Acrylic fabrication questions? I can help!

I have a similar problem like Just Daves break.

Here are some pics

Which weld-on # should I use to fix these two breaks?

And what would be the method of repair?

Thanks


DSCN4308.jpg


DSCN4309.jpg


DSCN4310.jpg


DSCN4311.jpg
 
Just dave,

I'd build a ring about 1" tall that would sit on the outside of the tube with about 1/8" gap. Glue the ring to the base, place the tube back in it's spot and glue it as best you can, then fill the gap with Weld-on 40. Ideally, you'd be able to machine the tube flat and smooth and machine the base flat and smooth as well.

Rocknreef,

The guys gave some good advice in your thread, if you can machine it out - do it. You *may* be able to use 16 to just stick it together but I wouldn't count on it

HTH,
James
 
James ,

Thanks for the help. A few more questions if you don't mind.

With #40 would a PVC ring suffice? Instead of a 1/8" gap would a 1/4" gap be OK?

Would you use #40 ,as well, to glue the break and the ring to the base?

I have 16, 1802, 3, 4, and 40 available to me.
 
I would also recommend you to grind that tubes with some fine paper before starting out gluing that ring, both the inside of the ring and the outside of the broken parts
 
I have a euro reef skimmer cup that has came apart during shipping. It is clear to black where it came apart. There is no damage it must have got banged just enough to come apart. What weldon should I use. Thank you.
 
James, I appreciate your thoughts thus far, but I'm curious what you would do for bracing on a tank I'm building?

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1399104

It's roughly 144x16x16 built out of 1/2" (.472) Plexi-G (I seamed an 8' and 4' section together) and I have a full piece 144x16 for the top. I plan to cut access holes but curious how wide the euro brace should be and how many and how wide should the cross braces be? I planned on a cross brace every 2 feet, starting with 1 right in the center of the tank, but unsure how wide they should be, and if you feel every 2 feet is overkill?

Thanks!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12966689#post12966689 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by just dave
James ,

Thanks for the help. A few more questions if you don't mind.

With #40 would a PVC ring suffice? Instead of a 1/8" gap would a 1/4" gap be OK?

Would you use #40 ,as well, to glue the break and the ring to the base?

I have 16, 1802, 3, 4, and 40 available to me.

Hi Just Dave,

1/4" gap would be fine, just pouring more 40 :)

I'd most likely use 40 to glue it back if you left it as-is. If we were to refinish the tube and base, then solvent would be fine. If you wanted, glue the ring down first, then glue the tube down using 40 then fill the gap with same, should work great.

Oscarsdad608,

Might try Weld-on for but I'd have 16 or 40 on hand. It may be that the edgework on the tube was not so good so a thickened solvent (like 16) or resin (like 40) may be a good idea.

Hi Calvin415,

Been loosely following your thread, nice :)
Every 24" is what I like to use as a standard so no - not overkill, and even if it was - I'm a big fan of overkill :)

For the top bracing, I'd probably use a 2" flange with 5" crossbraces. You could go maybe 4" on the crossbraces but leave the center one or two a little wider (just in case kinda thing.) One of the deals with this is that the tank is fairly narrow at 16" so we don't want to eat up too much of that with eurobracing so we narrow the eurobracing but the result of that is more crossbracing. Given the span at 144", good idea to be little on the safe side.

HTH,
James
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12971092#post12971092 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by calvin415
Oooo, this is going to be painful to build without a CNC machine... ;)

Top-1.jpg

With that kind of stuff it usually goes fine till you get to the last hole and you end up blanking that one up. So do the last one first and everything should be fine. :p
 
calvin:

****, yer in fer a treat eh?
anyway, love the design. The bottom not so square end, don't know the english name for it. is for the overflow? straight throught the top yes?. I thought about using some acrylic pipe and mill out the hole in the bracing mysel...
I setteled for pvc pipes as both overflow and inlet, cuz I couldn't decide on howto and what was the most practical solution. This way at least, I got the most out of the display tank.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12972000#post12972000 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Borge
calvin:

****, yer in fer a treat eh?
anyway, love the design. The bottom not so square end, don't know the english name for it.

Trapezoid :)
 
Calvin,

Make yourself two templates, one that's say 12 x 20" (or whatever you decide your openings will be) and another about 1/16-1/8" smaller. Use the smaller one to do the rough cut and the bigger one for the finish cut. I usually just freehand the rough cut but on some things I'll make a rough cut template and it does help things go faster. YOu can quickly go through the rough cut and with the smaller template - no worries about bearings freezing and killing your template. This is assuming you are doing this on a router table, if you are doing it with a handheld router - you have a lot more options. Be sure to use a 1-2" radius in the corners of the cutouts. IME on a router table, should be able to knock that thing out in a coupla hours tops provided you have at least one extra pair of hands.

For mixing the 40, I like old butter/margarine tubs but most tupperware will be fine, do not use the polycarbonate tupperware things. You want somewhat flexible polyethylene or polypropylene; when you are done using the 40, let it harden in the container, when it hardens - just kinda fold the container and the hardened 40 will pop right out.

Go to your local pharmacy and get some 30 - 60cc syringes for applying the 40 if you like. They are cheap and you can usually reuse them once, after that the plunger starts to degrade too much IME.

HTH,
James
 
I typically suck it in via the syringe slowly (obviously it's a thick material). If you go nice and slow and have the syringe burried deep in the container, you get a nice bubble free syringe Trying to pour it in the top would likely make a pretty good mess.
 
i know this has probably been asked but the thread is so large it is hard to find things.

Can someone please give me some advice on repairing a small pin hole leak at the base of my skimmer reaction chamber. I have a large beckett with a 150mm diameter chamber that is bonded to a box at the base. At the join to the box i have a couple of pin hole leaks that i would like to fix. Can someone please let me know the best way to do this.

Thank you in advance.
 
Clean it well, dry it off thoroughly, then apply some Weld-On #16 to those tiny leaks. Do not apply it like a dab of caulk. Just put enough to get the area fixed. Weld-on is a solvent, and too much will simply crater the material. Instead, a little tiny bead on the leak should be enough.

If you can access it, it would be good to do the same on the inside of that problem area.

Let it cure overnight. Done. :)
 
How critical is the measuring of #40? It says it is a 100 parts A to 5 parts B (20-1) so do you folks weigh it, measure it or just eyeball it?
 
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