Acrylic DIY gone awry

[MrDJeep123]

Basically I was trying to make overflow teeth. I was using a skill saw that well... had other plans for me. I had a solid mount on the acrylic and a steady hand. Unfortunately, not the very best saw. To cut to the chase, part of the acrylic broke and I had to improvise. So I cut the other side out to match. It looks horrid.

Would it be ok to leave it as is? Or should I fix it somehow? Thanks in advance for the input.

 

[McAllyn]

Dremel would clean that right up. But they look very wide and any small swimmers will definitely go spelunking.

Mac

 

[MrDJeep123]

Dremel would clean that right up. But they look very wide and any small swimmers will definitely go spelunking.

Mac

Planned on using the dremel. So thanks for that reminder. As for the swimmers, the plan is to put floss above the part where the holes are. I don't think I'm terribly concerned about critters. Even if snails were to get in, they can't get through to where the pumps are at.
I know it's wide. I didn't know what else to do to fix it. Thinking about it now, I could use a scrap piece, cut the slits and glue over it...

 

[McAllyn]

Maybe glue in some black eggcrate to the back side?

Mac

 

[JPG@CFI]

Looks like that acrylic is really
thin? I'd beef that up a few thicknesses, then use the right tool, a router and a spiral down cut bit, and a template. If you don't have the tools, a table saw with an ATB carbide blade can work. They also make special drill bits for acrylic, and will improve your results there too. Best of luck, J

 

[Jlobes]

Looks like that acrylic is really
thin? I'd beef that up a few thicknesses, then use the right tool, a router and a spiral down cut bit, and a template. If you don't have the tools, a table saw with an ATB carbide blade can work. They also make special drill bits for acrylic, and will improve your results there too. Best of luck, J

Always quick with the acrylic info./tips. Listen to this guy, ^^, he knows whats up! good on ya for spreading the knowledge wealth, jason.

 

[MrDJeep123]

Looks like that acrylic is really
thin? I'd beef that up a few thicknesses, then use the right tool, a router and a spiral down cut bit, and a template. If you don't have the tools, a table saw with an ATB carbide blade can work. They also make special drill bits for acrylic, and will improve your results there too. Best of luck, J

The side pieces were thin. The front main piece wasn't. That was the thickest piece my Lowes had and only one of them was left. So I had to improvise. Also my first time working with acrylic and tools beyond a dremel, screwdriver, and tape. Thanks for the input.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Melev's Reef - Making Teeth

 

[ravi197699]

it shoud be fine but put egg crate or something similar on the inside and you should be fine ....

 

[MrDJeep123]

I didn't want to make another thread. So I just added here. Can mods change title to All In One DIY, please?
My next step is to smooth the gates and and mount to inside of a 40g breeder tank.

I'll post the measurements when I look them up. Thanks for looking.


1

 

[goodtimes]

Maybe cut the teeth out completely and glue in some gutter guard.

 

[MrDJeep123]

Maybe cut the teeth out completely and glue in done gutter guard.

Oooo, I like this! Thanks! I've had other stuff to deal with today, so i haven't done anything. I will certainly keep this in mind.

 

[JPG@CFI]

MrDjeep123,
What Hornady pills are in that little red box?
Jason

 

[MrDJeep123]

What Hornady pills are in that little red box?
Jason

.45 RB for Flint. I didnt have anything else of significant height to hold the baffles.

 

[MrDJeep123]

So here's the completed project. The only issue was that I did not use enough sealant on the bottom. When sand and water was placed in the tank, sand spilled into the chambers because of the pressure. Not much, but enough to know that is not what i wanted to happen.

 

[cdness]

Did you use silicone to glue the acrylic together? If yes, you will run into issues in the future due to the silicone not adhering well to acrylic.

 

[MrDJeep123]

Did you use silicone to glue the acrylic together? If yes, you will run into issues in the future due to the silicone not adhering well to acrylic.

I did. What issues exactly? So far it's pretty freakin secure. I applied 3 different applications. Each time making sure the first had dried. I just skimped a little on the bottom because I rushed myself.

 

[cdness]

Silicone on top of dried silicone will peel off too easily. You will lose those layers over time. Also Acrylic needs to be "solvent welded" not glued with silicone. The silicone adheres to the glass fine, but the acrylic will never hold a good seal, especially if it is under any sort of load.

 

[MrDJeep123]

Silicone on top of dried silicone will peel off too easily. You will lose those layers over time. Also Acrylic needs to be "solvent welded" not glued with silicone. The silicone adheres to the glass fine, but the acrylic will never hold a good seal, especially if it is under any sort of load.

Well, a bit late to do anything about it now, eh? There isn't much if any pressure coming from the inside. The pressure is mainly from the outside with the water pushing it against the glass wall. I'm going to venture it will be ok for awhile.

 

[cdness]

Well, a bit late to do anything about it now, eh? There isn't much if any pressure coming from the inside. The pressure is mainly from the outside with the water pushing it against the glass wall. I'm going to venture it will be ok for awhile.

Actually as son as the chambers fill up the pressure is minimal to hold it in place. The only real issue you will have are with the baffles if they hold any pressure. If they need to hold pressure, more than likely they will fail at some point in the future. I would suspect it will last for awhile, but 6 months down the road I would guess something will have let loose.

I did the same thing as you with my original tank's overflow. It lasted for awhile only because there was no real pressure on it. I got lucky.