# CONSTRUCTING AQUARIUM ACCESSORIES WITH ACRYLIC Part 1



## Dataseeker (Sep 3, 2006)

CONSTRUCTING AQUARIUM ACCESSORIES WITH ACRYLIC.

Although I no longer live within New York City, I did in my youth. In the early 50's Canal Street on the Westside and other parts of lower Manhattan were populated with endless "surplus" stores. One of my favorites was a "Plastics" store. Working with these materials then as a hobbyist was essentially an experiment. Good practices were for the most part proprietary. No one then was giving away their secrets. I have enjoyed working with acrylics on various projects ever since then and offer here the essence of what I consider the best tips for success. I hope other DIY experimenters here find some of this useful.

The project shown is a top with access doors for a 55 gallon metal frame tank I am trying to create a new life for as a planted aquarium. Let's get started.

Straight clean cuts can be made on sheet material with a table saw. Electric hand saws can be used for larger panel cuts but for cutting small pieces a table saw is best. The blade used should be carbide tipped and should have teeth designated as "Plastic Cutting" or "For Non-Ferrous Materials". The shape of the teeth alternate as those shown here.










This shape is known as Triple Chip Grind. The saw blade should be raised to just clear the thickness of the material being cut.










The fence on the saw should be very straight and faced with straight, hard material. The sheet you are cutting should not be able to fit under or slip under the fence. I use a scrap of sheet material clamped as shown to line the fence.










The paper masking on sheet material should be left in place till all cutting is done. If stored properly the sheet material will stay straight for a lifetime.










Over time though the paper masking adhesive will "dry out" and removing the stuff can becomes an exercise in frustration. A number of solvents that would easily dissolve the glue will also melt the plastic. So, what you choose to do the job is important. I use a three step process. Starting with a very slow solvent the product is called Craftics Mask Off. ( Material sources appear at the end of post 2.) You will need to be patient. Paint it on the paper masking with a brush. Wait at least 5 minutes. Test a corner. If it does not come up easily, paint on another coat of solvent. If it does come up paint on a coat of methanol (Wood Alcohol) available in any paint store. Wait a minute more then peel the paper back. If the paper is not peeling off easily at this time, repeat the steps above and cover the sheet with some kitchen plastic wrap to slow evaporation of the solvents. In another 5 minutes the paper will come off. On new sheet material the paper masking will come off easily without any of the above steps. This is only for material that has been standing around for more than a few years. Some sheet material is masked with a plastic film. No problem with this either after a long storage time but it will not stand up to the handling of the sheet for sawing or other machining.

Invariably you will have a few smudges of paper cement left here and there. Use the fast solvent "Bestine" a rubber cement thinner available from art supply stores to clean this off. Use a soft cloth or paper towel. As would be the case working with any solvent, make sure there is adequate ventilation.

Now for the process of cementing acrylic. Cementing is done with either of two types of solvent based materials. The first type is a very thin liquid that is run in between two surfaces that are very smooth and flat by using capillary attraction. The solvent is handled usually in a small container fitted with a fine gauge tube.










You want to place the tip of the applicator at the interface of the two surfaces and tip the bottle up slowly to allow the solvent to run between the joint. You want to avoid dripping extra cement on the surfaces so work carefully. This process is appropriate for a project such as the one shown here.










Small tanks or filter boxes can be made this way as well. The surfaces to be joined must fit tightly together. Companies that fabricate these type of products actually polish the edges after they are sawn. For joining edges that are not perfectly smooth or need to withstand great pressure such as larger aquariums, a different type of cement is used. It is not a simple solvent that dissolves the joining surfaces as the first type does. It is usually a syrupy fluid containing polymers that reacts with a separate hardener or catalyst that is mixed in just prior to use. The material can be handled in a similar bottle but with a heavier needle or tube. There is a great DIY post at Discus As A Hobby that covers building large tanks using this type of cement. Not needed for the work shown here.

Components for this tank cover are positioned and temporarily held in place with some object while the cement is applied.










Part 2 to follow.


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Impressive! Keep us posted on its development. I wish I had the skills, equipment and know how to attempt one of these projects. But since I don't I'll live through post like theses. I'm looking foward to Part II! 

-John N.


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## Dataseeker (Sep 3, 2006)

John – Part II has been posted for a while now. I am putting the finishing touches on an update to that post and it should appear here in a few days. Hobbyists who don’t have access to saws and other power tools should not be deterred from giving this type of construction a try. The vendors listed at the end of Part II provide a cutting service for a reasonable extra fee. Cementing the pieces together is easily done of you follow the suggestions offered here and available elsewhere. You might want to consider it.


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Ah, Just found it!

Here it is if anyone else missed it.

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...g-aquarium-accessories-with-acrylic-part.html

-John N.


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