Working with acrylic.

[gotnohaylo]

yep... buying some protecting when i get out thir and use my saws again..... allmost time to build my top of the tank

[tdwyatt]

A rouer table (if you can afford one or have access to one) with triple blade bit will make fantastic cuts (perpendicular flat edges always, and they are ready to glue when finished) and save you a lot of time doing acrylic projects, but using a table saw is almost asking for it, even with a top-end blade. As the Acrylic material gets hot and starts sticking/melting to the blade, it begins to grab your work, making the work piece difficult to maintain in a proper position, and many times taking the work piece and slinging it...

Check American Plastics web ste for some good work tips and suggestions.


Ask me how I know...

[kcress]

Got a picture tdwatt? I am contemplating a big tank and shudder to think about table sawing the plexy. I don't see how you can use a router as a table saw?

[Hop]

Go to the DIY section at reef central and look for a thread called something like "I can help with acrylics" (it a long thread with hundreds of posts, with a guy by the name of acrylics. He is James from Envision Acrylics, arguably one of the best tank makers in the world. He goes through many of the questions and solutions you will come up with and he has some pictures of the table router that he made which is quite simple and works perfect.

[kcress]

Outstanding! Thanks for the tip Hop!

[Hop]

I figured if you were not a premium member over there then it would take eons to search... I have exactly 14 days of membership left over there, so I thought I would run a search for you

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...readid=1056956

[kcress]

Ah man! Service with a smile. Outstanding x2

Now if only the dang server wasn't getting "serviced" every time I look.

[Vonne]

Originally Posted by Tasher80

I built my own sump with the help from this site http://www.melevsreef.com/ . I had my plastics place cut most of the pieces to size. I left the top and bottom oversized then I routered them after the sump was put together.

Great Job! What thickness/grade of acrylic did you use for a sump of that size?

[Tasher80]

Thanks. I used cell cast acrylic 3/8" thick. I am not sure if it has a grade other than cell cast but I told my plastics company what I was doing with it so it was ok to use. I couldn't believe how easy it really was to make a sump. It still cost around $250 but if you think about how much it would have been for someone to make that was cheap. I am thinking of makeing a frag tank but I need to make some room in my fishroom. If you go to www.imageevent.com/tasher80/newtank I have a few pictures while I was making it too.

[nickev0]

use goggles i had a little spec of plexi in my eye hurt liki a mother "profanity removed" for days