I have been wanting to do this build for some time. Knowing that stingrays really need lots of bottom room width and length, I designed this tank just for them. Chris (theanimalman) and myself decided it was time to build these monster tanks. The dimensions of the tanks are 10'Lx4'Wx25"T. They have two 18"x8" overflow boxes made from 1/4" black ABS plastic. The acrylic is 1/2" cell cast acrylic. 1/2" is all that was needed due to the shallow height of the tank. All acrylic was cut on a panel saw and the edges were scraped using an acrylic scraping tool. The acrylic sheets came in at 124" x 49.5" giving us some play room on the outside edge for welding. We used Weldon #4 to weld the joints and then put 1/2" square acrylic rod in the joints for extra security.
After welding the tank the excess acrylic on the outside was routed off using a triple carbide blade with a follower bearing. We used blue painters masking tape to put around the edges to keep from marking the acrylic with the bearing. While the tape is still on the tank we sanded the cut edges and then removed the tape and polished the edges to a perfect optical clarity.
The overflow boxes were also cut on the panel saw and the teeth were routed using a custom laser cut jig and a 1/4" router bit.
The tanks total weight empty is about 331 lbs, making it possible for the two of us to pick it up. Compare that to glass.
More to follow.
After welding the tank the excess acrylic on the outside was routed off using a triple carbide blade with a follower bearing. We used blue painters masking tape to put around the edges to keep from marking the acrylic with the bearing. While the tape is still on the tank we sanded the cut edges and then removed the tape and polished the edges to a perfect optical clarity.
The overflow boxes were also cut on the panel saw and the teeth were routed using a custom laser cut jig and a 1/4" router bit.
The tanks total weight empty is about 331 lbs, making it possible for the two of us to pick it up. Compare that to glass.
More to follow.
