Acrylic fabrication questions? I can help!

[Acrylics]

To be honest, never tried it with MEK but just knowing the chemical, it's doubtful it would flow as nicely as "normal" acrylic solvents and also doubtful would be as good looking and more importantly - as strong.
MEK is IMO workable in a pinch but just isn't nearly the solvent that others are.

James

 

[MADtanks]

Hi james i had a question and for some reason tonite i am just not thinking right, i am wondering how to get a 45deg angle to level up with the back wall of my acrylic tank? Basically i want to build a small tank that looks like Melev's nano with the angled front panel on a smaller scale.

12X10X12 question is how tall should the 45deg angle piece be? thanks.

I am simply trying to get more and more practice with acrylic i have tons of scraps... so when i saw his tank it looked like a neat project

 

[Icefire]

I just got some methylene chloride with an applicator bottle to repair a leaking skimmer.

I tryed in some acrylic and PVC, it's me or that thing is way too volatile to be used as "glue" ? It's some Plexicolle, 100% methylene chloride.

Any special way to apply it? only put some let stand/dry?

 

[Acrylics]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12068578#post12068578 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by erickrm
Hi james i had a question and for some reason tonite i am just not thinking right, i am wondering how to get a 45deg angle to level up with the back wall of my acrylic tank? Basically i want to build a small tank that looks like Melev's nano with the angled front panel on a smaller scale.

12X10X12 question is how tall should the 45deg angle piece be? thanks.

I am simply trying to get more and more practice with acrylic i have tons of scraps... so when i saw his tank it looked like a neat project

Don't know the tank so can't say definitively but if the back panel is say 11.5" high and you want the entire front to sweep back at 45 degrees it won't work - draw it out on a table or something and you'll see what I'm talking about. I find making full size drawings on tables, etc. to be very helpful in such situations. If you have a pic or drawing, might help
FWIW multiply the inside height by the square root of 2 (~1.41) and then add the thickness of material for the front.

Icefire,
Yep volatile is a good word, use like any other solvent, just won't flow as nicely but quite workable. Welcome to what what Weld-on 3 used to be back in the day

HTH,
James

 

[MADtanks]

well it wont be the entire front that draws back 45 , i looked at all my scraps and i dont know if i have enough to make it 12X10X12 lol... so i am thinking maybe 10X10X10

so the front panel would have to be 3-4" then draw back to a 45deg angle. I will make a little drawing right now in paint lol i am not promising CAD quality but i will try haha. Thanks.

 

[MADtanks]

ok here it is lol sorry not CAD but should be understandable...

I was thinking i could rout the remaining of the 45deg angle but now i realize that i have to lay the front panel on top of the side panels.... no problem i can use my table saw to cut 45deg angles.... only concern now is to see how much room there will be in the opening of the tank at the top.... i'd like to leave enough room to put a few small rocks and a light over the top... will more than likely drill the top of the tank to drain into my sump in my basement and pump back up. If i have to i can make it a tad bigger

thanks

 

[Acrylics]

For whatever height you want to be covered by the angle, multiply it by the square root of 2 then add the material thickness, this result will be the total length of the angled front. Of course the sequence and orientation of how you glue it will determine this as well. Ie., are you gluing the front under or over the angled piece?
Personally, I'd glue the two front pieces together first, then glue this assembly and the back to each "side", then flip this onto the bottom.

HTH,
James

 

[MADtanks]

Thank you James thats exactly what i was looking for... as for gluing this is what i was thinking about today.... but i was just wondering if i should glue the front in the end or beginning but you just answered my Q thank you very much

 

[bchbum189]

is there any way to get excess WO 40 off of acrylic while its still wet cleanly?

 

[Acrylics]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12119142#post12119142 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bchbum189
is there any way to get excess WO 40 off of acrylic while its still wet cleanly?

Not that I'm aware of, just makes a mess. I have found though that if it drips on masking paper, it doesn't leach through like solvents do, just let it dry and it peels right off.

James

 

[bchbum189]

thats pretty much what i do now. Every once in a while a drop will fall on a piece outside the tape and i scream in agony knowing the sanding/polishing thats to follow.

I might try on a piece of scrap and see if kerosene or some other solvent will remove it.

 

[felix morales]

pics and ???

pics and ???

almost complete with my sump but the first piece glue with no weight didn't come out to good. should i reinforce or the 4 inside traps good enough to hold it together??

 

[subshop]

acrylic thickness

acrylic thickness

james, i recall, somewhere, that you said the acrylic thickness formula that cryo posted is not correct. i believe you said the beta value was incorrect. what should that beta number be. is there any other place to find a calculator that is correct? neil

 

[Acrylics]

Felix,

Got a pic, no way to tell from what you've stated.

Neil,

A coupla values are incorrect but no - there's nothing *freely* available that is better. There are simply too many options to get anything that will work on every tank for every set of dimensions with every combination of bracing with every set of deflection tolerances. The Cyro deal is fine for most things. If you want - throw out a set of dimensions and see what the hive has to say

HTH,
James

 

[subshop]

acrylic thickness

acrylic thickness

james, tank 60l x 34h x 36W. using THE CYRO CALCULATOR I GET 1.1 " THICKNESS . I AM ASSUMING WHEN THEY ASK IF CLOSED TOP THEY MEAN EURO-BRACING. IF NOT THEN THE FORMULA REQUIRES A THICKNESS OF 1.75" ANY INPUT WOULD BE HELPFUL, NEIL

 

[Acrylics]

60 x 36 x 34"H = 1" material with 3.5" eurobrace and (1) 7" crossbrace, yielding 2 top openings measuring 23 x 29". Should yield <1/8" deflection.
No way 1.75" would do it with similar deflection rates; the 1.5X factor is one of my issues with the formula, should be 2.5X IMO for similar deflection rates given similar bracing structure as above. One can assume they meant eurobrace but even the chief technical engineer at Cyro does not know what "closed top" means. We (me and CTE @ Cyro) went through this several yrs ago he could only *assume* it meant a closed top w/no openings. When told this would be useless in an aquarium - didn't know what to tell me :hmm3:

James

 

[tundra1000]

Acrylics- I've been doing a lot of reading and it sounds like your the man for the acrylic questions.
After a lot of reading I am getting ready to tackle some acrylic projects. I have a beckett skimmer similar to a Barr design that I am starting with, I then will go to a sump, and then hopefully to my display tank. I am a finish carpenter and have a shop so that will help. If I survive the skimmer and the sump I will definitely build my display tank. My question is I would like 48x24x24 with whatever bracing is necessary on top, ( it will be under a hood anyway) Is 1/2" enough or should it be 3/4" Also I really envision the 2 front vertical corners having a small radius, maybe 1". The front and 2 sides would be from one 24" strip. Any thoughts on a jig to form this or the proper way to do this. If those bends aren't perfect the tank won't sit flat.

 

[Borge]

Hi, I'm currently building a 264g tank. Measuring 63L x 27W x 35H. Material 1".
I got the front back and sides glued with Tensol 70.
I got one plate left witch I meant to use as a bottom.
Should I rather get a thinner plate to use as a bottom and use the 1" as a top bracing?
What should the bracing look like and is there any formula on how thick the bracing should be?

When gluing the frame to top/bottom, how important is the accuracy, I mean 1" cast isn't exactly flat from a mechanics point of view. All sides are machines to an accuracy of ... , just let us call it even and square. But its kinda wobly anyhow.
Should I clamp the top/bottom to the frame to ensure contact with the glue?
How would one proceed to actually glue this whole thing in one operation?
What is the difference between Eurobracing and bracing?

 

[Robert Patterso]

Hi, first post on this forum. Haven't even begun to read the whole thread yet. But was wondering if you could tell me the best way to cut acrylic tube. I want to modifiy my existing skimmer, Octo. NW 200 and put a diffuser plate in it and make it more accessible for maintance. I am a machinist but have never machined acrylics before. I want to cut the bottom off, put a diffuser plate in, make two flanges with o-rings and nylon screws and wing nuts. Just not sure what is the best way to cut the bottom off without cracking or destroying the skimmer.
Suggestions will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Robert

 

[tundra1000]

Awkward because of the base plate. Some one else might have a better thought but I would use a bandsaw with fine blade, make a tray so that the base hangs over and the tube sits nice and square then cut it off as close to the base as you can. Then you can run through a table saw jig to clean up the cut. Probably also be easiest to just put on a new base instead of trying to clean up existing

Is this the right skimmer?