Joshsmit56001
Member
How does everyone end up bending their metal? I do not have a brake so is their ways that will work without one?
DIY Lumenarc Kits
- Thread starter 2dawghouse
- Start date
zaraemna
Member
Just clamp it between two pieces of wood. Then use another piece of wood from underneath to bend the metal up. Harbor Freight had an 18" metal brake but it wasn't wide enough for the size I made. It was very easy to do it with the wood and clamps. I did buy the metal bending pliers for the small edges on the corner pieces. The pliers were $5 at Harbor Freight. They were in the welding section.
KevinYates
New member
thats the way i used to bend my reflectors to bad, because now i have a 14foot sheetmetal break benderd im keeping for the neighbor... doh!
zaraemna
Member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15106758#post15106758 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MSX-Jeff
That looks good
I'd love to see a pic of the coverage once you get it all fired up.
I'm not sure how to take a good picture to show the light spread, but here is what it looks like with the light on
Felipe_Caetano
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15109707#post15109707 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zaraemna
I'm not sure how to take a good picture to show the light spread, but here is what it looks like with the light on
Is this a refuge?
I liked the idea, gonna make one these for me as a refuge!
Felipe_Caetano
New member
zaraemna, what bulb are you using on the reflector for the frag tank?
Felipe_Caetano
New member
ok, I liked the blue of this bulb, I´m trying to decide between 20000K and 14000K, like yours would be my goal....
Tanks.
Tanks.
missile150
New member
So I am thinking of building this reflector, or 3 of them, to cover my 210 gallon and get rid of my spider reflectors. I was going to use some "shiney" aluminum, and was wondering how much difference in lighting I am going to lose compared to the stuff I have seen using the solar tubing, etc. I priced some stuff on the internet, and the material is very expensive compared to the cost of an already built reflector. I have DIY'd everything else on my system, except the tank, and this is just one more piece of the puzzle. I am also interested in putting in a vent to hook up the a/c in my house, and was wondering your opinions on that. I thought about using the reflective tape on top of it from home depot/lowes, and although it doesn't look as good, does the tape hold up to the heat, and will I get a better light pattern than my current setup. I bought a sheet of 25 gauge aluminum for about $12, and although it is not as reflective as what I have seen, it HAS to be better than what I have now.
npsossi@msn.com
New member
Can I still get the pattern for this reflector?
derek4real
Member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15107551#post15107551 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zaraemna
Here are some pics with the bulb. I made this to cover a 50 gallon rubbermaid frag tank. I already had a 400W ballast and bulb. The water isn't very deep in the 50 gallon stock tanks so I figured I'd be ok with a large reflector to spread the light out.
i was gonna do the same thing but have it house 2 MH (1 X 250 & 1 X 400). I was trying to see if there was gonna be a way to do it and I thought of the same thing. I just never got around to doing it. I was gonna do a 400W SE 20K Radium and a 250W SE XM 10K. But money has been tight so things have been very slow.
Has anyone noticed the flaw in the design? The corner pieces are supposed to be straight and not bent. The post with the Bud Light Can shows the corner pieces bent while some later pics show no bends on the corners.
derek4real
Member
No, you will need a 24 X 24 sheet to make it. If you do that you will need more than one. Best thing to do is take the layout to kinkos or office maxe have them blow it up on a 24" x 36" sheet. it was blown up a little bigger than i wanted but it ended up being a half inch bigger and saving me some headache.
