Drilling Holes into tempered shower door
Cooper
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
Due to the recession, I finally have time to tackle things around my own house, so after three years, I’m finally finishing the upstairs bathroom. To save money, I’ve opted to install my own shower door. I bought a frameless, 3/8″ shower door that’s pivot mounted. I have to drill three holes in the bottom of the door in order to accept the baseplate. I’ve always thought you couldn’t drill through tempered glass without it breaking into a million pieces or shattering like car glass. What’s the best technique for this task?
Any help much appreciated!
Replies
The way to cut down car windshields for a top chop is sandblasting; anything like that possible?
Forrest
Windshields are not tempered glass.
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I refuse to accept that there are limitations to what we can accomplish. Pete Draganic
Take life as a test and shoot for a better score each day. Matt Garcia
I thought it couldn't be drilled also.
Track down user OBERON. If anyone knows for sure, he would be the one.
Are you sure that the three screws are not just clamp screws that clamp a plate & rubber onto the glass, post a picture if you can & re read the de-structos, look for the clamping action deal I'm talking about
No one should regard themselve as "God's gift to man." But rather a mere man whos gifts are from God.
I don't think you could successfully drill tempered glass, 80-90% failure rate. It is tempered after any drilling is done on it in the manufacturing process.
See this site for all the info you want to know:
http://www.diamond-drill-bit-and-tool.com/Diamond-Drill/Default.htm?DD1.htm
http://www.cadvision.com/blanchas/54pontiac/windshield.html
Cutting a car windshield with sandblasting
Note that a car windshield isn't tempered.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. -John Kenneth Galbraith
Right, it's laminated. Still rated as safety glass."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
tempered glass CAN NOT be cut or drilled... unless you do it BEFORE the temper is put in... tempered glass is in constant temper or stress... meaning the outer surface layer of the glass is heated and the inner core is not... think of a very tight wire in tension... thats the surface of your glass...
can't be drilled... sandblasted... or cut... you can't even etch it without a good chance of failure
P
I've etched (sandblasted) tempered glass for two porch windows, made from a patio door i cut apart. Worked fine, still there ten years later.
I must ask the obvious are you sure they are tempered? They have a tempered stamp on them. Depending how old not all patio doors are of tempered glass. I have heard that with some tempered glass can be etched, not sure about sandblasting. One thing for sure they can not be drilled after the fact.Wallyo
Edited 4/5/2009 2:20 pm by wallyo
Tempered glass has the "bug" in a lower corner...yep, it was tempered. I was also told it wouldn't work, but the panel came to me for free, so no loss if it didn't work. And it was sandblasted (i did it), not acid-etched. Two of them, so it wasn't a fluke. No, i don't try drilling them. You can do some cool stuff with sandwiching tempered glass between two panels and then intentionally breaking it though. This was a display cabinet in downtown Ottawa...
might have been safety glass vs tempered... I've etched (sandblasted) alot of glass... and I'm sure some of it was tempered and didn't shatter... but i've also had it shatter within minutes of etching it...
btw... being cheap... I have always used plain old stick on shelf paper for my masking when blasting...
p
Don, the guy that does glass etching and I think other things, has said that it depends on the how thick the "skin" is and the type of and depth of the etching.That you can "scratch the surface", but the deeper the more of a change that the one piece of glass will become many..
William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe
as i understand it thats is so... acid/chemical etching shouldn't be an issue... light sandblasting usually causes no problems... but you can etch deep for details when sandblasting... and that is usually when you see a problem... the blasting grit could also effect it... fine sand... walnut shells ect... would be safer...
been a few years since i etched much... but i use to do entire storefronts...
p
I worked at plant that made tempered, laminated and insulated glass back in 1983. And when the surface tension is broken the glass shatters. All work is done before tempering.
Brian
Cooper,
Ponytl is correct...You CANNOT drill thru tempered glass...it will break...period.
Cardiac Paul gave you some GREAT ADVICE...re-read your shower door instructions. You should not have to drill any holes thru your glass shower door. No manufacturer would instruct you to do this!
Somewhere or somehow you are confusing your directions concerning the installation of said door. If still uncertain as to what to do, look up the phone number of the manufacturer ( should be listed with your instruction manual) and call them. Confer with one of their feild reps as to how to proceed.
Davo
eh? What's that Sonny? Kin ya speak up a little??"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
reminds me of the one time I did try to drill tempered glass.
had to come up with a rigged way of attaching a different handle to a friends glass door oven.
I knew it was tempered ... I knew U couldn't drill tempered.
for some reason ... maybe 'cause I'm a idiot ... I decided to "try".
got a glass drill bit ... oiled it and started slow.
the plan ... start slow ... and at the first sign it wouldn't work ...
stop ... cause ya can't drill tempered ... and come up with plan B.
started slow ... glass bit ... actually started to drill thru!
I was amazed .... decided I was wrong ... U can drill tempered.
about 30 seconds later ... bits of glass oven door all over her kitchen.
her little yap-yap dog took off like a shot.
I thot I hit him with a shard of glass.
took forever to clean up .. as she was to be home in about 3 minutes.
got it all cleaned up ... and learned where the local appliance parts store was.
Guy said that make had 3 options ... OK price, OK price ... and way too expensive price.
Guess which one I broke?
Luckily my retelling of the story made him laugh ... he sold me the new front at cost.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
When I was in the Army and stationed in Hawaii, I was cleaning the tempered glass shower doors before leaving the rental. I had to remove them to do the tracks. As I did so, I bumped an edge against the tub and ended up with a pile of glass pebbles around my feet and nothing in my hands. Of course, I was bare footed, since one doesn't wear shoes indoors in Hawaii. "Mary," I screamed. After she stopped laughing, she swept the shards away from my feet. So, we put on a new door before leaving Hawaii. I don't think you can drill it.
Hey, I was with 125 Signal/25 Inf at Schofield. Where were you?"Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Try a .22 -- it will work as well as anything else.AitchKay
I've done several of my own glass shower enclosures. Here's the company I use for all my parts. They're "invaluable"!!! http://www.crlaurence.com/apps/login/customerlogin.asp?redirect=/Apps/Order/CartOrder.asp
You do have to prove your're a contractor though...at least when I signed up several years ago.
http://www.cliffordrenovations.com
http://www.ramdass.org
Cooper as has been said something is wrong, you say pivot hinge is this a CR laurence pivot hinge? There are no notches in the glass the hinge clamps to the glass, If so this type of hinge requires three holes drilled into the curb of the shower not the glass.
http://www.crlaurence.com/ProductPages/M/MA01CH_31488-high.html?Origin=
Wallyo
Best technique is to not do it.
Can't be done
sully
Cooper
The first biggest part of this forum is learning from everyones triumphs and mistakes. And believe me we all make the mistakes, case in point I was installing a steel front door with leaded glass between two tempered glass panels once. All was going well. old door out new door in, fit perfect on the outside. I was headed around to the inside, no wind nice calm day. Went around to the back entrance, opened the door walked in heard a small explosion. Tempered glass all over suction of opening the back door pulled in the new door. Since I had not pinned or strapped it, the door fell right on my saw-all which was on the foyer floor. If the saw was not there the glass may have survived, biggest mistake not fastening it temp like
I was lucky no other damage, no one hurt, The door was an off the shelf big box door in stock and only 189.00. I still made a few dollars on the job, and was not fired on the spot.
So I have to ask how did things turn out? What did you find out? Please let us know.
Wallyo
drilling holes in glass (or anything else hard)
Even though I have yet to do this with TEMPERED glass, drilling holes in glass can be done safely.
Using a drill press. It allows you to keep the work piece stationary and allows for very adjustable, very light pressure to be applied to the drill 'bit'. Most drill presses have a rotating handle with three handles, a small spring or weight can be used to maintain a light downward pressure while drilling. Providing the downward pressure is far more controllable than you can hope to do with a motor drill or even trying to use your hand on the drill press's handle...use a spring or small weight attached to one of the handles.
The 'bit' to use is a short and absolutely straight piece of copper tubing, filled with VALVE GRINDING COMPOUND! The size of the tubing will be the size of the hole you will drill. A short piece of steel rod driven into the 'chuck' end of your 'bit' will prevent the tubing from crimping in and becoming loose in the chuck of the drill press.
SLOW light pressure is required, as the copper tubing heats the grinding compound will melt and run down to where the actual grinding takes place. Make SURE that point never runs short of compound or shattering will occur due to heat buildup.
Patience is key in doing this process. You may even walk away and check it later, once you have made sure that the 'bit' is not going to get hot. Heat fatigue is what causes the glass to break. As drilling takes place, the copper tubing will be ground away. If your 'bit' gets too hot to touch, slack off on the downward pressure. With patience this process will yield a precise hole with no sharp edges AND you will also get a 'divot' inside of the copper tubing....suitable for grinding a lens for a telescope!
Valve grinding compound is made of pure graphite which is the same stuff diamonds are made of. There is no reason that this process can be used to drill a hole in ANYTHING, including tempered glass or ceramics, as long as heat is never allowed to build up.
Must be Easter in Sept, another resurrection?
Anyway, my grandkids successfully drill old side car windows every time there is a spare around.
A 22 LR drills 'em good, nice satisfying shatter. Pellet gun at >990 fps work aon 2nd or 3rd shot also.
bb gun takes quite a few, but eventually the tempred glass is 'drilled' , just wear safet;y glasses for the richochets.
edit -- valve grinding compound being graphite is real news to me, always thought it was aluminum oxide or silicon carbide.
ya learn something every day, eh? such as the wierd misconceptions of other people ?
btw, how come when graphite put into locks, they are not ground away.
FWIW, how do U spel facetious, facieitious, etc - my tongue hurts.....
I used to drill the glass for the local Pella window store for inside shades. This was in the later part of the 1970s. A knob was used to open or close the shade, and it went through the glass. Mostly for entry door shades. We had a drill press that attached to glass with a suction cup, and that baby was so heavy it could break regular glass from just the weight of the drill press, but that is what you need for success, a hand drill is too uncontrollable.
I used a a glass spear point carbide bit mostly, but the hole was like 3/4 inch away from the corner and it was easy to break the glass with the spear point, so I sometimes used a hollow bit with as I remember, carborundum powder mixed with oil and kerosene, with a putty dam around it. It took longer, but was more likely to be successful. The spear point bits were also done similarly, but with just the oil/kerosene mix. We didn't have any graphite around, unless it was for lubricating something on the decrepit service trucks. The bigger problem with them was keeping stuff necessary to operate the vehicle attached to said vehicle. I could tell a story involving a train, and the stalled out service truck on the track, that ended well, but at the last possible time before bail and RUN with the wind for safety.
Oh, the joy... I'm still scarred up from that job, well not the little glass hole drilling jobs, but broken storefronts, commercial plate glass doors and windows, the huge auto dealership broken windows, drag line crane skylight at the quarry etc etc etc.
I miss it in a small way, but while sometimes exciting, it was not exciting in a good way sometimes.
I was told that you cannot drill tempered glass without shattering it.
Hot rodders say that tempered glass can be drilled and cut with blasting media, but that is something I never tried.