# Cutting Hard plastic- need advise



## spotmonster (Nov 23, 2006)

What's the best way to cut hard brittle plastic, like you would see in those plastic 5 gal eclipse hex tanks all the stores have?

It's also similer to a Aquaclear HOB filter plastic. The cuts would need to be pretty clean. I'm open to ideas from holes to larger openings.

My idea is for a new diy fry tank. Will start a post when I figure out how to cut it.


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## zinn250 (Feb 16, 2009)

Well, it's kind of a pain. But I'm building a 100 gal tank - and I had to cut out spots in the top frame for my HOB filters. I used a dremel tool. Bought the little wheel that cuts through hard plastic, and it actually worked pretty well. You can't leave the tool on the plastic for long because it melts pretty easily. But, after cutting, I used a polishing type attachment and smoothed out my cut. It came out pretty decent!


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

I use Zinn's way as well...


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

> What's the best way to cut hard brittle plastic


Slow and carefully..or it will crack..if it does crack, you might be able to siicone over it.
I have used spade drills, hack saws..just regular hand/power tools and the only time I had problems was when I
1.Pushed to hard
2.Didn`t support it, too much flex
HTH


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## spotmonster (Nov 23, 2006)

Thanks all, I'll see what I can do over the weekend.... I hope.

The only thing I thought of that's not mentioned was heat.... using a wood burner or solder iron.


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

> using a wood burner or solder iron.


Never tried that..on purpose, that is. I have soldered some wires, got too close to plastic container, no good came of that


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## Hoosier Tank (May 8, 2007)

I have used a dremel, hole saw, even a sabre / jig saw for longer cuts. The best thing is a spray bottle of water to keep the cut wet and cool to prevent the platic from melting and clogging the cutting edge of whatever tool you use.


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