perverseosmosis Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 The lid which came with my tank has always been a huge annoyance; it likes to fold up and fall into the tank when I bump it. Replacing this lid seemed like just the project to introduce myself to the laser cutter they have at our local techshop. It turned out pretty well, so I thought I'd post something. I wanted a lid which would slide around easily for maintenance and feeding, but still let in plenty of light. The design is pretty simple. It consists of a grooved platform which rests on the glass rim and rear wall. The platform routes around the light supports so they're free to move back and forth on the rim. The lid is designed to sandwich and support a panel of random mesh material. I've been playing with bird-netting as well as acrylic with a matrix of holes. I think the acrylic center panel is going to hold up better, at the expense of cleaning the salt off it periodically. I brought in some sheets of 1/4" acrylic and cut the design out: The laser automatically gave the pieces a fire-polished edge, and the etching came out well too! Here's how it sits on the tank (without any mesh installed in middle). Link to comment
violinist Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Some people have all the cool toys! Link to comment
gregzbobo Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Somebody could make a fair bit of money selling laser-cut nano lids from acrylic, or custom frag-racks, all sorts of interesting things. Link to comment
John7429 Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 The equipment is over $10k... not a small number for most... Link to comment
marinekeeper Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 damn, thats tight...props bro Link to comment
perverseosmosis Posted February 1, 2010 Author Share Posted February 1, 2010 The equipment is over $10k... not a small number for most... No kidding. Hopefully more of these places open up. Link to comment
Rehype Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 wow too cool. Great job! Link to comment
marinetankdiver Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 Great work, that is exactly what this tank needs. So when are you going offer them for sale? How about the plans? Link to comment
perverseosmosis Posted March 4, 2010 Author Share Posted March 4, 2010 Great work, that is exactly what this tank needs. So when are you going offer them for sale? How about the plans? My membership to Techshop lapsed in February, so I probably won't be making any more of these. I can clean up and post the Illustrator file I used though. Link to comment
marinetankdiver Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 My membership to Techshop lapsed in February, so I probably won't be making any more of these. I can clean up and post the Illustrator file I used though. that would be great and much appreciated. Thanks Sam Link to comment
perverseosmosis Posted March 14, 2010 Author Share Posted March 14, 2010 that would be great and much appreciated. Thanks Sam Finally got around to this: AquariumCover.ai It's an IllustratorCS4 file. If that doesn't work, let me know. Link to comment
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