Black acrylic

[Chris A.]

Anyone know where I can get some black acrylic south of Boston?

 

[JohnK]

altec or Freeman IN boston.

I don't know of any places to the south

 

[Chris A.]

Might swing by there tomorrow, thx

 

[JohnK]

I've had better luck at altec, they have a nice scrap bin and misc material in their little show room. Freeman is more like just a counter where you ask for what you need and hope they have it.

Also note, if you are buying liquid weldon, be sure to check the date on the bottom of the can. Don't buy it if it's over a year old, I've found expired cans in both stores.

 

[Chris A.]

I only need a strip 80” x 6” to wrap around the top of my biocube to keep the glare out of my daughters eyes and possibly keep the fish in

 

[Chris A.]

@JohnK do you happen to know what’s the best way to form ( bend ) the acrylic without being in the oven?

 

[Zirky]

I've used heat guns and/or an iron, you can calibrate the iron with a temp gun.

 

[JohnK]

Heat gun, or strip heater. I have both and could bring them to a meeting.

What are you making? *edit, post #5 answered that question. Sounds easy, the only tricky part will matching the angles, you will need to over end slightly ay the acrylic will relax a bit as it cools. (It will also swell a little from being near water, this project will work, but you’ll probably never get a perfect fit, AND have it stay a perfect fit)

 

[Chris A.]

If it lasts a year I’ll be fine with it, there won’t be any weight on it at all just sitting on the biocube rim

 

[JohnK]

The just wont be perfect but itwill work fine

 

[Chris A.]

Could possibly brace the corners to hold better.

 

[Skeeter7424]

or make a wood jig to clamp the acrylic to while it cools. Thats what I've done on the couple of overflows and odd shaped frag racks I've made and they've come out great.

 

[JohnK]

or make a wood jig to clamp the acrylic to while it cools. Thats what I've done on the couple of overflows and odd shaped frag racks I've made and they've come out great.

I was about to suggest that. IME the acrylic still tends to relax slightly after release from my jigs, but it's not much.

I think the mild curve, and then rounded corners on the biocube will be the thing that makes it hard to match the curves just right.

 

[Skeeter7424]

I was about to suggest that. IME the acrylic still tends to relax slightly after release from my jigs, but it's not much.

I think the mild curve, and then rounded corners on the biocube will be the thing that makes it hard to match the curves just right.

Absolutely. I wasn't replicating a part, just making a couple of the same. If this were my project I would experiment with a couple different corner radiuses\radii and see what the amount of "relax" was in the part. And always let it cool longer than you think it needs to

 

[Chris A.]

So here’s the outcome

nothing to quit my day job over but does the job.

 

[JohnK]

Nice!

 

[Chris A.]

Thanks
First time I’ve bent acrylic. Wasn’t bad with a torch.