Acrylic fabrication questions? I can help!

[Floyd R Turbo]

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.

For everyone reading, this is how you have to put things after someone threatens to sue you after you publicly single out a specific company builds junk tanks...you have to speak in generalities. It's sad but some companies will go to great lengths to not build tanks right and stay in business.

 

[Meshmez]

For everyone reading, this is how you have to put things after someone threatens to sue you after you publicly single out a specific company builds junk tanks...you have to speak in generalities. It's sad but some companies will go to great lengths to not build tanks right and stay in business.

Would it be safe to say he was targeted for giving his... True View on the subject?

Thanks James, ill probably pass on the tank.

 

[cpbartak]

I was planning on an acrylic tank 78” x 48” x 38” (i.e., @ 35" high water volume). What would you recommend for the thickness? I was thinking 1.25" for the sides, 1" top and bottom, and wanted to see if this is in line with your recommendations. Thank you!

 

[_Snuffles]

over the next few weeks i'll be making a desktop tank L 6ft x w 1ft x h 7.5"

designed here

im guessing 3/8th would be fine?

 

[Acrylics]

I was planning on an acrylic tank 78" x 48" x 38" (i.e., @ 35" high water volume). What would you recommend for the thickness? I was thinking 1.25" for the sides, 1" top and bottom, and wanted to see if this is in line with your recommendations. Thank you!

Sounds perfect

James

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

over the next few weeks i'll be making a desktop tank L 6ft x w 1ft x h 7.5"

im guessing 3/8th would be fine?

Personally I would use 1/2" even with that center brace. My experience wtih a 36" x 24" frag tank, 8" tall, was that it wasn't good for continuous use as it bowed pretty good when water was a 7". 1/2" is pretty solid at that depth/wall height

 

[rickztahone]

Came across this video on YouTube and figured it may be applicable for acrylic overflow teeth as well? I don't personally use teeth on my weir, but for those that do, this may be useful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-Zo1Tx-BbU

 

[_Snuffles]

Personally I would use 1/2" even with that center brace. My experience wtih a 36" x 24" frag tank, 8" tall, was that it wasn't good for continuous use as it bowed pretty good when water was a 7". 1/2" is pretty solid at that depth/wall height

the braces aren't functional at this point, i was thinking of using 3 braces , 18" apart starting from the center.

 

[pandimus]

Are bubbles between the panes of 1 inch acrylic common on new tank?

 

[Acrylics]

Are bubbles between the panes of 1 inch acrylic common on new tank?

Do you mean "in the joint?" If so, yes, it happens. Not lotsa bubbles, but if one or two little micro-bubbles slip in - yeah

Unfortunately, many fabricators do not give much import to the top and bottom joints, so as a result - you'll see lots more in the top and bottom joints.

If you're referring to *in the material* - then no, not common, but not extremely rare either. It was something that happened in manufacturing of the sheet itself and missed in inspection at the factory. Most fabricators leave the paper on to protect the surface and could never have seen such things.

HTH,
James

 

[pandimus]

Thanks James. Meant in the joint..

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[ReefPharmer]

That's one inch pane of acrylic from advanced acrylics. I was told its "normal"


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[rickztahone]

quick question, if you cut two pieces of acrylic, can you re-bond those two pieces on both sides that have been cut? No structural component here, simply "gluing" something back together made out of acrylic.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

That's one inch pane...I was told its "normal"


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Hmmm....I was thinking a bubble or two sneaking in there, not a line of bubbles along the entire joint edge....So what did you mean James? Curious. Never worked with 1" material, but have 3/4", and while I got the occasional bubble it was a random location not a pattern/line

 

[adova]

Solvent fail

Solvent fail

The backstory is this: I was trying to assemble a frag tank as a demo for an Acrylics 101 bonding for my local reef club. When I removed the pins, the pieces moved around like they were at a Wet n' Wild water park. 5 mins later they were barely gooey.

This had never happened to me before in the 10 years I have been messing with acrylic on a hobby level. My suspect was the unusually rough edge left by the CNC which is normally mirror smooth or perhaps the acrylic itself.

Desperate to find an answer I took the pieces of the project into Plasticare where I purchased the material and had it cut on the CNC router. The owner came out within a few minutes as the employees had no suggestions. He immediately pulled out some weld-on and tried to bond a couple of pieces that I had brought in that we cut into thirds for testing. Within 2 mins it was solid as a rock. Then we tried my solvent (same product). The bond never took.

Bottom line - bad solvent. He had never heard of this before. The date on the can was Jan 2015. As far as we knew, weld-on does not expire. It just evaporates over time.

Plasticare has offered to re-cut and replace the pieces for me. Excellent group! I am tempted to contact the manufacturer to see what they say, but for now, I am just happy I have some answers. Lesson learned - test bond a scrap piece before trying it on that $1000 project!

Shawn

 

[adova]

Hmmm....I was thinking a bubble or two sneaking in there, not a line of bubbles along the entire joint edge....So what did you mean James? Curious. Never worked with 1" material, but have 3/4", and while I got the occasional bubble it was a random location not a pattern/line

Yea - and not on the edge either. I guess if you just subtract the line of bubbles you are a 7/8" effective piece :bigeyes:

 

[pandimus]

Yea - and not on the edge either. I guess if you just subtract the line of bubbles you are a 7/8" effective piece :bigeyes:

Do the bubbles hurt it structurally or just ascetically?

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[adova]

The backstory is this: I was trying to assemble a frag tank as a demo for an Acrylics 101 bonding for my local reef club. When I removed the pins, the pieces moved around like they were at a Wet n' Wild water park. 5 mins later they were barely gooey.

This had never happened to me before in the 10 years I have been messing with acrylic on a hobby level. My suspect was the unusually rough edge left by the CNC which is normally mirror smooth or perhaps the acrylic itself.

Desperate to find an answer I took the pieces of the project into Plasticare where I purchased the material and had it cut on the CNC router. The owner came out within a few minutes as the employees had no suggestions. He immediately pulled out some weld-on and tried to bond a couple of pieces that I had brought in that we cut into thirds for testing. Within 2 mins it was solid as a rock. Then we tried my solvent (same product). The bond never took.

Bottom line - bad solvent. He had never heard of this before. The date on the can was Jan 2015. As far as we knew, weld-on does not expire. It just evaporates over time.

Plasticare has offered to re-cut and replace the pieces for me. Excellent group! I am tempted to contact the manufacturer to see what they say, but for now, I am just happy I have some answers. Lesson learned - test bond a scrap piece before trying it on that $1000 project!

Shawn

Found some shelf life info from SciGrip:

Two years in tightly sealed containers. The date code of manufacture is stamped on the bottom of the container. Stability of the product is limited by the evaporation of the solvent when the container is opened. Evaporation of solvent will cause the cement to thicken and reduce its effectiveness.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

The backstory is this: I was trying to assemble a frag tank as a demo for an Acrylics 101 bonding for my local reef club. When I removed the pins, the pieces moved around like they were at a Wet n' Wild water park. 5 mins later they were barely gooey.

This had never happened to me before in the 10 years I have been messing with acrylic on a hobby level. My suspect was the unusually rough edge left by the CNC which is normally mirror smooth or perhaps the acrylic itself.

Desperate to find an answer I took the pieces of the project into Plasticare where I purchased the material and had it cut on the CNC router. The owner came out within a few minutes as the employees had no suggestions. He immediately pulled out some weld-on and tried to bond a couple of pieces that I had brought in that we cut into thirds for testing. Within 2 mins it was solid as a rock. Then we tried my solvent (same product). The bond never took.

Bottom line - bad solvent. He had never heard of this before. The date on the can was Jan 2015. As far as we knew, weld-on does not expire. It just evaporates over time.

Plasticare has offered to re-cut and replace the pieces for me. Excellent group! I am tempted to contact the manufacturer to see what they say, but for now, I am just happy I have some answers. Lesson learned - test bond a scrap piece before trying it on that $1000 project!

Shawn

Well at least they took care of you!

FWIW I've had this happen to me as well and it was due to using product from an opened can (WO4) that has sat around too long. The solvent was all gone and literally after a few minutes I wiped it off and it didn't even goo up the edge, it was like I never hit it with solvent at all.

It's possible that the can was cracked open slightly or had been opened and then closed again - that'll do it in.

Do the bubbles hurt it structurally or just ascetically?

It depends on the severity of the bubbles. If it's a long connected bubble, structurally definitely. In the case of the pictures above I would say it's more aesthetic than structural

Found some shelf life info from SciGrip:

Two years in tightly sealed containers. The date code of manufacture is stamped on the bottom of the container. Stability of the product is limited by the evaporation of the solvent when the container is opened. Evaporation of solvent will cause the cement to thicken and reduce its effectiveness.

I haven't used the stuff in a while (Weld-on was bought by SciGrip) but whenever I did, I always used a fresh can and tossed it after a few weeks. That sounds like a Dos Equis guy meme

On a totally unrelated note: James, got a question for you:

Rimless acrylic tank of 36" x 20" x 12" - What's the thickness to use?

 

[pacu mom]

Removing dried on paper/glue from acrylic

Removing dried on paper/glue from acrylic

We've been in a 5 yr upgrade and did not remove the paper covering the tank. Much of it has dried on really hard. The dried adhesive is very hard. Any one have suggestions on how I can remove the adhesive?