Acrylic fabrication questions? I can help!

[MSU Fan]

Can anyone tell me what the best hole saw bit is to drill in acrylic?

 

[melev]

I don't know which is the best, but I'm using bits available at Home Depot. BluMol and Rigid are both available there, and do a nice job of drilling right through it. They are hole saws usually used to bore out holes for doorknobs, and come in a variety of sizes.

 

[MSU Fan]

Thanks Marc - appreciate the help.

 

[jimnrose]

Can I use a sheetrock knife (& straight edge) to cut 1/8" acrylic sheet's if I do multiple scores? Straight cuts are 24" long for the overflow box and 12" for the sump baffles. Thanks, Jim

 

[cap1956]

thanks H20ENG,
I ordered the square stock today.

 

[1234]

I'll be starting my new build soon, it'll be about a 75 gallon tank form one sheet of 3/8" Poly "G".

Dimensions about 36"long x 23"wide x 22" high. I was thinking of a 20" wide overflow about 12" high and maybe 6" wide. Is there a ratio of the width of the overflow to the length of the tank or you just make one up that you feel would work.

It'll be an exterior overflow.

TIA

 

[Lunchbucket]

cap - Where you order it from?

I have a few bubbles in my 200cube that concern me and might need to do this. I'll get a pic and post it

Lunchbucket

 

[Lunchbucket]

This is my biggest bubble and the one I am most concerned about. What to do?

A few more of different spots.

Suggestions would be great as it is all plumbed up and ready to fill. Just not sure about these spots.

Lunchbucket

 

[RokleM]

Are you putting sand in the tank Lunchbucket? If so, I'd just put a bead of 40 around the edges just like you would caulk.

 

[Lunchbucket]

No sand. I'm thinking starboard or white acrylic for the bottom. Want to siphon all detritus and last time I did sand (my 58gal) it turned into cement anyhow.

I need to trim around the disable edges with some sort of wood trim and I planned on covering part of the bottom up. My tank doesn't sit 100% square and tight to the walls I built for the room so I need to do some fancy trimming to make it look like a complete inwall.

I have weldon 3 and weldon 16. Don't have 40 and don't know if the plastic shop can get or has any 40

Lunchbucket

 

[chicken]

Anyone have a good online source for Weldon 42? Mixing up 40 and putting it in a syringe is just a pain and thinking of buying a #42 setup if its not to expensive. Thanks!

 

[RokleM]

From what I've heard, the applicators/guns for 42 are not inexpensive, so 40 (even though there is the mixing pain) is much more economical on the scale we do things.

I could be wrong though, just what I recall off the top of my head.

 

[melev]

Hopefully James will chime in. Eric, did you read Chris' comments on page 34 yet?

 

[Acrylics]

Jimnrose,
You probably *can* but the edges would not be usable for gluing, they'd still need to be machined for gluing IMO.

Lunchbucket,
IMO would be the same as reinforcing any other seam. Either glue in a gusset of acrylic or WO40/42

Chicken,
The 42 gun runs $180-200 last I checked, cartridges are $35-40 each and the tips are about $1.25-1.50 each. Not cheap.

James

 

[Lunchbucket]

James - Thanks for the help...melev too.

bought some 1/2" x 1/2" square stock. Plan on putting a "patch" on that bubble area and about 2" on each side per james suggestion.

I guess I shouldn't have much else to worry about as IIRC the rest of the seams shouldn't be a big worry.

Lunchbucket

 

[jimnrose]

Acrylics, thanks for your reply. Would I get an adequate gluable edge, if I use a power saw with a metal toooth blade or do I have to finish any cut with a router? Jim

 

[rc1214b]

Is it possible to remove the air weld bead on a skimmer like what H&S uses to repair a broken pvc pipe?

 

[sandman12]

I need to cut an oval in some 1/4" for my filter sock. What is the best way of doing this? I tried with a jig saw but that didn't work well at all.

 

[chicken]

James thanks for the info on WO #42. I just picked up 50 syringes from ebay. They look like the salifert test kit ones to measure water but are 2x the size. They were only $10 for all 50 of them. That should last me a long time. If anyone need a couple and are local to the SF Bay area let me know.

 

[chicken]

sandman the best way would be to create a template in some sort of easy to work wood, like MDF. From there you can get a template bit for a router and double stick tape the wood template to the acrylic and then route out the template. I do it all the time and it comes out very nice and clean. This also works great to increase the size of an existing bulkhead hole in a tank. Just take the hole saw for the new larger bulkhead, cut a hole in a piece of wood and then double stick tape the wood to the tank and just use a template bit in your router and you are set.