ArtFully Acrylic (Adam B)

I agree with much of what NAGA is telling you in addition to the things I mentioned above, but I will add a few more. In regards to Weld-On #5, it's correct that it disappeared for quite a while, but ridoutplastics in CA has it available again now. Direct Link is Weld-On #5. Word of caution though, it costs twice what Weld-On #4 does. Another option for available solvents without having to deal with labs in getting multiple chemicals for your own mixing is McBond. As for CNC router being a very important recommendation over a hand router and table I'm curious on this one. I have used a table mounted router for quite a while and never have a problem getting perfectly weldable seams with it. As a matter of fact, you have to be very careful going to a CNC location as many setups are not designed for heavy plastics such as those we use. If you go the CNC route (pun not intended ) make sure their shank is at the very very least 1/4"...better if its a 1/2" or better though which many CNC machines don't have. The reason for this is flex. Cell cast acrylic is quite dense. The thinner the shank the more the bit will flex when machining the acrylic. This leads to a surface that isn't completely square which can be bad news when it comes to welding the seams. It will lead to a much weaker joint. Just my $.02 cents

Dang'd if it aint a small world sometimes! Actually I have that very need for a special acrylic project i'm doing for myself actually (being selfish for a change building something for myself). I will definitely drop you a PM in the next day or two! Thanks!

Yep yep Ben, as you suggested to me a few times I finally came on over and joined the board . Good to see the pics of the full setup coming along. When your tank left my shop, just as every other, I feel a great sense of accomplishment, followed by a sense of emptiness....until I get to see pictures like this when my creations are finally doing as intended ...creating a great display for life. The biggest jealousy I have there is that Radion fixture....NNNIIICCCEEEEEEEE.

Ok, the thread is back up (was temporarily removed). Thanks Origami for the understanding. I didn't yet have a copy of the Vendor Terms of Service so had one paragraph in my thread that was a no-no. Origami and I agreed to remove any offending material from the thread and repost it in lieu of me having to start it fresh...and that I greatly appreciate. I will get something setup in the Vendor News/Sponsor Forums here in the next day or two for those things as requested and as Origami said PM is also fine. In the meantime, I thank you all again for the hospitality and the warm welcome. I'm glad to be here and also glad to be of help in any way I can.

Thanks. I certainly try

LOL on the Civic. I'm actually worse off in some cases...I drive a Miata! Though I generally use the wifes car for picking up materials as she has an Accord. I have Piedmont cut my materials down to spec for me generally anyway as the cost of it is worth not having to do it myself. Whenever I need larger orders that won't fit in either of our cars, or I don't have the time to drive out, I order from SABIC Polymershapes. They are in Jessup, MD so not much closer for me, but they will deliver to my house for a nominal fee. They are another supplier option local, but aren't as useful for most on here because they only want to sell by the full sheet and therefore won't satisfy smaller orders that many on here may want for DIY projects. If ever I'm in that kind of a bind though I will certainly let you know though

Yep, thats me...up until I went through the hassle of launching my site it was my only exposure. Now I'm toying with Google AdWords and social exposure to drum up more business. Which link are you referring to? My site? www.artfullyacrylic.com should do it for you. If not, let me know what browser you are using as maybe it has issues with one or more. Thanks for the other local club link. I will check it out...hopefully won't take me as long to get over there as it did here .

I'll drop in and give my two cents here... First off, I couldn't agree more with others about practicing with smaller projects first. There is certainly an "Art" to the fabrication process (herego my company name ArtFully Acrylic). If you don't practice a good bit first you will likely find that the errors that happen in your build will end up costing you just as much if not more than having it built for you. With some advance practice you can certainly be successful though. Just don't do a tank that size by yourself expecting to save money. If doing yourself make sure its because you just want to enjoy the experience vs save money. Even minus the errors, taking the appropriate time for a first time big build will cost a good bit of "sweat equity". Even after a good bit of practice with smaller stuff my first few tanks of that size easily took up 12-15 hours of total time to go through the whole process and it won't be just a weekend project for you. At this point I can get them done with less time, but its still a very involved meticulous process. Acrylic work is a lot like painting a car...its 90% prep and 10% construction. Welding all of the seams takes very little time at all. Its machining the pieces to good weldable edges and ensuring everything is square and very accurate that takes the most time. Make sure you have a GOOD router and router table (not the $150 special designed for wood at home depot). If you don't then at least have someone else machine the pieces for you. As for suppliers, you can check out Piedmont Plastics in Elkridge, MD. Call and talk to Tom and tell him Adam from ArtFully Acrylic referred you if you decide to give it a go alone. Use good quality acrylic from known sources ONLY. If its not MADE in the US or Mexico stay away. Stick with Cell Cast and stick with well recognized brands. What I generally use is Plexiglas G. Spartech Polycast is the best out there in my opinion (it also uses IMPERIAL measurement vs METRIC so .25 is actually .25 not .236 or .220), but it's not generally available local and its expensive as he**. Plexiglas G is a very close second. If going with Piedmont you will find they carry that as well as a material they refer to as CGM. Their CGM material is made in the same Mexico plant as Plexiglas G, by Plexiglas. I use it periodically as well when customers want to keep costs down. Your thought to use 1/2" is perfectly fine for 20" height and would even give you a little room for slightly messy joints and still hold up well. In my builds I generally recommend 1/2" from 18-24" heights unless a customer wants their tank "robust" then we can go even thicker...DEFINITELY thicker if going rimless. I have built tanks this size with 3/8" before when customers are looking for a less expensive build, but your seams have to be good and the bracing has to be wider, thereby decreasing the size of the top cutouts for access. Many mainstream companies such as Seaclear and TruVu would actually use 1/4" acrylic for this and even bigger builds, but this IS NOT recommended...it results in far far too much bowing and eventual crazing and potential seam failure down the line. The only thing I see with your dimensions that you could do, unless need them specifically that exact, is add an inch or two to the height and length. It won't cost you anymore due to the way your current sheet optimization is going. With your current setup on CGM material (explained below) the sheets are 48x96 and you end up with a few inches left on one sheet and a good 1/3 of an unused sheet on the 2nd. With Plexiglas G material the sheets are 50x99 so you have even a little more to play with. I use an optimization program to maximize my yields per sheet, but you can play with it a bit on graph paper to maximize yours as well. Just remember to factor an add'l 1/4" to all dimensions for machining and don't forget to factor for the blade kerf when cutting the sheets. With 1/2" acrylic you will likely want to do the top with a 4" eurobrace and two 5" centerbraces. This will yield you 3 cutouts of 18x16 which should handle most of your access needs for some pretty good sized rock as you setup your aquascaping. You could get by with smaller dimensions on the bracing and even get by with only one centerbrace (though it would need to be wider) if your lighting requirements require it. These dimensions though will greatly aid in minimizing your future bowing (bowing usually is at its settling point by 12-14 weeks from first fill) which I find even more imperative with saltwater setups. Also, notice I only mentioned eurobracing...don't go with just strips for bracing. It's not worth it...especially for an amateur build. It only saves you about 10-15% on material costs, isn't nearly as strong as a one piece top, and doesn't look as good either. Think that covers most of it. If you have any other questions just ask.

I know I'm replying to a very old post, but since it was resurrected and I personally actually like the idea quite honestly (may even look into offering it as a cheap option for overflow in my fabs ) I will at least answer this part for those still wondering...yes it should be no problem solvent welding to an acrylic tank. Without prepping the surface to be welded it will likely be a fairly ugly weld, but should hold without issue. Black acrylic is annoying to work with sometimes since it's hard to see how well the materials are bonding since it isn't clear, which is why I recommend following up any use of Weld-On 3 or 4 with a bead of Weld-On 16 or 40 (even better) if you desire it to be completely water tight.

For your benefit Marc and for those around who decide to attempt their own small acrylic projects I shall reveal one of my local acrylic sources. Local saves you big time due to shipping first of all, but I have also found their prices quite reasonable in general. Piedmont Plastics in Elkridge, MD. Call and ask for Tom and tell him Adam with ArtFully Acrylic referred you. I usually only order black acrylic from them in small amounts (never by the full sheet) and have never had a problem ordering as small as even a few s.f. worth of material. Their pricing will run you likely $5-$7 a s.f. for the 1/4" black cell cast acrylic...easily half what McMaster is charging...and that's without shipping!

Thanks guys (and gals) for the warm welcome. For those hoping the business does well and looking forward to seeing my work I am looking forward to it as well. It's a joy to see something of substance built by your own hands house and support life such as the beautiful things that we keep in them. Yeah thanks Ben, glad to be here as well. Glad to see you started spreading the word before my arrival as well Hi Valeria, I remember the discussion about the overflow box to cover the unused bulkhead holes right? Glad you are on here and able to reconnect. I sent you a PM. My phone took a fish poo day after we spoke and I lost all that wasn't saved in my contacts list on google. Give me a ring or send me an email. I'm ordering and picking up another batch of acrylic for few builds next week and could get the materials for yours at that time as well if we finalize everything before then. Thanks and interesting you mention that. I have another customer of mine that I built a huge frag tank for (48x36x12) who said the same thing. He is a member on here as well, but don't know his handle. Sumps I have done. The ATO Reservoirs I agree are a good idea for space optimization under your tank stands. They would be simple enough to make. For location, I am in Chantilly (South Riding) VA. Oh Hi Hares, good to see you chime in! Yeah I made it FINALLY .

Good Evening WAMAS!! My name is Adam Bowers and after being asked by several customers if I was a member of WAMAS I decided to join up after perusing the boards for a bit. I didn't know of WAMAS before I was informed of this wonderful Community by a gracious customer of mine. I will try to be as active as I can on the boards and help out where I can and where life permits. Between a full-time job and my blossoming business ArtFully Acrylic...and taking care of my wonderful fish...oh and I can't forget the wife in there too ...time is sometimes scarce as I'm sure you can relate. I started in the fish hobby about 8 years ago with a small 5 gallon tank...then a 10 gal...then a 25 gal....then a 50 gal...then, hmmm I'm sure you see where this is going. What can I say, I live in a Townhouse in Chantilly with no yard for a dog, have always had pets, but my luck, I married a woman that is allergic to cats..go figure...so the fishkeeping went full steam to satisfy my vice. Over the past few years I have gotten into building things with Acrylic. Here and there I built small aquariums for friends/family for fun and the experience. I quickly fell in love with the peace and tranquility I felt while working with acrylic in the garage that I started sourcing out more builds just for fun. Friends and family referred people and then they referred people...the builds became more frequent and larger in size, but were still "a hobby". 4 months ago the wife lost her job...the 2nd one in the last 18 months due to "economic times". That was all I needed...ArtFully Acrylic was born. I began offering my services in Custom Acrylic Aquarium design and building to the general public on Craigslist and slowly but surely the orders started coming in. A few of my customers are members here on WAMAS. I don't know all of their user names (bcoop78 is one I know though), but hopefully some of them will chime in. Anywho, I am here to help and offer advice where I can. If there are any questions that my expertise may be of assistance in I'm all ears...err, eyes. Thanks a million and I look forward to getting to know the WAMAS Community!