DiY Acrylic Tank Building

[fishdance]

I have a couple of questions;

i) When you glue on the first side (front/back), how do you 'hold it` in place? You need to get it 90 degrees from the bottom dont you? I guess the weight will keep enough pressure on but it might dry slightly crooked. Does this matter? Should I make up a 90 degree jig/stand to hold it while it dries?

ii) You say it dries pretty fast, and to only try a quarter section at a time. Does this mean dry glue and new wet glue seals together okay? What if I only did one panel/side a week for example?

iii) I am thinking strips of acrylic for the top braces and cross beams would be much cheaper than cutting out a whole sheet. Is this wrong?

iv) I am not used to working with acrylic before, what `gap` can be safely plugged up with extra glue? You talk about using capillary action to suck glue inbetween joins so the sides have to be REALLY precise?

v) Is there any recommended order for gluing? ie Front, side, back & side? Going around in a circle? Any extra working tips appreciated.

Thanks for the great post and photos.

 

[milkman407]

I have a couple of questions;

i) When you glue on the first side (front/back), how do you 'hold it` in place? You need to get it 90 degrees from the bottom dont you? I guess the weight will keep enough pressure on but it might dry slightly crooked. Does this matter? Should I make up a 90 degree jig/stand to hold it while it dries?

When you glue the first side, as long as its on a flat surfice it will glue straight. because its a level service just being set on another level service ( best way to explaine it )

ii) You say it dries pretty fast, and to only try a quarter section at a time. Does this mean dry glue and new wet glue seals together okay? What if I only did one panel/side a week for example?

dry glue does seal witht he wet glue, but it makes it weaker, so thats why you should do a little bit at a time, make sure there are no bubbles than move on. Dont reglue it after you glued it the first time. Doing 1 side a week is fine, I do a new side every day, when i have time.

iii) I am thinking strips of acrylic for the top braces and cross beams would be much cheaper than cutting out a whole sheet. Is this wrong?

no its not wrong at all, You would save alot more money, but if you order a whole sheet for the top, if its big enough that is, you can make a sump out of it. Which is what I did for the 3 new tanks i'm building now.

iv) I am not used to working with acrylic before, what `gap` can be safely plugged up with extra glue? You talk about using capillary action to suck glue inbetween joins so the sides have to be REALLY precise?

I'm not sure what you mean here, but the cuts have to be precise, if not and theres a chip in the acrylic when ordered, you will most likely have to fix it or add extra acrylic cement # 16 to it on the outside or inside.

v) Is there any recommended order for gluing? ie Front, side, back & side? Going around in a circle? Any extra working tips appreciated.

I would recommend doing the front peice first, than the right side, the back, than the left side. it dosn't really matter as long as you do the frontor back first it helps. When gluing with the syringe, just make sure the needle is ahead of the glue and you should be fine. if there are no bubbles, than you can go the whole length of one side without stopping. Once that is on you can wait aslong as you want and put another side peice on and continue.

Thanks for the great post and photos.

No problem, I love mfk, and the people here. So I intend to help them out as much as possible, All acrylic prices will fluxuate, so I would just check with a dealer near you and ask how much a certain cut of cast acrylic would be. ( Make sure you have the measurements right , and the thickness right )


For example, this tank i built was 72x48x24 with 3/4 " acrylic
so the acrylic sheets that we ordered where this size

2 sheets - 72" by 48"
2 sheets - 72" by 24"
2 sheets - 24" by 46 1/2"

Make sure to add the thickness and subtract it from the side peices of acrylic, if you dont do this you will overlap.

 

[Derpeder]

Cool thread. Thanks writing it up. I'd like to try this someday. Cause its just cool.....and it would be a great accomplishment.

 

[milkman407]

anytime, I will update with more pics once we finish the other tank.

 

[BadDogsPa]

Where does one buy say 8' by 10' piece of 3 " acrylic and can anyone give me an idea of how much something like that would cost?

 

[Phixer]

Any trade secrets for bonding sheets over 1" thick and 10FT long. Pins method? edge prep? Thanks

 

[milkman407]

Not sure, never done one over 8ft long. I would use clamps, or pin them down some how.

 

[LCEI]

Why would you only want a 3" thick 10'x8' of acrylic? Are you glazing it in to a tank?

 

[wizzin]

Where does one buy say 8' by 10' piece of 3 " acrylic and can anyone give me an idea of how much something like that would cost?

http://www.reynoldspolymer.com/

 

[Phixer]

Where does one buy say 8' by 10' piece of 3 " acrylic and can anyone give me an idea of how much something like that would cost?

There are a number of places, any good plastic supply shop can custom order this but plan on spending a lot of money. 3" thick is what places like Seaworld use. Reynolds is another source as mentioned but very costly as well. This will weigh a lot as well. Machining something this thick is also challenging.