My Diy 340 gallon acrylic

cabinetman123

cabinetman123

Member
I've been working on a new tank for myself. It measures 96x32x26 and is made outa 3/4 acrylic. I used my woodworking gear to make this. I've got a real good tablesaw with a good power feeder which made this build go so good. Me and my worker did a fun video today for my local forum but thought I would share it hear to. I've also build a 360 gallon and a 4x4 cube before this one. There's vids of them on my channel as well. I like this one the best by far with the black trim.
Here's the vid we did
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8rNxv-PLHQ
 
Those seams are nice indeed. Feeder does seem to make nice edges on the table saw. What blade did you use and was it new for this job or even this step of the job?
 
The blade was far from new but it wasn't terrible dull. I sharpen my own with a grinder i made. It's just a regular melamine blade 60 tooth I believe. It's just cause the feeder pulls it threw so slow and steady and then the second pass without moving the fence just finishes it almost like glass. I make all my tanks this way.
 
That looks like a cool different way of doing it, does the edge come out as clean as it would with a edge finisher Machine? I would assume pretty darn close since you don't have any prep work. Good Job,
 
cabinetman123 said:
Here's a vid of another one I just cranked out. 480 gallon!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzIavisnUJw
Click to expand...

Very nice work! What thickness material did you build the 480 out of? Hopefully it's at least 1". 3/4" material will deflect and bow a lot and the top will end up cracking at the corners of the openings. The deflecting will cause crazing in the acrylic.

I've got a 480 (48"x96"x24") myself and have seen a number of them before and after my tank was made. When I had my tank made, I opted for 1.5" front and back because I had seen 480's made from 1" that had severely bowed fronts. My top is 1" and I got a crack on 2 corners of the openings after several years. The top also deflected a bit too. In hind-site, I should have use a 1.5" top but given that my openings were 24"x24" we didn't think it needed to be thicker. Fortunately the fix was easy and just required some 1/2" acrylic glued on top of and below the crack just off the corners of the openings. It's been fine ever since but thicker with a 480 is better as there is a lot of pressure inside the tank and the deflecting will cause crazing in the acrylic. My tank is now 20 years old.
 
cabinetman123 said:
Only 3/4 :(
Click to expand...

I hate to say this but 3/4" is WAY WAY WAY too thin.. Like I said, even 1" on the front and rear is too thin in my opinion and will without a doubt deflect over time. I've seen that first hand on 480's made from 1". I'd be afraid of 3/4" spitting a seam from the deflection.
 
I have seen local manufacturers make a 96x48x24 using 1/2" . Not the thickest material for sure but that thing has lasted in a local fish store for 5 years and still running. a little bit of deflection but I think the LFS got his money's worth. :)
 
dattack said:
I have seen local manufacturers make a 96x48x24 using 1/2" . Not the thickest material for sure but that thing has lasted in a local fish store for 5 years and still running. a little bit of deflection but I think the LFS got his money's worth. :)
Click to expand...

1/2". Wow. I've read of some building tanks this size outa half inch but couldn't believe it. Nice to hear that even a 1/2 one will hold. I got that sick feeling reading the post ^^^
 
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