Drilling acrylic

[rstar]

Just wondering how difficult it is to drill acrylic and what type of bit do you use? I want to drill for a bulkhead through the side of my sump for the drain line, it takes up too much realestate in the sump. I think my sump was originally supposed to have a bulhead in the side of it. Also how high in relation to the first baffle do i put the hole?

[hillegom]

Tagging along because, I too want to drill acrylic, without "splintering" the plastic

[ridder]

Drill slow with wood as a backing.You can also use water for cooling the bit as well,
because the bit will get very hot and will bind with the acrylic.

[Skimmin]

You'll probably find a hole saw works best. Acrylic is quite resilient and drills quite easily. It also works well if you start the hole on one side and finish from the other to keep the hole clean.

[Sam1969]

I would use a forestner bit instead of a hole saw ... but thats just me

[sphelps]

A hole saw works just fine. Drilling cast acrylic is very easy and doesn't require any special procedure, extruded however tends to melt and could jam up the bit which could result in a crack. For extruded a little water to keep the material cool is a good idea and a little finesse goes a long way :wink:

[rstar]

So the big question Steve is which acrylic do you use for your sumps as you built mine for me! :wink:

[rstar]

Also should the bulkhead be halfway submerged and half unsubmerged to get air out of the line? ie: When the sump is running should it drain where the max water level comming into the sump is?

[sphelps]

That sump was made from extruded acrylic. You'll want to drill the bulkhead so it is centered where the water line will be or slightly higher. That way it will do exactly what you described.