tank drilling?

[sharkboy]

What kind of saw or drill is needed to drill into acrylic? Any tips on doing this would be greatly appreciated.

[hobogato]

i have used the standard metal hole cutting tool for a drill on 1/4". the only problem, if you push to hard or the blade is dull, it will start to melt the acrylic around the hole and cause a little distortion. hopefully someone with more experience like dan, pete or ram will chime in here and give you a better answer.

[chrismikea]

take it to finaddict they can drill it for you

[Mr_Cool]

I used a paddle bit. It's really supposed to be used for wood, but if you go slow, it works just fine.

[sharkboy]

What do you all suggest I use for sealing the hole once the pvc is in?

[hobogato]

??? use a bulkhead and it will have a rubber gasket. some people put silicone on also.

[pilot_bell777]

If you are in Austin or around I would be happy to drill it for you.

[matt]

The best way by far to get a sizable hole in acrylic is to use a flush trim router bit and a template. The template is simply anything with the right size hole in it already, even the inside of a piece of PVC pipe will work. You just attach it to the acrylic you want to drill with some double sided tape, drill a pilot hole for the flush trim bit, and rout around the inside of the template. This way you have no chance of melting the acrylic or getting it hot enough to stress and weaken. If you're fitting a PVC fitting inside the hole when it's done, you can use weldon #40 to cement it in place. Silicone, PVC cement, and weldon #16 will not work, as the frst two don't bond to acrylic and the last doesn't bond to PVC.