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Cuttying Acrylic

asonitez

asonitez

How do Sump builders Cut Acrylic?

Its a simple question. I have access to an outside space and power. I just need a way of cutting acrylic sheets into suitable pieces. The beauty of a place like harbor freight is that all the thigns necessary to BUILD a sump is cheap (Vice Grips etc) and easy to access. Hell I even plan to take advantage and buy a router and stuff there.
 
kschweer

kschweer

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Most will use a table saw with a 80 tooth or so blade set just a bit higher than the thing knead of the acrylic.
 
Cdiggy

Cdiggy

You can, in a pinch, use a circ saw with the depth of the blade exactly the depth of the acrylic and a 2x4 fence for a straight cut. And a perfectly flat cutting service is paramount!
 
asonitez

asonitez

This is not the first time i've seen this. I'm thinking of a small 3-6" circular saw with like a 80 tooth blade and this black and decker horse that has clamps built in. Thanks for the info guys. Now to source a place that sells acrylic sheets in trenton nj. if not I might end up going to lowes and having those glass guys cut some glass pieces for me and rig something up for myself.
 
TanksNStuff

TanksNStuff

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Are you looking to build the entire sump or just cut/add baffles to an existing tank? If you are just cutting baffles to install... I'd suggest cutting them using a good straight edge and scoring it rather than cutting with a saw. It will be a much cleaner cut.

Also, if you need to fine tune the cuts (round corners or shave off a bit of an edge... or even to just smooth a sharp edge) a dremel tool with a sanding drum bit works great.

If you're looking to build the whole sump, a table saw with 80+ tooth blade is a must. Just note that cutting acrylic with a saw blade will generate some heat while cutting it. If you're not careful, the heat can start to melt the acrylic and mess up your straight cuts.

Also, check out Melev's page where he describes the tools he uses to build all of his sumps: http://www.melevsreef.com/tools.html
 
spotter

spotter

I remember not too long someone posting a link to an acrylic guy right outside of philly that Im pretty sure will cut to order. I've tried cutting acrylic on my own and unless you have all of the right tools or you are planning on using the acrylic for something that doesnt need to be water tight....I wouldnt do it. I also know that tap plastics in california will cut to order but depending on the dimensions of what you need the shipping will kill you.
 
kschweer

kschweer

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Everything plastic is right over the Walt witnan bridge in Philly. They will cut for you.
 
TanksNStuff

TanksNStuff

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If your looking to have something made, Acrylic Creations is a company I've seen at a few frag swaps that does some really nice work. They are in Butler, PA (above Pittsburgh) so it would need to be shipped... but worth looking into.

They were actually signed up for a booth at our Frag Swap the year Sandy spoiled it for us. I hope to get them to sign up for this year's swap, but that won't be until Sept. or Oct.
 
spotter

spotter

TanksNStuff said:
If your looking to have something made, Acrylic Creations is a company I've seen at a few frag swaps that does some really nice work. They are in Butler, PA (above Pittsburgh) so it would need to be shipped... but worth looking into.

They were actually signed up for a booth at our Frag Swap the year Sandy spoiled it for us. I hope to get them to sign up for this year's swap, but that won't be until Sept. or Oct.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure he has an eBay store too and you can see his stuff. As fun as it is to build some things for our hobby and save money by doing it....certain things are better left to those that do these things all day long.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
 
mikem

mikem

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Thread won't let me post a link, but here is another place in NJ.....ttp://www.njplastics.com/
^ put the h here before the ttp if you copy and paste the link
 
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