Acrylic fabrication questions? I can help!

[Zephrant]

Try not to use that bit to hog out material either. If you are trying to take a full-width cut with it, it tends to over-heat, frying the bearing.

Trim it close with a band-saw, circular saw, table-saw, or other, then just clean it up with the bit and the bearings last a long time.

Before it does go, head down to Brown Bearing (or similar) and get a few replacements for $5 each. Guaranteed it will seize up on Friday night at 5:15, just after the bearing shops close for the weekend.

Zeph

[Acrylics]

Been there before have ya?
I thinx we all have... or will

James

[FishFamily]

Acrylicman,
I just purchased a Euroreef ES6-1 skimmer. It is made with an extruded acrylic tube. The more expensive model, CS6-1 is made with a cell cast acrylic tube. I read earlier where you don't recommend extruded acrylic. Will it be a problem in this application?

[Acrylics]

It will most likely be fine as skimmers are not under much pressure but I'd check with the mfrs warranty regarding crazing. The main problem with extruded tubing is it's tendency to craze under stress, whether physical or chemical. Whatever you do, keep alcohols, ammonia, acids, etc., away from the tube, this would include Windex and other cleaning agents (basically anything that smells). Clean with just water. These may seem like common sense, but folks do want to have clean looking equipment and do, at times, clean with these solutions.
Folks have been making these things for a long time and while I don't particularly agree with the use of extruded tube, it does work provided the above is taken into account.
I should make a video and post it somewhere of what happens, after 30 seconds or so - you can literally pull the tubing apart with your hands

James

[H20ENG]

James,
30 seconds of alcohol contact?

[Acrylics]

Yes, or 5-10 seconds of alcohol contact on material that has any "extra" stress such as flame polishing, melting (from cutting or drilling with dull tooling), or even some "extra strength" solvents. It's a demonstration I use in the shop from time to time to "persuade" folks to use the cast material not that it *will* happen but *can*. Doing this with a flame polished piece really works well.

James

[albinooscar]

Acrylicman

Do you know if there is any truth to acrylic curling when staying in water for a length of time?

What I'm talking about is placing a sheet of thick acrylic (say about 1/2") on the bottom of the tank instead of starboard to protect the glass from fall objects (rocks). Do you think this would curl?

Thanx,
Ron

[jthunder]

Quick question:

Can a complete acrylic beginner (read: no acrylic experience) build a tank from 3/8 thick cell cast acrylic? Or will this be especially challenging?

I would like to build a propagation tank (48"x36"x12"H) from acrylic but I don't want to waste money on material if this will be next to impossible.

What tools/material would be required to complete this project if all of the acrylic is bought precut?

Thanks

[culdublvd]

I was looking for more advice on a sump/refugium I want to build..The dimensions are (9"x28"x20")..You reccomended that I get 3/8 acrylic..Well I called Tap Plastics around here and the said it was gonna cost me over $150.00 just for the plastic..I was hoping to get this all done for about $50-$75..What dimensions would I need to change to use a thinner acrylic..The 9" dimension is the only one I can't change but the others can be smaller..Let me know any ideas you have..
THANKS!!
Brent

[Henna Ojisan]

culdublvd (Brent),
I built a sump with similar dimensions - not as tall though (24" long, 12" wide, 14" tall) and used 1/4" acrylic. The baffles I installed helped to prevent the major bowing and reinforced it, I also added 2 - 3" cross braces (works great to hold fuge light) on top to reinforce it. I've had no problems at all, and no bowing. I have a 3 compartment sump/fuge... (here is a Picture )

Pic of it in my stand: Sump in Stand Pic
I got my acrylic from TAP and it ran me about $70 including all the cuts. I have about $80 in it including the Weld-On 4 and 16 I got there too...

Send me a PM or e-mail if you have any questions on my set-up...

HTH-

[Fishkiller63]

Acrylics: im thinking of making a 50Gallon Pentagon tank with the smae dimentions as the tenecor 50 pentagon. I didnt want a top brace and didnt want to bend the acrylic, i wsa going to use a table saw and cut the pieces to the angles i need and glue them with weldon 4. I was going to use 1/2" acrylic to help make sure hte jiopnts all stay together on me. Do you see any problems in what im plannign on doing?

[aceman]

Acrylics,
I just bought a 46gal bow front for $50 at a Petco. Reduced because the flimsy plastic 1.5" center brace of the top fraame was broke off the back. It's a clean break. I was wondering if I could glue it back into place, then take a 2.5" piece of 1/8" acrylic and bond it to the top of the center brace plastic and to the front and back lip of the frame. What type of weld on would I use for a strong bond?

[Acrylics]

Originally posted by albinooscar
Do you know if there is any truth to acrylic curling when staying in water for a length of time?
What I'm talking about is placing a sheet of thick acrylic (say about 1/2") on the bottom of the tank instead of starboard to protect the glass from fall objects (rocks). Do you think this would curl?

Nah, you've got nothing to worry about here. No need to use thick acrylic though IMO, I'd use a chunk of 1/8" - 1/4" polycarbonate (Lexan).

Originally posted by jthunder
Can a complete acrylic beginner (read: no acrylic experience) build a tank from 3/8 thick cell cast acrylic? Or will this be especially challenging?

Sure you can do it, it would be a good idea to have someone with experience to help you out with it though. Someone who knows what to look out for and can recognize problems (or potential ones) is invaluable.

I would like to build a propagation tank (48"x36"x12"H) from acrylic but I don't want to waste money on material if this will be next to impossible.

understood

What tools/material would be required to complete this project if all of the acrylic is bought precut?

If you get it precut and routed, you shouldn't need much in the way of tooling, a small router with flush trim bit, make some gluing jigs, solvent, and applicator, and that's really all you *need*.

Originally posted by culdublvd
I was looking for more advice on a sump/refugium I want to build..The dimensions are (9"x28"x20")..You reccomended that I get 3/8 acrylic..Well I called Tap Plastics around here and the said it was gonna cost me over $150.00 just for the plastic..I was hoping to get this all done for about $50-$75..What dimensions would I need to change to use a thinner acrylic..The 9" dimension is the only one I can't change but the others can be smaller..Let me know any ideas you have..

PM me your list of pieces and I'll see what I can do. From the sound of it, $150 is IMHO a "wee bit" high, if you were local, I'd probably build you the thing for that.

Originally posted by Fishkiller63
im thinking of making a 50Gallon Pentagon tank with the smae dimentions as the tenecor 50 pentagon. I didnt want a top brace and didnt want to bend the acrylic, i wsa going to use a table saw and cut the pieces to the angles i need and glue them with weldon 4. I was going to use 1/2" acrylic to help make sure hte jiopnts all stay together on me. Do you see any problems in what im plannign on doing?

It's a tough challenge unless you've get plenty of exprience to get all the joints to be straight, square, and look good. Are you planning on butt joining at angles or mitering?

Originally posted by aceman
... was wondering if I could glue it back into place, then take a 2.5" piece of 1/8" acrylic and bond it to the top of the center brace plastic and to the front and back lip of the frame. What type of weld on would I use for a strong bond?

Probably either 1802 or 40. I don't know if that piece is ABS or styrene, someone else may know the answer to that but #1802 will work in either case. It's a thick syrupy cement that is made of MEK which will work on acrylic, styrene, and ABS. Allow to cure for a coupla days, this stuff is thick so needs longer to fully cure.
#40 is also a viable option if you can't get the 1802. Others may have had the same experience as you, hopefully they'll chime in.

HTH,
James

[skkyy]

Hey Acrylics,

I've just started practising bonding a few scraps and seem to have run into some probs.

When I'm applying the solvent, it's coming back out from the joint, should I wipe that excess off or just leave it?

Also the guy at the platic store recommended I use 16 on plastic that's not milled, like my cuts (table saw)

Should I sand the edges to get it smooth and go with 4 instead?

thanks for the help

[Fishkiller63]

i was going to mitre the them.

[schemo]

skkyy,
do not rub off the excess solvent. just let it evaporate, and then choose to go from there like sanding it out and then buffing it out. i wouldn't be to worried about it you can always route the excess on the outside and sand the inside. just keep trying over and over, you'll get it down pack.

schemo

[Eryl Flynn]

I just bought a 55 gallon reef ready and am considering building a sump/refuge. What I would like to do is build it into the stand. That way I can maximize the space I have.

Would it be ok to cut the base sit it in the stand, then clamp the back peice on and attach it with the weldon? Then just keep using the stand as a jointer? I don't care if the acrylic seaps and seals to the stand this thing is going to be unable to fit out once done.

[Shoestring Reefer]

Eryl Flynn,

I built pretty good-sized sump for my 55. Beforre the tank was on the stand, I removed the center brace on the top of the stand, dropped in the sump, then re-attached the brace.

Mike

[Eryl Flynn]

I thought about doing that also, but figured it might work out just as well doing it this way. My 55 is acrylic also and the top of the stand is solid, will have to check how it is attached and decide if that is an option. What has me concerned is the width at the middle with the center vertical brace.

I will look into that option but I am still wondering if it could or would work if I built it into the stand.

[tfowers]

Hi all! This is a great thread. I have a question about a seam I made for my tank I'm building. It's going to be 30x30x24H(90 gal) out of 1/2in GP I tried my first seam last night and it's almost flawless, except for one botch here:

zoomed:

I should note these bubbles are on the outside edge of the seam.
Any chance I could live with this? Or should I recut it and start over?
Thanks in advance - Tim

[AcroSteve]

How did it happen?

What size pins did you use? Weldon 4?

[tfowers]

Size 24 (gauge?) sewing pins. Yes, Weldon 4. Problems I think I had are too much room between pins and needed to wait longer to pull pins since it was cold.(waited 1 min) I think I'm going to glue a piece of acrylic over the bubble area inside to alleve my fears.
Tim

[Fishkiller63]

what size pins/needles does everyone use and where do you get them from?

[Triterium]

Hey James,
I just tried the pin method for the first time. Once I pulled the pins after about 30 seconds, the solvent came out about 1-2 mm. Other than that, the joints look perfect with no bubbles. When I pulled the pins, the solvent still looked watery. Does this mean I pulled too early or perhaps had too much solvent. I am using 25G hypo needles with cut-off ends. Thanks for all the help.

[skkyy]

Yeah I'm also having probs with the micro bubbles, I did the pin method and #16 solvent. Could it be that my edges were'nt sanded?