Working with acrylic

[bullet_buddy]

How hard wold it be to build a 2'x2'x30"aquairum out of acrylic?.I'm somewhat handy but I hav'nt worked with this stuff before.All help will be appreciated.

 

[boozeman]

its not really all that hard to build...its building one 'neatly' that's a PITA.
go to melevs site and learn all you can...then get lots and lots of practice gluing scrap pieces together untill you get those seams bubble free(that's the
pita part.)

 

[sasquatch]

Bullet Buddy, its fun, once you start tho you spend a lot of time in plastic shops cut off bins, my very very best advice when cutting plastic with power tools, WEAR EYE PROTECTION nothing is more painful than plastic shards in the eye. Its never happened to me lol

 

[bullet_buddy]

Anyone have advice on bending the front corners?

 

[RanRoc]

Jeez, I was just thinking about the bending corners thing! I was trying to recall the website. I think that it involved a heat gun (?) device, looks like a hair dryer, and using PVC to act as a guide in bending the plastic. I've read it can get pretty tricky, so have plenty of scrap to practice! Also, as you may have read, the taller the tank, the thicker the plastic. But Weld-On products are pretty good for acrylic project, so thickness may not be an issue. It may just have a bit of a bowing issue if not thick enough. I didn't have to bend pieces on the sump I made for my tank. Good luck.
-RY

 

[bullet_buddy]

Jeez, I was just thinking about the bending corners thing! I was trying to recall the website. I think that it involved a heat gun (?) device, looks like a hair dryer, and using PVC to act as a guide in bending the plastic. I've read it can get pretty tricky, so have plenty of scrap to practice! Also, as you may have read, the taller the tank, the thicker the plastic. But Weld-On products are pretty good for acrylic project, so thickness may not be an issue. It may just have a bit of a bowing issue if not thick enough. I didn't have to bend pieces on the sump I made for my tank. Good luck.
-RY

I was thinking of 1/2" think that's thick enough?

 

[boozeman]

in most applications the corners aren't bent...they are welded together then rounded over with a router and polished smooth.

 

[RanRoc]

I was thinking of 1/2" think that's thick enough?

Haven't worked with that thickness, but I think that would be plenty. Hope others will chime in with their opinions.
-RY