Building a Sump

SpateD · #1 04-08-2010, 05:31 AM

I'm building my first sump on my own. I have bought 6 - 2' x 4' sheets of acrylic, a plastic cutting knife and am looking for some Weld-On currently.

I plan on routering some of the parts of the acrylic already, but I'm not sure how to actually cut the plastic. I know using the knife with a straight edge and breaking it is 1 option. But I can't seem to get it to make a perfectly straight line so I haven't started cutting yet.

My only dilemma thus far is that I planned on my sump being 12" wide and I have a 24" sheet. So if I can cut that sheet exactly in half, I can use the one half for the bottom, and the other half for a 1 piece Euro Brace. I also plan on making the sump 42" long. So I don't know how well a scoring blade will work to go completely through the acrylic sheet to slice it right in 2.

Does anyone have any idea's on how to make a perfect cut without losing a few 16th's of an inch for a regular saw blade?

Also if anyone around the Lethbridge area knows a place to purchase Weld-On #3 or #4, or even #16, I would be very thankful for the help.

brizzo · #2 04-08-2010, 06:24 AM

What type of acrylic did you buy, and how thick is it?

I don't want to sound like the doom sayer, but I think you're going to need more tools to build a sump of that size. Most saw blades are going to leave an 1/8" kerf, and would give you a much better finish to work with. If you have a router, and can build a small router table and fence you will be golden!! It's not actually that hard to build. 6mm+ acrylic for a sump that size isn't even practical to score and snap..

monocus · #3 04-08-2010, 07:23 AM

you can use a thin kerf blade on your tablesaw(1/16)-for your router use a dovetail jig.to glue it together use methylene chloride using a plastic square with the corner cut off and needles to keep a space while gluing.look at melv's reef to see how he made his

SpateD · #4 04-08-2010, 09:28 AM

The Acrylic is the same kind as Melev's Reef. It's 1/4" with the blue coating for protection.

I actually got the idea and design for the sump from Melev's Reef, so I've kind of been trying to use his idea's. As for gluing I don't want to actually ''glue'' to partitions together, I'm looking to use the Weld-On which will actually bind or fuse the pieces together as 1 with a clean/clear finish.

Does Methylene Chloride do the same thing as Weld-On? How much more available would it be to purchase locally?

byee · #5 04-08-2010, 03:33 PM

Weldon is about 16$ from Industrial Plastics and the methylene chloride is about 20$ for a litre can from Sabic.

I find the glue joints are stronger if you use methylene chloride. More difficult to break!

You'll definitely need to call them to get the pricing in Lethbridge.

brizzo · #6 04-08-2010, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpateD

The Acrylic is the same kind as Melev's Reef. It's 1/4" with the blue coating for protection.

I actually got the idea and design for the sump from Melev's Reef, so I've kind of been trying to use his idea's. As for gluing I don't want to actually ''glue'' to partitions together, I'm looking to use the Weld-On which will actually bind or fuse the pieces together as 1 with a clean/clear finish.

Does Methylene Chloride do the same thing as Weld-On? How much more available would it be to purchase locally?

Glueing .. Chemically welding .. I use strictly methylene chloride for my joints, no weld on. It's water thin, and you'd only need at most 30ml to do a sump.

byee · #7 04-08-2010, 10:45 PM

I was not aware you get get that is such small quantity but then I bought mine a few years back when it was still called GE Polymers.

brizzo · #8 04-09-2010, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by byee

I was not aware you get get that is such small quantity but then I bought mine a few years back when it was still called GE Polymers.

Most plastics shops with a retail front should sell 250ml cans for about $10

monocus · #9 04-09-2010, 08:29 PM

the bottle i bought was 55 ml when i built my sump-you should be able to get that at a craft store as it is a solvent

DiverDude · #10 04-10-2010, 12:58 AM

The real challenge is *applying* the methylene chloride. I used to use titration pipettes and that worked really well but I got those from a Physics lab I worked in in university and they've slowly all been broken over the years so I'm looking for something new with a needle point to allow precise control.

What are people using ?