I’m working on an art project that involves cutting ~ 1-inch holes in class tea cups and a tea pot. What are the best tools for this? It looks like I want some diamond-tipped drill bits but I have no idea what are quality bits. Does anybody have any experience in this area that can give me guidance?
Thanks!
The good news, tea cups and teapots aren’t usually tempered glass. Otherwise breaking one would give you thousands of pea sized kernels of glass instead of 5 or 8 big pieces.
The bad news, drilling glass is still tricky for the novice.
For a hole that large you’re going to need a glass cutting hole saw. Amazon or eBay if your local hardware stores don’t carry them.
It will also be much easier if you have access to a drill press to keep the bit stable and to apply consistent, steady pressure. In fact, I wouldn’t recommend even trying it without one because the saws don’t have a center guide bit to stabilize the outer cutting edge.
But once you’re ready to go on, just remember to maintain a steady pressure and keep the cut lubricated with water or light oil.
And practice on cheap stuff first.
ETA: I’d hit youtube for instructional videos. A picture being worth a thousand words and all. The technique is pretty much identical for plate glass and ceramic tile so any of those would be good.
Your local glass shop could drill these holes for you. If you do it yourself use a smaller hole to start and file out the sides of the hole to get to the right size. Drill from the top and put water or oil in the cups to cool it and act as a lubricant. It’s going to be tricky to do, get the glass shop to do it for you if you can. Do you absolutely have to put holes in them?
Projammer hit the nail on the head
I used to work, briefly, in a lighting factory and had to drill holes in glass all the time. IME a one inch hole is a really big one, prepare to break a lot of glass. Seriously use a drill press.
Good Luck
Show us some pics when you finish, if you don’t mind
Capt
Thanks guys, this is the kind of advice I’m looking for.
Ah, thanks. I thought all heat-resistent glass was tempered.
Do you have any advice on what makes a quality bit? Amazon has one for $6 which seems awfully cheap. Is that going to last and make quality holes?
Yup, got a drill press and a Dremel. I have access to a milling machine but that would be a major pain.
I plan on documenting it as much as possible and making it public. Here’s my project; if you have any advice or pointers I will gladly hear them.
What I’m hoping to do is design my own ceiling light with 4-5 pendants. The pendants will consist of a tea service: two cups+saucers, tea pot, sugar bowl, and maybe a milk dispensor. They will be hanging upside down from a tea tray. Other than the tray they will all be frosted glass (I may end up frosting them myself). I’m going to take my time and hope to get all the components of the tea service from thrift stores and yard sales. That kind of stuff is generally cheap and I’m not too concerned with ruining a few along the way.
I’m going to use something like these for installing the lights in the cups and tea pot. These are the smallest lights that put out a reasonable wattage. I want to use silver crown bulbs like this. If I can drill the holes I think the rest of the project will be relatively staight forward.
Are you planning to make something like this? https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-A2eOfpH-Pac/UOOgGiJILSI/AAAAAAABHkU/q3mDb5wm2WY/s640/IMG_0552.JPG
Do you have to drill it? Would a torch work?
That’s close but my cups will will hang from the base by a wire.
I have an oxy-acy torch. Is that easier? It seems like that would be harder to control.
If I may piggyback on this thread with a question of my own:
I wanted to have a towel bar installed on the outside of my shower door (this requires drilling two holes so the bar can be anchored on the inside), which was already tempered, but the provider said it was not possible to drill through it after it had been tempered (they do their customization first and then temper the glass). Is this not true? The door is pretty thick, maybe 3/4", maybe that makes a difference?
Roddy
I’m fairly certain that you can neither cut nor drill glass once it’s been tempered - to do so would cause it to shatter no matter what.
That said, I want what’s in the link from AaronX! WANT!
Oh, here, I’ll just let wikipediaexplain it better:
This! Been there tried to do that. I was cleaning up glass pebbles for days. I was luckily wearing eye protection and long sleeves, since the glass exploded. I actually had some bruises and one small cut.
Deeg, you only need a hole large enough to pass the wires through. You can glue the socket to the interior.
I used to do stained glass. To cut such a hole out, I’d first drill an 1/8 pilot hole. To do that, I’d make a circle out of plumber’s putty and fill that with water; my pilot hole mark would be surrounded by water as I drilled my hole .
I have what is known as a “ring saw.” This is a specialized form of ***wet ****bandsaw *that is made for glass art. I’d thread my ring saw blade (the blade comes apart) thru my pilot hole and cut my circle out.
It’s easy with the right tools.
What do you guys think about using something like this?
(ETA: any web site called glass-holes.com has gotta be good, right?)
That is the correct tool.
You need to flood it with coolant while you are cutting the hole, and it will be really messy. Also, a drill press will pretty much be required. If you don’t use a battery-powered drill, be sure to use a GFI-protected circuit!
Minor zombie alert! Thought I’d post a follow-up.
I ended up getting a drill bit from these guys. It was more expensive than the $5 bits on Amazon but I figured, perhaps wrongly, that I was getting what I paid for. I’ve used it on a single glass teacup so far and it worked great. A nice clean hole 1-1/8" wide and it was relatively simple. I kept the bit under water the whole time and went slow.
For searchers who get a hit on the title of this thread, your drill supplier has a FAQ page on drilling tempered glass.
Short answer - don’t try.
Question: I have a beautiful tequila bottle (with a blown glass interior sculpture). I would like to convert it to a lamp (need a small hole drilled in the base). Should I bring it to a glass shop? Drilling sounds dicey-I have never done it before.
I have a friend who would buy glass vessels to use as flower pots. After trying many times to drill a hole in the bottoms of these different vessels without success, he took a chisel and hammer and made his holes without breaking the glass. They are not uniform but it works most times.
This discovery was 20some years ago and we both still use this method.
