Acrylic Fabrication Q & A

[Scrubber_steve]

So, acrylic display, 36" x 36" x 24" top to bottom; whats the necessary acrylic thickness necessary to avoid warping?

 

[lapin]

So, acrylic display, 36" x 36" x 24" top to bottom; whats the necessary acrylic thickness necessary to avoid warping?

Top with holes? Euro bracing? No bracing (rimless)?

 

[Scrubber_steve]

Euro: I've looked for a calculator without luck

 

[Gareth elliott]

How thick of acrylic would i need for an ATO reservoir? Say 12x8x12”

 

[Matthew Frost]

How thick of acrylic would i need for an ATO reservoir? Say 12x8x12”

1/4" should be more than enough. If your handy look for a 40 gallon or 55 gallon acrylic that someone is getting rid of. They can be had all over the net for 50-60 bucks and that gives you a bunch of extra material.

 

[Gareth elliott]

1/4" should be more than enough. If your handy look for a 40 gallon or 55 gallon acrylic that someone is getting rid of. They can be had all over the net for 50-60 bucks and that gives you a bunch of extra material.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[lapin]

So, acrylic display, 36" x 36" x 24" top to bottom; whats the necessary acrylic thickness necessary to avoid warping?

We are tanking cell cast acrylic of a good quality.
Personally I would do 3/4 = .708 also 5/8 = .591 would work

 

[Scrubber_steve]

We are tanking cell cast acrylic of a good quality.
Personally I would do 3/4 = .708 also 5/8 = .591 would work

Do you know of an online calc for acrylic?

 

[lapin]

This one is a excel d/l from San Diego Plastics. It has a very big safety factor built in.
https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/glass-acrylic-thickness-calculations.287989/
http://diyfishkeepers.com/AcrylicThicknessCalculator.htm
And last but not least another d/l with the ability to load in your safety factor if you wish
https://www.plantedtank.net/forums/...ic-thickness-calculator-guide-not-gospel.html

 

[Turbo's Aquatics Verified Sponsor]

So, acrylic display, 36" x 36" x 24" top to bottom; whats the necessary acrylic thickness necessary to avoid warping?

Do you know of an online calc for acrylic?

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/acrylic-fabrication-q-a.224773/#post-2599808

 

[Turbo's Aquatics Verified Sponsor]

Per the above link, for a 24" tall tank, 0.5" is a minimum. Since it's a square tank, that makes the euro a bit complicated because "technically" you would want one crossbrace, but in both directions (so a "+" brace). This might not be desired, so it would make sense to bump the material up a size and use a braceless euro with a 4.5" perimeter, or 6", depending on the euro thickness. I think if you went with all 3/4" (0.708) then you could do a 4.5" wide euro, but if you bumped the euro thickness down to 1/2", then I would do a 6" euro.

@acrylics might have a better insight but I think that falls in line with his recommendations

 

[soter]

Hi to all .
First of all, thanks for creating this useful topic.

Please I need some advice with acrylics. After my first failure attempt to have my first own custom tank with glass. And after selling my previous tank as scrap, now I planing to buy a custom tank with plexi, the dimensions for this new build are 72x24x24. The builder with some experience, told me that whit 1/2 inch of thick will be ok without any bow or failure in long term. So I'm planning to go with 5/8 thick instead. But the price is too high as 500 bucks only for the extra thick. The question here, what recommend me to do? Is enough 1/2? Is enough 5/8?

*Bump*

 

[Turbo's Aquatics Verified Sponsor]

*Bump*

For a EUROBRACED tank:
24" high, use 1/2" minimum
30" high, use 3/4" minimum
36" high, use 1" minimum

Eurobrace minimums:
3" perimeter eurobrace on any tank.
6" wide crossbrace for every 24" of tank length.
1.5" radius for all interior corners of the eurobrace cutouts (3" diameter circle). This is very important.

For instance:
A 48" x 24" tank (footprint) will have 3" perimeter eurobrace and a single 6" crossbrace at 24".
A 72" x 24" tank will have 3" perimeter eurobrace and a two 6" crossbraces, one at 24" and one at 48".

Emphasis added

5/8" will cut down on the deflection, but that is kind of an odd size. Also keep in mind that these above figures are for imperial thickness, so 0.500" not 0.472 (metric equivalent of 1/2").

Deflection will mean that you will have a more difficult time removing algae, so you will make more passes, press harder, more propensity to scratch...that type of thing.

 

[soter]

Thanks for such detailed information, in my case the builder told me that will be 15mm of thick for all sides and he includ the bottom and cover with the same thick.
But now that you say it, I did not consider the scratches of the cleaners on the bowded panel, as well I read in the forum for the crazing in the acrylic because the deflection. I think 15mm worth the extra money, I will go by that route

 

[Turbo's Aquatics Verified Sponsor]

s well I read in the forum for the crazing in the acrylic because the deflection

crazing is a sign of stress. So that can be from bowing, but likely it is from something else. In most cases, crazing appears because of flame-polishing. So you might check to make sure they don't do this. It's a cheap and quick way to make cut edges look nice, but it is the absolute worst thing you can do to acrylic.

 

[Kscope]

https://octoaquatics.com
This site makes anything just about on request. Maybe helpful to ask for help. Love his work, especially the custom sump lids

 

[me & my baby]

Anyone have the instructions on making a acrylic cone . I want to build another skimmer

 

[Scrubber_steve]

Anyone have the instructions on making a acrylic cone . I want to build another skimmer

This was the skimmer I built, & it worked very well.
Note the skimmer cup is a DVD disc container.
The tapered progression connecting the body to the neck was a flat 3mm piece to start out. I made a wooden mold on my lathe, heated the piece & pressed the mould down onto it. Worked our well.
The entire neck was also originally a flat piece 0f 3mm clear. I made a mold for that to. It was hinged along one side - heated the piece, pressed it inot the mold with a smaller diameter tube, folded the mold shut, & presto,,, a tube.

To make a long cone shape you'll need a mold, a piece of acrylic cut to the exact dimentions & angles, & an oven to heat the acrylic.

have fun

 

[soter]

crazing is a sign of stress. So that can be from bowing, but likely it is from something else. In most cases, crazing appears because of flame-polishing. So you might check to make sure they don't do this. It's a cheap and quick way to make cut edges look nice, but it is the absolute worst thing you can do to acrylic.

Hi @Floyd R Turbo

could you please validate my design? Is only the cover and I’m planning to use 5/8” thick

 

[DetMatt]

After a few tries using the advanced search option to find a conversation that probably already exists I figured I’d just start posting, it’s probably faster.
These air pockets are killin’ Me! Edges are square, pins method of course, I used feeler gauges to get the gap consistent to within like .004 across the entire joint, I wiped both surfaces down with denatured alcohol, pins are 28 gauge, etc.. I didn’t blow the joint out but I do all of my fitting first including all the feeler gauge work and then break it back down to clean with alcohol then set it back up to run solvent which is weld on 4.
This is 3/4” thick Acrylite.
Thanks in advance.