acrylic tank building 101.....

[Troylee]

here is a step by procedure for building a seamless custom acrylic tank.....
i will try to explain it the best i can...this was built for the owner of my companies son....sometimes it pays to be slow at work lol..... the tank will be used for freshwater so there is no overflows etc.....so here we go let the pics begin.....
first step is the layout and mark your material where you would like to bend it....i choose half inch because this is a 100gal hex front.....after you have your layout set it up on a table and i perfer 1"medite or mdf some call it to keep the material flat while it is heated clamp the material in place leaving a 1" gap between for the material to heat and bend....i use a infared heater used to bake paint for my bending, each bend is heated for 2 hours very slowly to prevent problems such as crazing while you glue it....it is the best way to get a nice clean bend without alot of stress on the material if you heat it fast it will severly weaken the material...each bend was at a 45deg....

 

[Troylee]

 

[Troylee]

step 2 gluing the back to the front panel i use razor blades for shims as seen in the photos.....wick the solvent in there and let it set for 45 secs or so and pull the shims out....

step3
making a eurobrace...i choose a 3" eurobrace with a 3" center brace....let me remind you here money was no object here lol.....i wish i could say the same for myself i actually did fork out 600$ for weldon 42 gun and glue to do this project but it's mine to keep [smilie=angel4.gif]....take a square piece of material and lay it under the tank then you trace around the outside of the tank and rough cut it like a 1/8" oversized....then take a straight edge make a inside cut line at 3-1/8".....then take a jig saw and cut it out or a router with a straight edge clamped in place....i chose to use a jig saw becasue of all the radius'es"spelling" anyway's on a euro brace every corner must be round to allow the pressure of the tank to be more evenly spread out...

in this photo i used a roundover bit to give the inside of the euro brace a nice rounded edge...

 

[Troylee]

step4
once you have your euro brace cut out it's time to glue it on the top of the tank.....use the same method i showed above with the sims etc...

once that is completed you repeat the steps for the euro brace for the bottom but don't cut the inside out lol....now let the glue cure for a day or so and you are ready to flush cut everything with a router....

here is some pics of the bends and glue joint's all clear no bubbles and mess free as can be....let me remind you i had all the time in the world..

 

[Troylee]

and the final step flush cutting it with a router....LET IT SNOW!!!!!!!!

and the after math a good 20ft circle of mess.......

and here it is completed ready for polishing and a leak test.....

and im out peace!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Troylee]

it's only fresh water but here it is completed....

 

[thomasdo87]

wow those are some sick skill you have. how much was the cost of the overall build in materials? minus the $600 in glue.

 

[Troylee]

The materials for that tank will run ya around 450$......I can't really count the glue if ya did like 25$ for it...the 600$ was for a full case and applicator gun, obviuosly I only needed a half a tube not 24 lol

 

[thomasdo87]

ahh awesome. whats the best tool and bit to use to cut acrylic?

 

[Troylee]

routers are the best to cut acrylic... bits include triple flute flush cuts and spiral upcuts...
i got a ton of stuff to post just need a little time but it's coming guys...

 

[Azurel]

Nice tank I built a seamless corner tank......I love working with acrylic...Please share some more....

 

[obi]

nice work man!

 

[tr1gger]

amazing craftsmanship, i am seriously impressed!

 

[Troylee]

Thanks ya....I got a couple more documented builds to post also...lol
I've only been in the hobby a little over 2 yrs but been building things for years....
I'm a quick learner...

 

[JR's Reef]

Very cool! Cant wait to see more

 

[Fishcrazy06]

First off very nice write ups. Been reading most of them today. Secondly, Gave me a good idea of building a killer Frag tank...hmmmmmm

 

[Troylee]

No problem man..that's why I'm here..

 

[m and m]

Where would i go to order sheets of acrylic? this thread makes me want to try a frag tank and if all goes well a sump. So the only things needed to do this would be

-Acrylic (obviously)
-router
-Glue
-Some good vices
-Some weights?

 

[Troylee]

Pretty much...I would try the yellow pages always look local first, shipping is a killer...
Look under plastic manufacturing or distrubuters...if none are found try a sign shop they will either sell some or know where to get it....
When building any tank or sump you wanna use a good quality cast material
#1 polycast
#2 acrylite "GP"
#plexiglass "g"
Other materials are known to fail when turned into pressure vessels so stick with those 3 if at all possible...
If you need to order online try us. Plastics, grainger, tap plastics etc...

 

[litenyaup]

very cool...i love to work with acrylic!