Question for Acrylic Experts…

It’s time for another project, but I am planning on working with Acrylic 1” thick. Normally I would use WO4/WO3 for all my joins – and I have done many projects with acrylic up to ½” thick, but I can see potential issues with trying to get a good join with materials 1” thick.

Before I invest major $$ into materials I would appreciate any advice… If I need all sorts of specialized equipment it may make things too costly

 

I don't know of any from my research when I was considering making an acrylic tank. Maybe check DIY tank/acrylic sites and their forums if they have them to see what everyone thinks. I think you still want to build the same way as you did with thinner acrylic. You probably should look into building jigs for putting the walls up.

 

Melevsreef.com | Tools I Use

Plenty of other very useful info on this website as well.

 

Material 1" and over is pushing the limit of solvent bonds, due to imperfections in machining. Use a CNC router if you can. 2 part polymerizable cement such as #40 or 42 or PS-30 is the way to do it. Preferable to anneal but not necessary. Public aquariums are assembled on site using this type of adhesive and are not annealed. It is also difficult to bring ovens over 12ft long to the work site I like #42 best but the applicator is very costly. Swiss made and very good quality though. I found a place that sells them for about $200.

Prep edges over 1" thick with a 5 degree outside bevel, cast the cement using aluminum foil tape as a dam.

Remember the 2 part stuff is designed to resist shear and tension stress (i.e bonding panels end to end to make larger ones) so fabrication of joints using 2 part cement is a different process than making solvent joints in other words a good mechanical joint is necessary. 2 part cements are stronger than solvents when used properly although many have attempted to argue this with the old hammer analogy. There is a good reason why public tanks are bonded using 2 part cement.