# How to bevel glass?



## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

Do not use steel on glass. Use a power sander. It wont look as pretty as an ADA one, but I doubt you want to get a diamond glass router either (expensive).

I've used belt sander with success.


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## Armonious (Aug 16, 2010)

Dang, wish my belt sander didn't die on me a couple months back. Not really wanting to buy a new one concidering that I'll be moving to school in less than a month. Not really much use for a belt sander there.

What grit do you use for the belt on one of those. Or do you use two different grits, one for rough shaping, and then one for polishing?


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## xmas_one (Feb 5, 2010)

I would just clean the edges up with a rubber sanding block and some fine grit wet sandpaper and call it a day. You are not going to be able to achieve a presentable polished beveled edge on a derimmed 10 gallon tank without taking it apart and using very expensive equipment.


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## Armonious (Aug 16, 2010)

Just curious, why would I need to take it apart in order to get a nice finish? I assume you are referring to the fact that the inside corners would be difficult to get, but I could be wrong.

On a side note, this whole working the same hours that my LFS is open is getting pretty irritating. I keep meaning to stop in and pick up some supplies, but then I get called in to go to work.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

I did this on something besides a fishtank before. What I did was cut block. Then I had a local wood worker (friends dad) put in groove in the block that was half round and the width of the glass. I am sure you could do another shape, that is just what I needed. I just used regular white glue to glue sand paper in so I could easily replace it when changing grit or if the sand paper loaded up. I went from 800 grit to 2000, I don't know if that is necessary, I was just going off of what I knew about polishing aluminum and used the same technique. The only issue I can see is the corners, you will have to do that by hand.


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

I used something like this...http://www.amazon.com/Inland-inch-Glass-Grinder-Bit/dp/B00356G3VG


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

A diamond sharpening stone would work as well.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

I use a sharpening stone, a silicon carbide one. If you use little pressure you can grind down the corners pretty easily and quickly. But, apply much pressure and it just knocks small chips off the corner.


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## Armonious (Aug 16, 2010)

Alright, thanks Hoppy and others. I think I have decided what I'm going to do now. 

Time to head out to the LFS tommorrow and pick up some goodies.


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## Armonious (Aug 16, 2010)

Update: Cracked the first tank I got due to getting impatient and misjudging the torque I was applying to the stand. That and using only razor blades instead of a box cutter must have made slicing the silicone from part of the top rim impossible. I assume this was part of the problem, because the bottom did not have this issue.

Anyway, went out today and picked up a new 10g. Using a box cutter I also picked up, removing the rim went even smoother than my last successful attempt. I had both the bottom and top off in less than twenty minutes I believe, conciderably less time than the hour I spent on the failed tank before I cracked it. 

Really wish I would have thought about using a box cutter earlier. All that pressure from the tiny razorblade pressed up against my fingertip is pretty annoying.


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## xmas_one (Feb 5, 2010)

http://www.marinedepot.com/Mr._Aqua...nk_Rectangular-Mr._Aqua-AZ1119-FIAQRA-vi.html

53 bucks shipped...


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## Armonious (Aug 16, 2010)

Thanks for the info xmas_one. I actually saw that site about a week ago, and have read up a bit on the Mr. Aqua tanks. If anything, I would get their 17.4gal (60P equivalent) tank. That, however, would come in the future. Cost of my two 10gal tanks endedu p coming out to a little under $20. I had de-rimmed one tank before this, but decided not to use it due to all of the scratches from when someone *cough* my brother *cough* thought steel wool would be a good idea to use to rid of algae. The one that I finished earlier today came out nicer than I expected, which is always a pleasant surprise.

My stand housing this tank will be 60P sized, so if I ever upgrade, it'll likely be to that size. I would wait a year or two at the least though. I'm low on spending money at the moment with purchasing 'needed' supplies for college (still trying to convince my mom that my equipment is a necessity, but failing).

Having more than one tank running will likely have to wait until I either move off campus and have the extra funds, or once I graduate.


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

Just a bump for an old thread because I may be taking down my 45g tank in the coming months (b/c we will be moving) but I'll take it down early and bevel all the glass better than I did last time. 


I am going to attempt to use diamond sharpening stones for this like Hoppy mentioned. I have some that are about 2X4" in various grits. However I need some fairly strong bevels, so I'll probably start it with a belt sander and then finish it off with the 800 grit diamond stones. 


I plan on taking a reciprocating saw, grinding the teeth off the blade, and mounting a block of wood onto the blade (90 degrees to the blade for strength/rigidity) to act as a platen to hot-glue the sharpening stone to. 

This would allow me to use some pretty strong back/forth mechanical action in a HURRY that will be fairly easy to control. If I start with a coarse grit it may work faster than a belt sander, I won't know till I try it.


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