Acrylic fabrication questions? I can help!

[Randall_James]

Juststartingout:

"Remember that old age and treachery will overcome youth and enthusiasm"> Clint Brauner (Indy car pioneer) I had the fortune of meeting Clint before he died.

[Acrylics]

Originally posted by Randall_James
Ok exactly what I needed!
Could you point me to a good place for the router bits with some part numbers? At 50 to 70 each, I want to make sure I get the stuff I need.

I don't know of the places to get them online so can't help ya there - sorry. But the cutters themselves shouldn't run more than ~$20-25 each for good quality cutters. If you wanted to go with a solid carbide spiral fluted flushcutter - then you're looking at $65-80. Is it worth it? not sure if you don't plan on doing alot of this but they do turn 1" acrylic to mulch very easily so gets the "coolness" factor in my book . For brand names of cutters look at Whiteside, Amana, CMT, and Bosch. There are others as well but these are the 4 that I use most and would recommend them to anyone.
Maybe someonel else 'round here who buys this stuff online might chime in with a reputable place to get them online. I buy most of my stuff from my saw blade guy don't look around too much other than just to check prices once in a while - keeps him honest ya know

HTH,

James

[SUMMERS]

Here is where I get all of my online bits. http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shops...routerbit.html

Spiral http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shops...ushtrim_anchor

Chamfer http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shops.../bt_chamf.html

Round-over http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shops.../bt_rndvr.html

I use a Bosch straight cutter. http://www.boschtools.com/accessorie...177705&G=57233

[Randall_James]

Thank you so much for sharing this type of information. I realize it is your livelyhood and is like giving away the keys to your car. Kudos~!

[TheCoralReef731]

Just a simple question. How do you bend acrylic and what tools or materials are needed. Do you need heat?

[Randall_James]

They make these nifty (albeit expensive) heat tapes. I got a 24" for I think it was $34.

[Zooanthid33]

I am thinking about building a 3'X3'X18" aquarium with an island overflow. I have already talked to tenecor about said aquarium. They want 1140 and I think I can do it for a little more than half. I have built sumps in the past and had good luck but this is a different animal. I am thinking of using 1/2" cast acrylic. My question comes in welding. In the past I have used the capillary method and it has worked. I was thinking to increase the strength and surface area for the weld on, that I would use a slot cutter bit and do a sort of tongue and groove type procedure. I don't know the technical name for this but what I was thinking was creating a "dovetail drawer" but instead of it being a dovetail it would just be a straight groove in one piece with a straight tongue in the ajoining piece. Will this work? Any thoughts on this?

Thanks,

Eric

[kabboord]

Acrylic Man,
I have a 10" Mitre saw... and its really the only piece of equipment to work with...
Where online could I find a good 10" miter saw blade for cutting cast acrlyic tube and small squares of acrylic sheet... basically I just want to make a couple of cheep carbon, phosban, second Calcium, and kalk reactors... just real simple stuff... clear tube with two ends and two john guests at the top...

Also could i get such a blade at home depot... I know basically that I want as many teeth as possible, carbide tip, and no rake... where online can I find these blades.. preferably in he 50-90$ range.
Thanks

[Randall_James]

Zooanthid33
I saw earlier in this thread where that is not needed. A good joint weld is as strong or stronger than the material. At least that is how I read it..
Oh BTW
[welcome]
Zooanthid33

[adrinal]

HD is fine for blades. If you were making tons of tanks, it has been suggested to get a SUPER Blade... but just for some diy stuff you should be fine assuming you are using your router to smothe the edges for gluing. I use the blade that came with the Dewalt Miter.

From what I know you pretty much need the router for good glue joints.

[Randall_James]

I have been using a hand edger for my joints. It puts a small radius on the end and if I pull the pins to early, no filet...

Just time consuming to do this by hand. I still need to find a router table (the $100 ones at the store look like a poor choice). Am just about ready to break down and make my own, just a matter of how much time I have to work on it.

[TheCoralReef731]

Hello Randall (or anyone else, PLEASE HELP ME), It seems that you know a lot about acrylic, or at least 100 times more than me. I need to make an overflow box, like the CPR ones (which they gave me the measurements for ). I know that they are overpricing for such a simple thing. Well anyways, for such a small thing, is there a way to not bend the acrylic, but just join different parts. Also, is a special saw required for acrylic.

Thanks
Peter

[TheCoralReef731]

I also have heard someone say that they just held plexiglass (which I hope is similar) over a flame untill it got really hot, and then bent it. Does this work?

[chipmaker]

I have a question.
I acquired a heap of various plastics when the local plastics distributor moved to a new location and did a big time house cleaning of odds and ends and drops. They litterally filled a huge rolloff type dumpster up with stuff, ranging from full sheets with broken corners or a scratch or so, to rods, tube and all kinds of stuff........I probably carried home 8 or 9 pickup truck loads.......(tons of the stuff all for free)


What I have that I am mainly interested in, is what is labeled as ballistic acrylic. It seems to be three or so pieces laminated together, and its approximately 1" in thickness. I have quite a few sheets of this stuff that I would like to make into an aquarium if possible......Will the weldon solvents be suifficient or do I need something special to solvent weld this stuff.

[TheCoralReef731]

Hello chipmaker, what are these weldon solvents that you speak of, and where can I purchase them?

[chipmaker]

The Weldon is just the typical brand of solvents/adhesives used to glue up acrylics as preciously mentioned in this forum......I use a lot of methylene chloride (label brand Dico) for lots of other purposes, so I get it whlesale from a local chemicals supply house. Seems that no matter how tight you seal the container back up, when you need it again its all evaporated out.......I now buy as small of containers as possible.....Most all plastics suppliers should have them.

[Acrylics]

TheCoralReef731,

I would not recommend just running the acrylic over a flame - acrylic does burn fairly easily and very messy if you catch it on fire.
You can just join two pcs together if you wish, now real special tools. Look in your local yellolw pages under plastics for a local distributor such as Laird Plastics which will carry all the solvents, plastic, etc.


Chipmaker,
Ballistic Acrylic or Ballistic Polycarbonate such as Lexguard will often/usually delaminate when you attemt to glue them. They are just not designed for this type of application but rather to be fit in a frame with the edges sealed. What brand is it? and any other specifications on it, maybe an inspection sticker on it?

HTH,

James

[chipmaker]

The ballistc stuff I have is made by Sheffield Plastics, called Makrolon. I had read it can be solvent welded, but the solvent welding process can make the polycarbonate joint somewhat weaker. I don't know if there is a special solvent for polycarbonate sheet or not as I have not pursued it any futher, but this stuff is just begging to be used for something like a tank.....I oculd make a stainless frame, but not overly fond of that concept. I have thought about mitering the edges on a 45 for more bond area as well, as I have a fully equipped machine shop which is also good for working plastics.....with mills CNC and Manual, lather, shaper, shears, etc etc

Also have my own homebrew strip heaters I made years ago for various projects........ I have done drape forming already and had planned to make a bow front tank with a built in sump in the back. The wife just bought me a SW setup, but I still want to build a tank of my own design and size just for the heck of it.

[Acrylics]

I wouldn't do it out of the balllistic Makrolon. It doesn't glue the same way as acrylic insofar as joint strength and it is *very* likely that it will delaminate during machining and/or gluing. Polycarbonate also scratches *much* easier than acrylic as it is a much softer plastic, hence the properties that it has. It can be solvent welded with any of the acrylic solvents as well as Weld-on 2007 which is essentially THF (tetrahydrafuran), same stuff as in PVC pipe cement though it is recommended to only solvent weld to the "faces" of laminated material to avoid delamination.

HTH,
James

[TheCoralReef731]

I have found a GE Polymershapes that is near me. Seems like they have all of that stuff, but not the glue. Thanks Acrylics and Chipmaker.

[bnplu]

I need to cut a 6" o ring out of 1/4" acrylic to put on my skimmer. The outside diameter is 6" and the inside hole is 4". I cut the outside with my band saw but my question is how do I and what do I use to cut the hole for the inside? Thank ya'll for any advice you can give.

[Acrylics]

bnpl,

Cheap n easy way is a hole saw - available at most big box hardware stores.

HTH,
James

[bnplu]

Acrylics, Thanks! I didn't know they made holesaws that big. I'll check it out.

[Randall_James]

If you can not find the hole saw, check with your local stereo shop. They use 6" saws for speaker installs and might steer you in the right direction.

[TheCoralReef731]

Where do people get those huge tubes for skimmers?