How can you drill holes in a sheet of glass or what other ways can I accomplish this?

Question

I found an entertainment center with a broken glass door, so I removed the door that was still intact.

Its a rosey beige color. I wanted to paint some sort of oriental cherry blossom theme onto it with some black and maybe a little creme paint.

The big idea is that its hung so that it stands about an inch or two off the wall. Since its just a solid sheet of glass I wondering how I could accomplish and still maintain a pleasant clean aesthetic quality.

How would I go about drilling holes in the glass? Do they do things like this at Home Depot or Lowes? Is it difficult to do and what type of tools are required?

Or does anyone have any suggestions of how I could accomplish this look without having holes drilled?

I've been thinking about it for a while now and I can't come up with something that would look nice without drilling but I'm open to new ideas.

Answer 1

To drill glass you need a carbide bit, a low speed or variable speed drill, and silcone oil. Run the drill at lowest possible speed and keep the bore filled with oil. Don't get in a hurry. Glass breaks from heat and the oil keeps everthing cool. It can take up to 30 minutes to drill an 1/8" thick glass or longer.

Answer 2

You could always try a drill or some tool like that, but you would have to be careful of the thickness of the glass so that it wouldn't shatter. Not many products hold glass well, and the ones that say they do, don't always do so in my opinion.

One thing I'm pretty sure would work (but might be a bit more time-consuming) is to use a jeweler's reamer. It's like a tiny screwdriver that you would use to make holes in delicate items by hand. Fire Mountain Gems sells them on their website for anywhere from a couple of bucks to $21, depending on the size and quality you need. They are a jewelry supplier, and have some of the best prices I've seen. And they will mail order, so you won't have to hunt around in a hardware store.

I'm not sure where you would find one locally if you don't want to order one. Just search your local businesses for jewelry suppliers or hobby stores. I don't think Hobby Lobby or Michael's sell them, I was just there today, but I might have missed it.

Good luck with your project.
R

Answer 3

There may be ways to do it without drilling--but I would be afraid they would not hold. You can get bits to drill glass--but you need a super high speed drill. I would just take it to a glass shop and ask them to do it. I bet they would only charge you a couple of bucks.

Answer 4

You can't actually "drill" holes but you can grind holes in glass with a small high speed rotary tool like a Dremel tool, and a small bullet-shaped grinding head.