Acrylic Fabrication Q & A
- Thread starter Turbo's Aquatics
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OP
OP
Is this in a glass 40 Breeder?
I don't even know what that is
OP
OP
Acrylic doesn't bond to glass so joint prep is really not relevant. You can't take a piece of acrylic and bond it in along the vertical joints as a baffle, the silicone would stick to the glass but would not stick to the silicone - it would appear to initially but it's not a strong bond.
You can silicone in an acrylic baffle into a glass sump if is it only separating chambers and there is no water level difference on either side, and if there's not a ton of flow that would create more pressure on one side of the baffle.
If that's not the case, you have to do in this instance is something different - take strips of acrylic (or better, glass) that are about 3/8" or 1/2" thick and 1" wide and bond them to the glass on the down-flow side of where the baffle would be. One on each side and one on the bottom of the 40B. You will have to leave the corners alone because of the silicone bead in the inside but we'll get to that.
Let the cure for a day or two.
Now cut your acrylic baffle so that it's about 1/8" smaller than the inner dim of the 40B. This allows for the acrylic to swell a bit, which it will. If you make it a tight fit, it can crack the glass when it expands (acrylic absorbs water, after about 16 weeks in water it stops expanding).
Also round the bottom edges so that the acrylic doesn't need to poke into the silicone bead along the bottom
Run a bead of silicone along the "joint" where the baffle will be pressed up against and place the baffle there. Then run a bead of silicone on the glass/acrylic joint, then make sure you fill in that spot around the bottom silicone bead joint of the 40B on both sides. Use a bar clamp in reverse (push) configuration to put a very very very slight pressure on the baffle, just enough to keep it in place (can use tape also)
Let cure for a couple days before water testing. Let cure 2 weeks before exposing to a live reef (or anything really). That last part is something you won't commonly hear but silicone has a 2 weeks full cure time.
For the silicone, use Momentive RTV 100 series. There's other stuff that is safe too and there's a billion opinions but Momentive is what the pros use and it's available everywhere. Most people who have issues don't follow the 2 week rule and then everyone tells them they used the wrong silicone.
You can silicone in an acrylic baffle into a glass sump if is it only separating chambers and there is no water level difference on either side, and if there's not a ton of flow that would create more pressure on one side of the baffle.
If that's not the case, you have to do in this instance is something different - take strips of acrylic (or better, glass) that are about 3/8" or 1/2" thick and 1" wide and bond them to the glass on the down-flow side of where the baffle would be. One on each side and one on the bottom of the 40B. You will have to leave the corners alone because of the silicone bead in the inside but we'll get to that.
Let the cure for a day or two.
Now cut your acrylic baffle so that it's about 1/8" smaller than the inner dim of the 40B. This allows for the acrylic to swell a bit, which it will. If you make it a tight fit, it can crack the glass when it expands (acrylic absorbs water, after about 16 weeks in water it stops expanding).
Also round the bottom edges so that the acrylic doesn't need to poke into the silicone bead along the bottom
Run a bead of silicone along the "joint" where the baffle will be pressed up against and place the baffle there. Then run a bead of silicone on the glass/acrylic joint, then make sure you fill in that spot around the bottom silicone bead joint of the 40B on both sides. Use a bar clamp in reverse (push) configuration to put a very very very slight pressure on the baffle, just enough to keep it in place (can use tape also)
Let cure for a couple days before water testing. Let cure 2 weeks before exposing to a live reef (or anything really). That last part is something you won't commonly hear but silicone has a 2 weeks full cure time.
For the silicone, use Momentive RTV 100 series. There's other stuff that is safe too and there's a billion opinions but Momentive is what the pros use and it's available everywhere. Most people who have issues don't follow the 2 week rule and then everyone tells them they used the wrong silicone.
m0nk3y69d
Well-Known Member
There won’t be any water level differences and I also have some acrylic to acrylic seems that I’m using weld on 4 to connect how would I prep the edges for that and what kind of hole say can I use for drilling a hole for a 4 in filter sock
OP
OP
If your joint have to hold water, it'll be tricky without using a router or jointer or something like that. Score & snap would probably work better than a jigsaw, but both have their negatives. You need an acrylic-specific jigsaw blade or else it's going to create a mess (or rather, more of a mess) and the edge won't be as straight as score/snap. But both take practice.
Table saw would be OK, you still want an acrylic blade but you can get straight cuts that are weldable with only a few passes with a razor blade if you do it right (again, not ideal for a seam that has to hold water but better than score/snap or jigsaw)
for cutting holes for a filter sock, use that tools that @siggy just posted I guess lol! I use a template and router but I have a router and a template. You can use a jigsaw and smooth out the hole with a razor blade
m0nk3y69d
Well-Known Member
I ordered a jigsaw blade that is made for acrylic and I can get a router with bits from a friend he has 1/4 and 1/2 strait bits for it but I would have to freehand it there is no router table or anything like that would that work better then snap cut and the jigsaw
Slow Down with that, I have not tried using that on acrylic and was asking if you or others have. I have used hole saws, but the larger sizes might spell trouble will acrylic. The cutting bit shown looks too crude and would need to be touched up. I have boxes of various acrylic tubing and would like to make plugs and caps.
OP
OP
Freehand + router = disaster.
Don't even think about it. That's mad expert level, the only person I know who has talked about freehand routing acrylic is @acrylics and he's been building tanks for 30 years I think. One slip and you've got hot shavings flying everywhere and/or a snapped router bit shooting off like a bullet. I had a buddy snap a router bit once and he has yet to find it.
Don't even think about it. That's mad expert level, the only person I know who has talked about freehand routing acrylic is @acrylics and he's been building tanks for 30 years I think. One slip and you've got hot shavings flying everywhere and/or a snapped router bit shooting off like a bullet. I had a buddy snap a router bit once and he has yet to find it.
TheEngineer
Formerly icecool2
I think my question got lost
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I was just thinking the other day about looking into what it takes to fabricate with acrylic... This looks ... fun ...
Now I just need to get space where I can actually try/learn this.
Thank you for everything in this!
Now I just need to get space where I can actually try/learn this.
Thank you for everything in this!
6" is costly and Ebay is where i find cutoffs cheap. Maybe make a rectangular or square, can i ask where you found the rounds?I think my question got lost
TheEngineer
Formerly icecool2
Etsy for the rounds. I asked if they sold tubes too but no luck.
TheEngineer
Formerly icecool2
When you are making the front and back pieces and or sides of a tank you will need to pass the material between the fence and the router bit. The reason you do this is so all pieces will be the same height or length. This is a common "no no" safety wise, but it is the way it is done. I have a small metal router table with a home made table bolted to it. Allows me to place a fence up to 24" away from the bit.
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