
Posted by stihl1 (Member # 1562) on :
Take a nail, a torch, and a vise. Heat the glass while clamped in the vise until it's soft. Just in the spot you want the hole. Once it's soft, push the nail through until the hole is made. Finished.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I wouldn't do that with a piece of glass that was really important to me, stihl. I've had glass break while I was heating it before.
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You have no idea how much I wish I'd thought of that.