Acrylic fabrication questions? I can help!

I'm planning to weld a 120Gl tank 24X24X48 with 1/2" Acrylic euro brace. I was wondering which adhesive is best Weld #3, Weld#4 or Weld#16? what's the difference between them?
 
itche_scratche said:
I'm planning to weld a 120Gl tank 24X24X48 with 1/2" Acrylic euro brace. I was wondering which adhesive is best Weld #3, Weld#4 or Weld#16? what's the difference between them?[/QUOT

I prefer #4 it will give alittle more soak time as opposed to #3.
I would NOT use 16 to weld a tank of that size. To messy and it is not as strong as #3, or #4
Click to expand...
 
I saw your post and based on your R/C name Acrylics, looking for some advise. I have an old acrylic sump i p/u. doing water test I discovered it has a small leak, one drip per minute, cant locate it. some one applyed a silcone to the seems of the tank. So my idea was to put some 1/2x1/2 sq rod on all the seams and bond with #40, problem is the silacone. how do I remove it to asure a complete bond. Other idea was to use 3/4 x 1/8 bar stock acrylic on outside forming an L and bonding with #40. Any help and direction will be appreciated. Also I was thinking of attaching some extruded to cast, possible? For removable baffels

Thanks Fitz
 
Hello James,
I am planning to buy the acrylic tank. Can I expect that all acrylic display tank is using cast acrylic tank?
The candidate acrylic tank I may buy is 60x24x24 with 1/2 thickness. Do you think the tank has well enough thickness?
 
All cast acrylic are NOT created equal. Do you know who the manufacture is?

If the tank you are looking at is properly braced it should be just fine with that thickness.
 
James,
I am planning a large tank 96 long 48 deep and 30 tall. The quotes I have gotten are using 3/4" acrylic. I really want to do a coast to coast overflow thats roughly 96 long 8 deep and 12 tall. What would you recommend as far as the weirs go. I would like as much surface area to skim from but also know that I want the top piece to make a good bond. I was thinking 6" on each side and maybe 2' in the middle that would attach to the top piece. Is this a good plan or can you recommend something better.

Thanks
 
what is the min. distance i can drill a hole, from the edge? with a glass tank i usually drill it 1x - 1.5x the diameter of the hole. is this forumula the same for acrylic, or can i drill the hole closer to the edge?
 
I want to build an acrylic ATO container. The dimensions are roughly 14 x 13 x 17(tall). What is the thickness of material recommended with and without a top brace. Origionally, I planned for 3/8 with a top brace. But if I can go 1/2 with no brace, it may be simpler, as this is my first project. Thanks! And great thread!
 
rovster said:
I want to build an acrylic ATO container. The dimensions are roughly 14 x 13 x 17(tall). What is the thickness of material recommended with and without a top brace. Origionally, I planned for 3/8 with a top brace. But if I can go 1/2 with no brace, it may be simpler, as this is my first project. Thanks! And great thread!
Click to expand...

Putting on the top brace (euro-brace) is no more difficult than welding on the bottom. The top will only require you cut a hole in it.

As for your thickness IMO 1/2'' will hold just fine without a top brace.
If it were me I would use 3/8 with a euro brace on the top.
 
takayan said:
Hello James,
I am planning to buy the acrylic tank. Can I expect that all acrylic display tank is using cast acrylic tank?
The candidate acrylic tank I may buy is 60x24x24 with 1/2 thickness. Do you think the tank has well enough thickness?
Click to expand...
Tank looks fine to me, braced well, 1/2" is fine - no problem :)
that said, no, you can't expect all cast acrylic construction, but... the people that built that tank appear to know what they're doing so I'd trust it.

James
 
Crazy35111 said:
James,
I am planning a large tank 96 long 48 deep and 30 tall. The quotes I have gotten are using 3/4" acrylic. I really want to do a coast to coast overflow thats roughly 96 long 8 deep and 12 tall. What would you recommend as far as the weirs go. I would like as much surface area to skim from but also know that I want the top piece to make a good bond. I was thinking 6" on each side and maybe 2' in the middle that would attach to the top piece. Is this a good plan or can you recommend something better.

Thanks
Click to expand...
make the top connect to the back wherever you have a cross-brace plus maybe 6" on each end. make sense? :)

James
 
sick_bubblegum said:
what is the min. distance i can drill a hole, from the edge? with a glass tank i usually drill it 1x - 1.5x the diameter of the hole. is this forumula the same for acrylic, or can i drill the hole closer to the edge?
Click to expand...
with acrylic, you can drill the hole wherever you wish. Remember that the seams make the material more rigid so close to a seam is actually better than further away..

James
 
peppie said:
Putting on the top brace (euro-brace) is no more difficult than welding on the bottom. The top will only require you cut a hole in it.

As for your thickness IMO 1/2'' will hold just fine without a top brace.
If it were me I would use 3/8 with a euro brace on the top.
Click to expand...

Thank you. That's what I figured. I just wanted to be sure. Thanks for the reassurance!
 
When polishing my tank, I was using an led light over the end of the panel being polished. This illuminates the scratches much better. I had noticed some crazing on the end of the top piece used for euro bracing. It appears that this crazing has migrated across the seam and into about 1/4 inch of the front viewing panel. Not sure what to do at this point!

2557B67F-CF57-4115-9B90-81BB6CA97BD5-5328-000006AEEB173EAC.jpg
 
Giovanni said:
When polishing my tank, I was using an led light over the end of the panel being polished. This illuminates the scratches much better. I had noticed some crazing on the end of the top piece used for euro bracing. It appears that this crazing has migrated across the seam and into about 1/4 inch of the front viewing panel. Not sure what to do at this point!
Click to expand...
not much you really can do about it.. :(
looks like it was cleaned with alcohol or some other solvent based cleaner..

James
 
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