DIY 16x15x16 Acrylic AIO 16 Gallon

[Ken]

Looks great job, love following your build, your wife would thank you for it and so will the clowns. Regards Ken

[gqlmao]

Wow that's some great craftsmanship. If I knew how to build tanks like that and of that quality my house would be full of them!

[byee]

Nick,

Very NICE!

Does the bearing on the router bit scratch the acrylic during the cleanup process?

[mseepman]

Gonna come see this bad boy sometime this week! Don't you appreciate how I invite myself over?

[nrosdal]

Originally Posted by mseepman

Gonna come see this bad boy sometime this week! Don't you appreciate how I invite myself over?

Look forward to it. I will do my best to create a dirty job that i need a hand with before you come.

[nrosdal]

Thanks all for the kind words. I am quite happy with how it came out.

Originally Posted by byee

Nick,

Very NICE!

Does the bearing on the router bit scratch the acrylic during the cleanup process?

No, the bearing for the most part is stationary once against the material and even if it spins a bit i have not had any issues with scuffs on material as there is quite a bit of sanding and polishing after trimming anyway.

[byee]

Originally Posted by nrosdal

Thanks all for the kind words. I am quite happy with how it came out.



No, the bearing for the most part is stationary once against the material and even if it spins a bit i have not had any issues with scuffs on material as there is quite a bit of sanding and polishing after trimming anyway.

Nick,

Do you run the router at the slowest speed to keep the router bit from getting too hot from melting the polycarbonate?

I've built a few things here and there for my setup but nothing that nice.

I typically run my polycarbonate through the table saw to get a finished edge therefore leaving my with 1 edge to glue with MC.

I'm going to have to try your approach.

Once again, you're an Artisan with polycarbonate!

[nrosdal]

Originally Posted by byee

Nick,

Do you run the router at the slowest speed to keep the router bit from getting too hot from melting the polycarbonate?

I've built a few things here and there for my setup but nothing that nice.

I typically run my polycarbonate through the table saw to get a finished edge therefore leaving my with 1 edge to glue with MC.

I'm going to have to try your approach.

Once again, you're an Artisan with polycarbonate!

I run router at normal speed as mine is just on/off. If you are using just a 2 flute bit it will not melt the acrylic usually. I run acrylic through table saw and leave an extra 1/4 to take off with router as edge is much better after routing. After that you can either bond it or hit it with 600/800 grit for a few strokes not to much as it is likely to round edge.

Hope this helps. I am just in the process of building a little container for the top off for this tank and will post it in here a bit later on when finished.

[nrosdal]

Here is my top up tank as it was created. It holds just under 5 Gallons.



Polished up and made lid/tapped in John Guest fitting to hold airline tubing for water transfer:



Got tubing and toms aqua lifter from J and L and installed and water tested box:






In place under a decorative stand my wife finds to be necessary:



Made a cover plate for back chamber to clean up cords and help with evap. it also gave me a secure way to bring water line into aquarium without worry of it slipping out and making a mess:




And all complete (for now anyway):