Building a new acrylic scrubber

[DesignsOnline]

4 hours later, we are still just here....

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Then the storm broke out & the rain fell....

[DesignsOnline]

So as I have no tools or building skill everything has been left at a mates house,
and we will pick up where we left off another day (probably next week)

[Floyd R Turbo]

So you're in the UK, right? What kind of solvent welding products do you have there - what are you using? Looks pretty good so far, have you worked with acrylics before?

[DesignsOnline]

Are you planning a watertight box? If so, you might have a hard time making that work by using a jigsaw to cut the pieces. You would be better off finding an acrylic supplier and giving them dimensions to cut. You need an edge that perfectly straight and flat in order to bond to the adjacent piece. If not, the weld-on won't wick in fully and you'll end up with gaps, and you'll have to add gussets. Or you could flatten and straighten the edges by dragging a razor blade across it after the rough cut.

Cutting acrylic takes practice, because if you cut too slow, it melts. Cut too fast, it cracks. All fabrication, including welding, induces stress into the material which can weaken the bond strength if done improperly. Now our boxes typically don't fill with water 100% so this is less of a concern, and as long as this is over your sump, it's not big deal. If you had the box off to the side of the tank, you would want it built as if it was an aquarium that needed to hold water 100% full and never fail.

It has been quite hard going, but the main center section is now done, next comes the lid, & then the bracing for the lighting sections.
I found that pipe weld cement didnt hold it together, so we used super glue, and then put the pipe weld glue over the top of that on the outside
edges. We will the eventually put aquarium silicon on all joins and edges over the top.

[DesignsOnline]

So you're in the UK, right? What kind of solvent welding products do you have there - what are you using? Looks pretty good so far, have you worked with acrylics before?

Thanks, no this is the first time, but I like to get things right the first time if possible...

[DesignsOnline]

I undertook a very complicated woodwork task 7 years ago as my first ever time making anything from wood.
I hired a workshop & showsed my plans for a carved wooden cradle to the guy that owned it, & he didnt think I had a chance of buolding it.
But it came out really well....
(At least my wife & I thought so...)


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[DesignsOnline]

I did have some much better photos of it than that, but I cant find them...

[DesignsOnline]

I have reasessed the size of the scrubber based on the screen size.
A local shop sold the screens (7 count plastic canvas) at 20 inches x 13 inches.
So instead of making the scrubber 24inches long by 15 inches high, and having to cut the screens up to make them fit,
I have reduced the size of the scrubber to fit the locally available screens.

So now my scrubber is 21inches long, by 14 inches high. The central section is 3 inches deep front to back
and the 2 outside sections are 2.5 inches deep each.


I havent started on the lighting yet as I want to get it right, and I need it to be as cheap as possible.

[Floyd R Turbo]

That is the best wooden baby I have ever seen :lol:

You need to put the brakes on this build right now. Pipe cement is not the proper material. Neither is superglue. Your box will likely come apart under minimal pressure. Aquarium silicone will not bond to acrylic so it will not form a structural bond between 2 pieces of acrylic, unless you prep the edges with a new technique that right now I only know is being used by professional aquarium builders. You really need to go back to the basics and research acrylic fabrication techniques. Solvent welding is the #1 thing that you need to know when bonding acrylic.

I would go to your acrylic supplier and find out if they carry anything similar to Weld-On #3 or #4. I seem to remember reading that these products are hard to come by in the UK, but someone has to carry it. The active chemical is a solvent called Methylene Chloride. Chloroform will work in a pinch also. PVC pipe cement is way down on the list, I think Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) is the active ingredient in that, and pipe cement is that and some other chemicals mixed in.

What you should really do is go find the thread on Reef Central under the DIY forum called "Acrylic Fabrication Questions? I can help". 8+ years of free acrylic advice. I know that someone on there had posted about difficulty finding solvent welding products in the UK due to haz mat restrictions or something, but finding it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack without a metal detector. James/Acrylics might know what you can find there off the top of his head.

[DesignsOnline]

Thanks for the advice, it will be about a week before we continue with the build anyway, so plenty of time to find out about the correct glue etc...