I'm building a 160g plywood tank and its ready for the epoxy coating, what's the best way to bond the acrylic viewing window to the epoxy coating. I aleady have the acrylic so getting glass is out of the question. I have read about bolting the acrylic to the frame with a silicone gasket of sorts, is the the prefered method or is there a better way
bonding acrylic to plywood tank?
- Thread starter causedabigpoop
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I've bolted acrylic to wood before. Let me be the first to say it looks less than stellar but it works. I guess you never have to worry about it coming loose though. I'm actually working on building a wooden frame around the viewing window and making that water tight and then bolting or screwing the frame with the window into the tank and going over it with more epoxy. For some reason I've just never trusted the water pressure idea to hold the viewing window in. Especially acrylic. Don't get me wrong its been proven to work I just personally wouldn't be comfortable with it.
What about wiping down the acrylic with lacquer thinner to rough up the acrylic before putting the silicone down? Think that would give it a good bond? I'm not to sure about the "pressure holding the plexi in" Kinda a leaning to the bolts or stainless screws.
When I did mine I used sand paper to rough it up really good then I cleaned it up and bolted it in place. I used marineland 5200 for the seal and let me tell you it makes silicone seem worthless. Also if you are going to bolt it in make sure you do everything right the first time and have everything laid out and ready to go. With multiple bolts that means multiple places where water can leak out. I tried using silicone first and small leaks kept appearing either around bolts or the edges near the bolts. Once I switched to the 5200 everything worked out perfect.
One last thing. It's a little more expensive but if you have the chance get the 5200 quick cure. It sets in an hour and is ready to go in 24 hours. I was very inpatient so that's what I went with. If your the patient type then you can save some money and get the regular 5200. Either way both of them are great choices.
well just make the back where the acyllic wil lgo opena nd fram eout the front the flip the tank so the viewing window is facing the ground put lots of silicone there and put the acyllic......then put some on the back.....the water will push against the acryllic so it will be water tight