Inside "our" glass shop (Pictures and Video!)
 

We don't actually own the equipment or the space, but we do have full opperator access to the machines and storage for our glass.

We buy our glass in very large sheets or crates of sheets. This picture is of glass owned by Concept Aquatics before it was moved to our storage location.

http://www.conceptaquatics.ca/img/ca...p/ca_glass.jpg

This is a glass polisher. This is the machine we use to polish the glass for our high end tanks.

http://www.conceptaquatics.ca/img/ca..._polishing.jpg

You might imagine the glass can get a little dirty while polishing. The next step is to put it through a vertical power washer.

http://www.conceptaquatics.ca/img/ca...ass_washer.jpg

We've started an image gallery on our website with some of our bigger builds. It's a work in progress and photography isn't always our top priority when building our tanks. However, we do plan to continue to add more images of our tanks as time permits.

http://www.conceptaquatics.ca/img/ca...ca_gallery.png

http://www.conceptaquatics.ca/gallery

- Brad

Nice to see where my tank is going to be coming from. Thanks for showing us.

Very cool. I think its a great idea to build some recognition of the nice tanks you build.

Love the behind the scenes shots brad thanks for sharing. I should have nicer build pics up soon!

My curiosity still peaks when I am around big machinery. I’ll try to get some more pictures. Perhaps even a video of the machines in operation.

- Brad

Vids would be awesome!! Very nice setup you guys got.

Dave came through with a video of the glass polisher in action. I've posted it on YouTube here:

http://www.conceptaquatics.ca/img/ca...lisher-mov.gif


This machine is used to inspect the glass for imperfections. It's easy to overlook a small scratch, so we take the time to find them before we start building.

http://www.conceptaquatics.ca/img/ca...p/ca_shop3.jpg


Dave didn't tell me what's going on in this next picture. I can only imagine how much this glass must weigh. Look how thick it is!

http://www.conceptaquatics.ca/img/ca...p/ca_shop5.jpg


** Concept Aquatics - Mini Contest **

Here's a little contest. If anyone can tell me what's going on in the picture above, I'll award them 1000 "Concept Award" points for use at our store. Please post your answer to this thread. If no one has any ideas, then we will get Dave to explain it.

- Brad

Is the massive sheet being broken down into smaller pieces?

Giant air cushion table to be able to move large sheets.

It's a piece of starfire getting ready to be made into my next tank! :mrgreen:

lol good guess:mrgreen:

that is the start of your tank

Glass laminating?

The main things I see have already been said...

- Starphire glass
- sitting on an air table

It is presumably awaiting a cut, which you would do once the air is off.



Does your table stand up?
And that looks like a nice polisher to use

Cheers,

Chris

I don't know Dave, nor seen his operations, but I was at BadAZZlars place last week to pick up some chaeto. I noticed the nice workmanship of his tank and asked him if it was concepts, and yes it was.

I can say, the workmanship is great, most of us know that Garry does the construction, and he does do top notch work... With BadAZZlers, I noticed Garry still using shims in the joins to ensure maximum/even sealant on all joins.

My tank was made by Jay, and we all know his quality... But I will one day build another, and will get a price from Jay, but most definately one from Concept also now that I have seen the work.

Well done Concept!

Hi Rick - Thanks for the encouragement. Your comments are appreciated.

You are invited and welcome to stop by anytime your in the NE.

- Brad

* * * Contest Winners * * *
 

I hadn't really expected multiple partial answers. In fact, most of the answers provided were correct, they just weren't complete. So, the only fair thing to do is award one first place prize of 1000 "Concept Reward Points" and 500 "Concept Reward Points" to everyone else.

To claim your prize, you need to have an account on our website. The points are valid for a year, so there isn't a big rush to redeem them.

Please PM me the email address you use to sign up and I will award the points from the backend.

So, what exactly is this thing...

Yes - Indeed it is a big sheet of glass being broken into smaller sheets :smile:

Lampshade takes first prize as his answer is essentially correct and was the first post to identify it as an air table.

A surprise answer out of no where. Good guess ?!?!

Not exactly, but were calling it close enough. Sort of.

The most complete answer, but it builds on the other guesses.

It is in fact a gaint air cushion table used for manuvering large pieces of heavy glass for just about any reason one could imagine. One such reason might be to cut the glass. It's basically a work bench for really heavy stuff.

Thanks for playing!

- Brad

Yeah! thanks, I used to build machinery like this for manf. plants. Had a large one for concrete boards, it was almost creepy how easially large sheets moved around.

I used to work at Concept Aquarium Systems Inc. in Edmonton... so I too have experience with tables and glass lol.

I just noticed the conclusion of this thread, i'll have to send you a PM.

Also! To add to the quality of the work these guys (concept) do, I placed an order for a sump with Dave back in february... the tank was ready before I even gave Dave a timeframe, and the build quality was TOP NOTCH! I was so pleased. This 'sump' was better built than many custom display tanks I see floating around. The guys did a great job. Another thing i notice often is that many companies leave edges that do not have an airasse? (pronouce as 'air-aess', but I dont know how to spell it), anyways, its the term for the edge of a piece of glass that has been sanded/angled off/sharp edge removed. There were no sharp edges, the cuts were all very clean. The silicon was great job even without having been taped. Anwyays, concept, great tanks! Kudos!

(my next tank will be through you guys now too)

Cheers,

Chris