Acrylic fabrication questions? I can help!

[Acrylics]

Chriscobb,
Personally, I'd use Dow Corning 795. The stuff actually sticks to acrylic fairly well.

KHoivo1,
Plex G is pretty good stuff, no worries from here.

Fishboy,
Unless I absolutely knew what acrylic was used, there's no way I'd use old acrylic for anything other than maybe some cheap shelving, certainly not another tank - esp since the old one is leaking (who knows what material was used)

HTH,
James

 

[chriscobb]

Where can you get the Dow Corning 795 at?

 

[Acrylics]

You should be able to get it at any glazing or roofing supply house, I usehttp://www.coloradosteelsash.com/ as they are local to me.

HTH,
James

 

[chriscobb]

Hey Acrylics.....is the Dow Corning safe to use as regular silicone? I saw another thread asking a similar question and you stated good silicone would work just as well????

 

[Chihuahua6]

My tank is all patched up! My husband patched the inside and outside of the top seam with 1" X 1" cast acrylic. If this tank fails it will not be at the top seam.

Quick question please. How long should I let it cure before water testing it? The inside patch was done about a week ago and the outside was done yesterday.

 

[Acrylics]

Chriscobb,
Depends on the application. DC795 is best the best silicone there is at sticking to acrylic IMO. Next would be GE 1200 series. IIRC the thread you are referring to was pertaining to patching holes in the bottom of a tank in which case any ol' silicone would be fine IMO/IME.
DC795 s quite safe to use for reef aquaria IME. It's the standard used in virtually all public aquariums for acrylic work.

Amanda,
I tend to want things to cure completely for 72hrs at an absolute minimum, a week is better, 2 weeks+ being optimal for the size tank you are referring to. Personally, I'd let it sit until next weekend (weekend of the 20th) - better to err on the side of caution IMO

HTH,
James

 

[Chihuahua6]

Thanks again James. I waited this long so another couple of weeks won't kill me.

 

[chriscobb]

Thanks James....I did find a source closer to home for the 795....Again thanks!!!!!!

 

[sspark]

Hi James,

I'm planning on making my first acrylic tank, a pico actually approx 12"x8"x8" using .25" thick acrylic, and i was wondering what tool you would recommend me buying to get the most effective method of constructing the tank.

I have right now a 5" circular saw & a jig saw.

I was thinking of getting a table saw or a router... but don't have the money for both.

any recommendations to which one and which saw/blade?

thanks,

sam

 

[khoivo1]

buy used table saw and jointer ,,craiglist,com we do the job,,

 

[khoivo1]

you need to read more before start,,,and test out some glue before build your tank,,

 

[khoivo1]

do you think this tank will bow?
1/2" thick acrylic G
24x24x16tall rimless
will it bow??

 

[Acrylics]

Sam,
Personally, I'd recommend getting the pieces cut & machined to size, just not worth buying equipment for such a small tank IMO. IMO, jigsaw and circular saw are relatively worthless (IMO) for this unless you have previous experience and know exactly what you are doing with the material. To me, the table saw and router are a pair; you can do "ok" work with just a table saw but not "good" work. A router doesn't do much unless you have the parts already cut to size. Again IMO. If you can get a small table saw with a built in router table, then things change.

Khoivo1,
Yep, it will.

James

 

[miwoodar]

Hi James, it's been a while since I've posted in this thread. The tank is up and doing great! Thanks again for all the help.


I had the acrylics shop cut my pieces to size (free) then I took them to another acrylics shop and had them run over a jointer for $25. The second shop was excited to see me getting into the hobby and gave me a bunch of scrap to play with after giving me a demonstration on using WO4. For me, this was a much better option than trusting my janky tablesaw and buying a router and table.

 

[khoivo1]

acrylic,,,how about 24x24x12tall ? will it bow??

 

[mayday_mayday]

Hello james i`m getting ready to start my diy project and i`m thinking of using 304 stainless angle for the top support it will be a frame welded together 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" angle then using a special epoxy bond it to the acrylic (top of tank) then use 1/4" stainless cables to support front to back then side to side. just to refresh your memory this is for 3/4" thick acrylic tank size 72" long 38" wide and 30" tall . wondering if anyone has done this? this would open the top up to be almost rimless. just to give you a update i bought a 5hp industial table saw with a 16" blade and a 92" table bought at a auction from wood shop also have a 3.5 hp router with 1/2 collet mounted on table.

 

[runningstix]

Can I reweldon 4 seams?

I built a diy sump that failed water testing miserably. Can I use 4 again or do I need to go to 16?

Thanks

 

[melev]

How did it fail specifically? Do you see gaps or large airbubbles? #16 may solve some of that, if you can isolate the exact spots.

 

[RokleM]

If you have small pockets of air that are leaking, yeah give #4 a try and see if you can get in there.

"Failed miserably" screams something worse though. Personally I can't stand Weld-on #16 myself. It dries up and shrinks way too much. If at all possible (especially if you have someone else you know into acrylic), try to get your hands on #40. It's a lot more like rubber cement, will fill gaps nicely, and has hardly any shrink/evap. You can even bead a corner like silicone (good to seal small holes, but not used to replace structural integrity). I've seen Weld-on #16 evap/shrink easily 3-4x the amount put down.

 

[runningstix]

Yeah I can locate the exact spots. Its probably not as bad as I made it out to be just bummed. There are probably 2 spots water drips from on all 4 sides of the bottom. I think 16 will definately fix it I was just wondering if 4 had a chance.


Thanks