Acrylic fabrication questions? I can help!

ArmanS said:
James,

I purchased a large acrylic tank and want to know if you think the tank thickness is fine.

120" x 34" x 30" with 1" Acrylic Sides, 3/4" Acrylic top & bottom. Euro braced with 4 openings. Here is a pic to help.



Thanks,
Arman
Click to expand...
I sure hope so....

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 
Mirrored Acrylic

Mirrored Acrylic

I have never worked with mirrored acrylic.
Is the back side of mirrored acrylic reef/salt water safe?
Is it safe to put mirred acrylic inside a sump?
Is the mirred part a coating? What is it made of?
 
White acrylic is okay for a display tank, so long as it's cast, right? I had planned on using white for the bottom and back and someone in my build thread mentioned I should get your blessing. I see colors all the time for sumps and occasionally black incorporated in displays.

I'm good, right?! Tell me I'm good. Tell the truth, but tell me good.
:)
 
OhMatic said:
Yes aluminum oxide, but is it a coating? Or is it inside the acrylic?
Click to expand...
There are a coupla varieties, both are coatings. One is silver-backed, which is just the mirror coating on plain ol' acrylic. The other is similar but with a vinyl backing to protect the mirror coating. I don't know of any issues with using either, but the vinyl backed stuff is what I'd use. BTW the vinyl backing is/was usually blue. The problem will be forming it to that radius.. I think you'll have a difficult time with that.

James
 
guserto4 said:
White acrylic is okay for a display tank, so long as it's cast, right? I had planned on using white for the bottom and back and someone in my build thread mentioned I should get your blessing. I see colors all the time for sumps and occasionally black incorporated in displays.

I'm good, right?! Tell me I'm good. Tell the truth, but tell me good.
:)
Click to expand...

White is fine, I use it too :-)

James
 
ArmanS said:
James,

I purchased a large acrylic tank and want to know if you think the tank thickness is fine.

120" x 34" x 30" with 1" Acrylic Sides, 3/4" Acrylic top & bottom. Euro braced with 4 openings.

Thanks,
Arman
Click to expand...
The material thickness is fine :-) the openings would need some work if it were mine, but looks workable. IMO the openings should be bigger, but that's just me :-)
 
Westcoastindia said:
Hey James,
I saw a video on YouTube of a 420 gal mechanically fastened Acrylic tank. Have you come across such tanks?
Click to expand...
Plenty.. we've made quite a few. The applications are limited and are prone to some issues over time, but they do work.

We make them as wave tanks; demonstrating tsunamis. Kinda hard to ship 16-40' long tanks, for demonstration in science museums and whatnot so we make them bolt together with either gaskets or silicone in between.

For purposes such as the above - I get it. But for stationary use, a good glue joint is far stronger and much less prone to point-loading and cracking out.

James
 
Acrylics said:
The material thickness is fine :-) the openings would need some work if it were mine, but looks workable. IMO the openings should be bigger, but that's just me :-)
Click to expand...

James, thanks! I thought the thickness was fine but wanted to hear it from you.

The openings are 18" x 17". I also would have preferred if they were larger but I do not feel confident enough to do the work my self. What size would you recommend and roughly how much do you think an acrylic shop would charge me to do the job?

Thank you,
Arman
 
Hi James,
I may be picking up a used acrylic tank to use as a sump for my new build. its a 60" x 18" x 16" truvu. the problem is it was previously set up on a homemade stand that only supported the perimeter. if the bottom isnt drastically bowed, do i have anything to worry about? i would be using it with a fully supported bottom.
 
Acrylics said:
But for stationary use, a good glue joint is far stronger and much less prone to point-loading and cracking out.

James
Click to expand...

That was my thought at well, acrylic changes shape over time and those bolts he shows in those videos are creating stresses that are not static, the stress would increase over time. Plus, those cross braces at that the top? Talk about a point load, on either side of those the acrylic will warp/bow and all the stress will get focused on the head. I give that tank a few years max and it's gonna crack out around that center bolt and peel open straight down.

I would think that the correct way to do a mechanically fastened tank in this manner would look rather ugly - have a plate on the outside for the bolt heads to press against to eliminate that point and spread the tension along the areas without a fastener. Or have individual plates around each head instead of countersinking them. That countersinking thing makes it worse!
 
ArmanS said:
The openings are 18" x 17". I also would have preferred if they were larger but I do not feel confident enough to do the work my self. What size would you recommend and roughly how much do you think an acrylic shop would charge me to do the job?
Click to expand...
Considering the tank is 34" wide, probably leave 4.5-5" there so maybe 24" wide and increase the length of each opening to 20" or so? I can't tell how wide the cross-bracing is..

As for cost, depends on a coupla things; one is your location. If you're in SF or LA or NYC or similar, look at spending $100+/hr. If you're anywhere else - probably $60-75/hr. Be sure of your shop though.. look at some of their work and look at finished edges. You don't need/want them polished, but definitely smooth and eased. The whole job should take maybe 3-4 hours or so including making a template. If they're smart, they'll make a template then use a handheld router and pattern bit.. All in all - $250-500 max for smooth and eased edges and the template. You might want to volunteer to vacuum it out yourself, save a few bux maybe?

If they don't get smooth edges, that's okay I suppose, just get a DA sander with 220-320 in it and go over it - shouldn't take more than 20-30 minutes to "clean it up"

Also, make sure any template they make has 1.5"-2"+ radii in the corners.

Keep in mind also that some shops may not want to touch it. My insurance, for example is for new goods, therefore anything I touch in the shop is guaranteed as new.. so I don't touch anything unless I built it originally. Other shops may have similar policies.

HTH,
James
 
Meshmez said:
Hi James,
I may be picking up a used acrylic tank to use as a sump for my new build. its a 60" x 18" x 16" truvu. the problem is it was previously set up on a homemade stand that only supported the perimeter. if the bottom isnt drastically bowed, do i have anything to worry about? i would be using it with a fully supported bottom.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't touch it. If only the perimeter is supported, it will most likely be bowed and it won't sit flat and never will again. And hmmm.. how to say this; many mass manufactured tanks are not made all that well so expect the sides to be bowed as well. My guess is that the combination will cause headaches for you..

IMO, you'd be better served and have far fewer headaches getting something new to your specs.. JMO though :)

HTH,
James
 
Acrylics said:
I wouldn't touch it. If only the perimeter is supported, it will most likely be bowed and it won't sit flat and never will again. And hmmm.. how to say this; many mass manufactured tanks are not made all that well so expect the sides to be bowed as well. My guess is that the combination will cause headaches for you..

IMO, you'd be better served and have far fewer headaches getting something new to your specs.. JMO though :)

HTH,
James
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input James. Bowed sides aside, I assume even a slight bow on the bottom would cause a problem? I'm mainly looking for a big container, I would use a stock tank if it came in the right size. This is the perfect size, and its cheap but if its going to be a flood risk, ill pass.
 
Meshmez said:
Thanks for the input James. Bowed sides aside, I assume even a slight bow on the bottom would cause a problem? I'm mainly looking for a big container, I would use a stock tank if it came in the right size. This is the perfect size, and its cheap but if its going to be a flood risk, ill pass.
Click to expand...
Even a slight bow on the bottom will cause the tank to never sit flat again. If it doesn't sit flat, then all the stress/weight of the tank will be on the joints themselves rather than flat on the stand - *greatly* increasing the risk of failure.

Wish I could say better, but again - JMO :)

James
 
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