Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
Hey James, for the Formica laminate top, you have stated to use polished Formica. Does this mean a Gloss finish, or can a Matte finish be used?
Acrylic fabrication questions? I can help!
- Thread starter JohnL
- Start date
Another crazy question for you James!!!
I've been practicing the pin method and still trying to figure soak time before pulling pins. Using 1" Polycast, WeldOn 4 and twisty ties from the supermarket. I have increased my soak time to 45 seconds which has helped and slid the wires in almost all the way through for good coverage, but my problem lies in that the joint looks good, but as it dries it seems to be dry around both edges??? Any tips what I might be doing wrong???
I've been practicing the pin method and still trying to figure soak time before pulling pins. Using 1" Polycast, WeldOn 4 and twisty ties from the supermarket. I have increased my soak time to 45 seconds which has helped and slid the wires in almost all the way through for good coverage, but my problem lies in that the joint looks good, but as it dries it seems to be dry around both edges??? Any tips what I might be doing wrong???
pico-reefer
New member
I've got a quick question regarding brands of acrylic, i plan on making a tank fairly soon, and i came accross this ebay seller, i e-mailed him to see what type of acrylic it is, and he responded " its cell cast acrylic, like plexi-glass G". any of you guys know if this is suitable to build an aquarium out of? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360306087790&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
Unless it is Plexiglas-G (doubtful) or Polycast (extremely doubtful) I wouldn't make a tank out of it. It's probably a cheap import and there's not a good track record for that stuff. You never know what you're getting unless it has the brand name written on the paper.
pico-reefer
New member
yeah, thats what i figured. i cant seem a place that sells pre cut sheets of polycast, just full size sheets. any idea where i can get pre cut sheets?
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
You will not likely find any place that will sell you less than a full sheet. However, Sabic Polymershapes has several (formerly GE Polymershapes) has several DC/NY/NJ locations and one of them likely stocks Polycast, and almost all of them will stock Plex-G. The one closest to me cut my stuff in half for free, and they were the cheapest source I could find (by a long shot)
Jacob Sellers
New member
Closing bulkhead hole
Closing bulkhead hole
I need to seal a 1.88 inch hole on the back wall of my tank. The back of the tank is one inch acrylic. Can i use 1/4 inch acrylic for the patch or do I need to go larger? thanks.
Closing bulkhead hole
I need to seal a 1.88 inch hole on the back wall of my tank. The back of the tank is one inch acrylic. Can i use 1/4 inch acrylic for the patch or do I need to go larger? thanks.
pico-reefer
New member
You could also get a bulkhead and cap it, so if you ever want to use that hole again you could.
Jacob Sellers
New member
Thanks. I considered that, but I will never use this hole again; I am sure of that.
walkerbrody
lost ball in high weeds
I have a hurricone cat2 external skimmer. The recirculation pump connects to a flat acrylic base. The input for the recirculation pump broke off the body today. I think it was damaged in shipping. Their is still some of the acrylic base attatched to the fitting so it shouldnt be to difficult to repair. What type of glue do I need and how should I prepare the surface for the repair. Thanks, Brody
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
Got a lot of work done on the router table this weekend:
Trimmed MDF to size with jigsaw (down from 49 x 97 to 47 x 80)
Cut holes in both sheets for aluminum plate & router base
Installed retractable wheels (because this thing is wicked heavy)
Glued MDF together
Installed push-up and pull-down bolts (need to add a few more and adjust)
I get the Formica gloss white top today, and after some sanding of the MDF edges and getting the plate all locked in place, I'll be ready to bond that down and flush trim it, then all that's left to do is to cut the hole for the bit and get a good fence!
I have a bunch of leftover pieces of MDF which will work perfect for making 90 degree jigs and camper-foam padded boards...
Trimmed MDF to size with jigsaw (down from 49 x 97 to 47 x 80)
Cut holes in both sheets for aluminum plate & router base
Installed retractable wheels (because this thing is wicked heavy)
Glued MDF together
Installed push-up and pull-down bolts (need to add a few more and adjust)
I get the Formica gloss white top today, and after some sanding of the MDF edges and getting the plate all locked in place, I'll be ready to bond that down and flush trim it, then all that's left to do is to cut the hole for the bit and get a good fence!
I have a bunch of leftover pieces of MDF which will work perfect for making 90 degree jigs and camper-foam padded boards...
captnslapy
New member
I have a quick question. Can this be used like acrylic to make sump baffles and an internal overflow box? I have a few sheets laying around. It's called tuffak cm-2. It's a very hard polycarbonate sheet. 300 times harder than glass. I tried using weld on 16 and couldn't get it to bond together.
fishtankcrazy
New member
1.) I have recently purchased a few year old acrylic tank. Only problem is the is a chip on the edge of one of my panels that happened when the tank was new during moving. Its a 300g Peninsula style tank. I have a feeling the previous owner may have tried to "fix" this at one point and just did a bad job..
It does not leak. 3/4" vertical panels. However I want to fix this, just to be safe. Especially since I'm about to do a light sanding / buffing anyway, might as well do it all at once.
Is the best way to dremel it out and then use Weldon 16? Should I round it out or square cut it out. I'd been thinking about a "U" style cut as I heard rounding the bottom prevent it from cracking more and that the straight edges on the top of the "U" hold the Weldon patch job better. Should I mix acrylic shavings in with the Weldon 16 or cut a small chunk or acrylic that can fit in what I cut out to make it stronger? How strong will it be once fixed? How do I structure a damn around this corner to apply the Weldon 16? Is tape simply enough by doing it in two stages or is the Weldon 16 to thin and slip through, and is is bad to do in two stages rather than one stage? I assume I want the Weldon to stick up past the surface so I can sand it nice and even.
2.) In regards to sanding acrylic: This will be my second tank to resurface. I'm planning on using 120/220/320/400/600/800/1000/1200/1500/2000 grit sand paper then using Novus 1 to buff and shine it. Is this overkill? I'm doing the low grades to get out a couple scratches, but wasn't sure how high of a grade I have to go to. But I've read of some people using just 600 / 1200 then buffing for non major scratched tanks. Isn't that was Novus 2 and Novus 3 are equivalent to? I'm planning on using an random orbital sander rather than the square one I used on the first tank. I'm curious though as to if all orbital hook and loop sand paper is wet / dry since its basically a velcro back. If not, anyone know where I can get the proper sand paper. None of the hook and loop i have seen says wet / dry. I'm planning on using a mouse sander on the inside corners. Any tips or tricks to sanding? The first tank I did, I did 3 passes (about 10-12 minutes total between all 3 passes) with each grit on each panel and that seemed to work well. I did two circular passes and one straight vertical or horizontal pass.
3.) I'm currently thinking about experimenting building my first tank. What is the absolute best type of acrylic to use? Best "glue" Weldon 3 or Weldon 4? Capillary method or pin method? Cheapest place to order panels from (that also does cut requests) in Southern California? Or internet if its good.
Thanks in advance!
It does not leak. 3/4" vertical panels. However I want to fix this, just to be safe. Especially since I'm about to do a light sanding / buffing anyway, might as well do it all at once.
Is the best way to dremel it out and then use Weldon 16? Should I round it out or square cut it out. I'd been thinking about a "U" style cut as I heard rounding the bottom prevent it from cracking more and that the straight edges on the top of the "U" hold the Weldon patch job better. Should I mix acrylic shavings in with the Weldon 16 or cut a small chunk or acrylic that can fit in what I cut out to make it stronger? How strong will it be once fixed? How do I structure a damn around this corner to apply the Weldon 16? Is tape simply enough by doing it in two stages or is the Weldon 16 to thin and slip through, and is is bad to do in two stages rather than one stage? I assume I want the Weldon to stick up past the surface so I can sand it nice and even.
2.) In regards to sanding acrylic: This will be my second tank to resurface. I'm planning on using 120/220/320/400/600/800/1000/1200/1500/2000 grit sand paper then using Novus 1 to buff and shine it. Is this overkill? I'm doing the low grades to get out a couple scratches, but wasn't sure how high of a grade I have to go to. But I've read of some people using just 600 / 1200 then buffing for non major scratched tanks. Isn't that was Novus 2 and Novus 3 are equivalent to? I'm planning on using an random orbital sander rather than the square one I used on the first tank. I'm curious though as to if all orbital hook and loop sand paper is wet / dry since its basically a velcro back. If not, anyone know where I can get the proper sand paper. None of the hook and loop i have seen says wet / dry. I'm planning on using a mouse sander on the inside corners. Any tips or tricks to sanding? The first tank I did, I did 3 passes (about 10-12 minutes total between all 3 passes) with each grit on each panel and that seemed to work well. I did two circular passes and one straight vertical or horizontal pass.
3.) I'm currently thinking about experimenting building my first tank. What is the absolute best type of acrylic to use? Best "glue" Weldon 3 or Weldon 4? Capillary method or pin method? Cheapest place to order panels from (that also does cut requests) in Southern California? Or internet if its good.
Thanks in advance!
Last edited:
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
I'm gonna leave that one up to James. That's a pretty nasty looking chip. You're saying that happened before the tank was ever used, then someone used it for a few years?
I know that any repairs you do are going to stress the acrylic more than it already is and may actually cause failure, and WO #16 would probably not be the best choice.
I'm thinking something like WO #40 or #42 and a strip adehered over the damaged spot, or something like that. Again, this is all a James question.
w/r to the resurfacing, is it really that badly scratched up after only a few years that you have to start with 120? Start with the highest grit (smallest grain) that you need in order to remove the scratch, and work up in grit from there. The tank I resurfaced had gravel scratches from a magfloat up and down the entire front in a zig-zag pattern and I started with 400 after 800 wasn't making headway, and those were really deep scratches.
I know that any repairs you do are going to stress the acrylic more than it already is and may actually cause failure, and WO #16 would probably not be the best choice.
I'm thinking something like WO #40 or #42 and a strip adehered over the damaged spot, or something like that. Again, this is all a James question.
w/r to the resurfacing, is it really that badly scratched up after only a few years that you have to start with 120? Start with the highest grit (smallest grain) that you need in order to remove the scratch, and work up in grit from there. The tank I resurfaced had gravel scratches from a magfloat up and down the entire front in a zig-zag pattern and I started with 400 after 800 wasn't making headway, and those were really deep scratches.
fishtankcrazy
New member
Yeah its had about a year and a half of usage out of the 3 years. It from one of my buddies and holds water fine. He's moving out of the country so I got a steal of a deal on this thing.
As for the sanding, the tank is mostly in amazing shape just a couple of deep scratches from a live rock landslide. The reason I think I need to start at 120 is that the other tank I just resurfaced had some similar ones and I had started at 600 and had to keep dropping till I couldn't see them anymore. And I want to do the full panel at that grit so that its an even sand. I've seen tanks where they just did the one spot needed with the lower grits then did the whole panel at the higher grits. When looking at it closely there seemed to be some distortion in the viewing angles.
As for the sanding, the tank is mostly in amazing shape just a couple of deep scratches from a live rock landslide. The reason I think I need to start at 120 is that the other tank I just resurfaced had some similar ones and I had started at 600 and had to keep dropping till I couldn't see them anymore. And I want to do the full panel at that grit so that its an even sand. I've seen tanks where they just did the one spot needed with the lower grits then did the whole panel at the higher grits. When looking at it closely there seemed to be some distortion in the viewing angles.
Steveb
Premium Member
How do you remove silicone from acrylic?
How do you remove silicone from acrylic?
I bought PM kalk reactor off of flea bay and the seller neglected to list that one of the pipe inlets on the side had been sealed with silicone. Here..
I have remove the pipe inlet and mechanically removed most of the silicone but there is still a thin film left around the hole on the inside of the acrylic tube. My hope is to be able to reseal the pipe inlet with weld-on 40. Any ideas on the best way to remove the remaining silicone film?
Thanks,
How do you remove silicone from acrylic?
I bought PM kalk reactor off of flea bay and the seller neglected to list that one of the pipe inlets on the side had been sealed with silicone. Here..
I have remove the pipe inlet and mechanically removed most of the silicone but there is still a thin film left around the hole on the inside of the acrylic tube. My hope is to be able to reseal the pipe inlet with weld-on 40. Any ideas on the best way to remove the remaining silicone film?
Thanks,
Last edited:
kcress
New member
Hi Acrylics!
Could you come over and give us your read on this build of maj3stic's:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2055999
His bracing requirements and the acceptability of water jetted joints.
Could you come over and give us your read on this build of maj3stic's:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2055999
His bracing requirements and the acceptability of water jetted joints.
Greetings.
I just started looking through this great thread for some ideas for a fuge I want to build.
It can be a max. of 15 l x 12 w x 21 h so around 16 gal on a 37 display.
I have access to wood work equipment so that should not be too hard.
Start off questions:
Thickness? 3/8, 1/4 inch or other
Bonding agent? WO 40 or something similar with the pin tech.?
Do I need any type of brace or is this small enough? I am more of a tank built type however.
Cost? What am I looking at if I DIY?
Also where within this thread would be a good place to start reading before attempting this? 87 pages makes little work being done while at work.
Thanks.
I just started looking through this great thread for some ideas for a fuge I want to build.
It can be a max. of 15 l x 12 w x 21 h so around 16 gal on a 37 display.
I have access to wood work equipment so that should not be too hard.
Start off questions:
Thickness? 3/8, 1/4 inch or other
Bonding agent? WO 40 or something similar with the pin tech.?
Do I need any type of brace or is this small enough? I am more of a tank built type however.
Cost? What am I looking at if I DIY?
Also where within this thread would be a good place to start reading before attempting this? 87 pages makes little work being done while at work.
Thanks.
TheFishMan65
New member
James,
I few question if you don't mind. I maybe getting hold of an acrylic tank. The problem is that a wall was installed after the tank was so it must be cut to get it out. I will be turning it into a sump - I hope. The tank is about 96x30x30.
1) Can I reuse the corners of should I cut full panes? All the descriptions here talk about gluing a horizontal edge. If I cut out the corner I will be trying to glue horizontal and vertical at the same time. Is this a problem, and what glue would you recommend (I have never glues acrylic before) I hope this is clear.
2) The acrylic is one inch thick. If I go 16 inches high for water, how long can it be without needing eurobracing? Assume there is a 14 inch high baffle at the 1/2 way point.
3) I am contemplating a frag tank that would sit on the sump. If the frag rack is 16x24x8 can it rest on the 1 inch acrylic sides of the sump? If the bottom of the frag tank is 1 inch will it need plywood support along the bottom?
Thanks for your help
I few question if you don't mind. I maybe getting hold of an acrylic tank. The problem is that a wall was installed after the tank was so it must be cut to get it out. I will be turning it into a sump - I hope. The tank is about 96x30x30.
1) Can I reuse the corners of should I cut full panes? All the descriptions here talk about gluing a horizontal edge. If I cut out the corner I will be trying to glue horizontal and vertical at the same time. Is this a problem, and what glue would you recommend (I have never glues acrylic before) I hope this is clear.
2) The acrylic is one inch thick. If I go 16 inches high for water, how long can it be without needing eurobracing? Assume there is a 14 inch high baffle at the 1/2 way point.
3) I am contemplating a frag tank that would sit on the sump. If the frag rack is 16x24x8 can it rest on the 1 inch acrylic sides of the sump? If the bottom of the frag tank is 1 inch will it need plywood support along the bottom?
Thanks for your help
