My first DIY acrylic tank!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Yes, you can sand them, file them, or router them. I need to get a router first before I try that. I feel that if I had a better saw blade my edge won't be quite as thrashed is it is now. There is a fine line between going to fast and chipping the acrylic or going to slow and melting it. I'm going to try with a helper who can spray the blade and acrylic down with some sort of lubricant so it won't bind or melt and I can cut slower and get a nice clean cut.

If I get good I can make as large as I want. :D

I'm thinking in the realm of a 4' X 8' foot print using 1/2", simply as that's the common (cheapest) dimension of cell cast acrylic.
 
oooh nice, I would like to attempt this. You can make BETTAVIEWs with those scraps you got and sell em on ebay lol or here.
 
Jamie, ive heard a few times that flame polishing will weaken the seams but i have no idea if it really does. maybe glue the filed edges and polish after assembly?
 
That's the plan on my next try. I feel like I need a router and router table to get a good professional edge.

With water this morning.
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Nice! You'll find you get MUCH cleaner cuts if you can keep a constant supply of water or sealant along the cutting edge. I was using a cheap jigsaw blade to cut openings in my 1/2" acrylic tank top, and without water, the edges basically just heat welded back together after the blade passed. With water, I got very crisp, clean edges that looked great, even without any flame polishing.
 
As far as a router table since you already have a table saw there is way to build a router table on to it how i don't know how tho.
 
routing your acrylic is the best way to go, once you get the hang of how fast to cut it, your edges won't need to be sanded at all, you'll want to you use mapp gas instead if your using propane for polishing edges, it burns hotter, polishes faster, and cleaner
 
Nothing more valuable than experience. Nice thread. I will be getting a 2500 gallon acrylic tank that was cut in half (it was 20 feet long with 1"acrylic). I have three thoughts, #1 I should practice bonding, 2 I can add a panel and make a 1250 gallon tank or three try to rebuild it to 2500 using overlaid acrylic pieces in the center where it was cut. Any thoughts besides that I am losing it?

Also on the thicker bonds you can try the pin method using push pin to barely seperate the pieces that are to be bonded, use a syringe to inject the solvent then remove the pins and press together. Never did it just something I read.
 
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