Acrylic fabrication questions? I can help!
- Thread starter JohnL
- Start date
I generally use the panel saw, but can be done easily enough with a table saw and double faced tape.. just make sure your table is square. But the reality is that being perfectly square is not nearly as important as being consistent. Keep reference corners aligned and the tank will sit flat
Depends on how you flow water through the tank. An internal box has 3 planes skimming the surface while an external only has one. But the one can do a great job if your flow scheme directs flow to it. Think of a barrel roll in the tank, water directed at the overflow..
James
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
I generally use the panel saw, but can be done easily enough with a table saw and double faced tape.. just make sure your table is square. But the reality is that being perfectly square is not nearly as important as being consistent. Keep reference corners aligned and the tank will sit flat
I'm following you. So if I'm off by a degree out of square and the ends are slightly more like a parallelogram than a perfect square, as long as they're both oriented right, I'm OK. Because the ends are the only parts that have to have all four sides bonded, the front/back have to have the top/bottom parallel and the ends get flush trimmed, and the top/bottom get flush trimmed all around.
But I'm one of those guys like you that would probably pull my hair out over a few bubbles. I'm a perfectionist. Can you expand on the double-faced tape procedure? Having trouble envisioning that.
Thanks for your help
line the front edge of the acrylic to the front edge of the saw. If the right hand side is not parallel to the right hand side of the saw and fence, double face tape another strip to the acrylic such that the new strip is parallel to the right side of the saw and rides the fence
James
James
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
Ah. Just to make sure I've got it, line up the edge you want to square in reference to along the front edge of the table itself, and check the right edge to see if it is indeed perpendicular by using the fence or the other edge of the table. Then if needed, double-face tape the other piece of acrylic on top so that piece's edge is perpendicular to the front edge of your working piece, and then cut through both pieces of acrylic.
Do I have that right?
Do I have that right?
No, but you can do it that way.
You don't need to cut through two pieces. The piece you tape on only has to be a strip - say 2" wide or so. It just needs to be stuck to the work piece and ride the fence. After the cut, the cut edge will be square to the front edge (side you lined up with the front of the saw)
James
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
Oh duh. Tape to the fence edge, cut the opposite edge. Gotcha.
:beer:
Generally speaking; no, doesn't hurt, but doesn't necessarily help either
Other than potentially rounding a corner (which 1200 shouldn't do,) only thing I can think of at the moment is possibly embedding granules of sandpaper abrasive in the acrylic.
James
In the below thread, I had asked about reconnecting the clear outer-portion of a collection cup to the white base.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2042666
Someone had suggested using Weld-on 16 or pvc cement. Could you compare/contrast the two cements for this?
Thanks,
Brian
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2042666
Someone had suggested using Weld-on 16 or pvc cement. Could you compare/contrast the two cements for this?
Thanks,
Brian
16 *can* make it stick "okay" but 40 is a much better solution.
PVC pipe cement also can make it stick but Tetrahydrafuran (THF - the primary in PVC cement) does not glue acrylic at all - it only stresses the hell out of it. It can make it stick though, simply by the dissolved solids in the solvent. I wouldn't use it though unless it was in a pinch and absolutely necessary. The chance of crazing the acrylic is pretty high.
I don't know what the white base is made of, but if it's PVC - a PVC cement made primarily from MEK would be better than the hotter (THF) cements, as MEK will attack acrylic, just not well. Hope this makes sense.
James
Thanks for the quick response.
The white base is a hard PVC.
Sorry for my lack of knowledge, but is WELD-ON 40 Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) based?
Thanks,
Brian
The white base is a hard PVC.
Sorry for my lack of knowledge, but is WELD-ON 40 Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) based?
Thanks,
Brian
No, WO 40 is an actual acrylic resin. Comes in a 2-part kit; a monomer and a catalyst. IMO it's the best solution for the task at hand
MEK based solvents work, just not nearly as well for this application IMO.
James
Thanks James.
No, WO 40 is an actual acrylic resin. Comes in a 2-part kit; a monomer and a catalyst. IMO it's the best solution for the task at hand
MEK based solvents work, just not nearly as well for this application IMO.
James
No magic to it, I just use a 1.5-2" radius on most things and the radius goes up a little on tanks like yours. 2" rad would be fine but I'd probably opt for a 3-4" radius since there's no crossbracing.
James
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
I finally dedicated some time to the router table this past week. I chopped 3" off the legs and re-installed the leveller feet, added a 2x4 frame around the base (which made the table really solid), and planed down the top of the frame so it is all flush. Here it is, if you can see it around all the junk:
The tricycle is not a component.
Then, I drilled holes in both the router base and the aluminum plate for mounting, and drilled out the hole for the bit. It turned out pretty well actually. The plate has a bunch of holes all over the place, with some countersunk, so I was able to pick one and just drill 2 other holes.
Top of plate
Closeup of mounting holes and bit hole
Backside
Base mounted to plate
The only thing I need to do is get one larger size drill bit for countersinking the bolts, and I need longer bolts - just used what was in the 'random bolt & nut' drawer of my tool chest.
The top side of the plate also has hols countersunk around the edges, spaced perfectly apart so that I can use those for the hold-down bolts and the will be just inside of the table framing, and the lip of the plate will span between 2 of the joists and sitting right on them.
I'm just about ready to get the MDF and start cutting holes and laminating. Hopefully, I will get to that on Saturday or Sunday.
The tricycle is not a component.
Then, I drilled holes in both the router base and the aluminum plate for mounting, and drilled out the hole for the bit. It turned out pretty well actually. The plate has a bunch of holes all over the place, with some countersunk, so I was able to pick one and just drill 2 other holes.
Top of plate
Closeup of mounting holes and bit hole
Backside
Base mounted to plate
The only thing I need to do is get one larger size drill bit for countersinking the bolts, and I need longer bolts - just used what was in the 'random bolt & nut' drawer of my tool chest.
The top side of the plate also has hols countersunk around the edges, spaced perfectly apart so that I can use those for the hold-down bolts and the will be just inside of the table framing, and the lip of the plate will span between 2 of the joists and sitting right on them.
I'm just about ready to get the MDF and start cutting holes and laminating. Hopefully, I will get to that on Saturday or Sunday.
