Planning to build a frag rack

[Tempestas]

Hey everyone

 

I'm looking for advice on how to DIY a curved frag rack that I would like to add to my reefbowl. Unfortunately, some of the corals have been growing a little too fast, and I would like to be able to frag and sell them back to my LFS.

 

I asked for a quote for the below rack from the LFS and their acrylic supplier came back with a price of R2000! (approx $135), which is way higher than what I can afford.

 

So I'm thinking that I might be able to make it myself from acrylic or perspex. It may not look as good as laser cut, but I'm hoping it will get the job done.

 

Any thoughts or input on my design would be highly welcome.

 

Cheers.

[TatorTaco]

I'm not a handy person, but what about visiting a local hardware store to have plexiglass cut?

[Ratvan]

Know anyone with a 3d Printer?

[Tempestas]

3 hours ago, TatorTaco said:

I'm not a handy person, but what about visiting a local hardware store to have plexiglass cut?

 

Unfortunately no hardware shop in this city would be capable of cutting such a complex piece. Best they could possibly do is a rectangle.

 

3 hours ago, Ratvan said:

Know anyone with a 3d Printer?

I wish!

[RedCrow]

I use a hand-held jigsaw to cut curves in acrylic. Clean it up with an orbital sander when you’re done and it’ll look great! 
Check out my contest build to see what I’m talking about 

[Tempestas]

I've managed to dig up a piece of acrylic that my father had forgotten about the in garage and now I'm busy testing drill bits to see what can make a decent half inch hole without shattering the acrylic. Best I've gotten so far is the sidecutting spiral dremel bit, but I can't cut decent circles for jack. I'm going to try to buy a spade bit tomorrow and see if that helps.

 

Onto another question: Has anyone had any experience with ferrite (also known as ceramic) magnets in their tank?

[RedCrow]

I've had the best luck with a hole saw

[Ratvan]

39 minutes ago, Tempestas said:

Onto another question: Has anyone had any experience with ferrite (also known as ceramic) magnets in their tank?

Pretty sure impeller magnets are ceramic

[DSA65PRO]

Make a Dam with Plumber Putty, mix up Dishwashing liquid a little stronger than what you would use to wash dishes. Drill a small, but not all the way through pilot hole in the Acrylic. Pour a little bit of the dish detergent mix, in the putty dam.  Drill through the Acrylic with a hole saw, that has a Center pilot bit. Remove the hole saw from the drill, pop out the Acrylic plug. rinse it in hot water, dry and put a little WD-40 on it before stowing. Also you want to use WELD-ON 4 to glue up your Acrylic. 

[Tempestas]

12 hours ago, Ratvan said:

Pretty sure impeller magnets are ceramic

Hmm. That is very true. Never thought about that. At least that solves one problem.

 

12 hours ago, DSA65PRO said:

Make a Dam with Plumber Putty, mix up Dishwashing liquid a little stronger than what you would use to wash dishes. Drill a small, but not all the way through pilot hole in the Acrylic. Pour a little bit of the dish detergent mix, in the putty dam.  Drill through the Acrylic with a hole saw, that has a Center pilot bit. Remove the hole saw from the drill, pop out the Acrylic plug. rinse it in hot water, dry and put a little WD-40 on it before stowing. Also you want to use WELD-ON 4 to glue up your Acrylic. 

Thanks. Unfortunately, there is no half inch holesaw available in our country. Closest I can find is a 14mm one, which is just too big. And we also don't have WELD-ON in this country either, so I'm planning on using CA superglue for the timebeing

 

I'm going to see what happens with the spade bit. Worst case scenario I have to make a jig and use the dremel spiral bit.

[Lypto]

To cut acryllic you might be able to score it and break the excess off depending on the thickness, and for acrylic I've not had any issues with normal drill bits and a center punch hole to make something to bite into. For the magnets I think you can encase it in 2 part epoxy right? Just not the tape/flexible kind of magnet as it's really weak. Drilling acryllic, I think for a 1/4 inch, hole speed should be around 1800 rpm and tiny bit of dish soap works well as lube.

To round out the edges use a deburring tool or a bigger drill bit twisted by hand.

A really great tool for drilling acryllic is a step drill.

For drilling, if you're using a hand drill it might be a good idea to set it to more torque/ speed depending. 

If I might suggest something, it might be a good idea to make tabs that you can heat bend at a 90* angle to make places to adhere magnets with epoxy.

[DSA65PRO]

I would still use the Soap mix with the spade bit, as a coolant and lubricant. Clamp the Acrylic to a scrap piece of wood and drill all the way through the Acrylic. I got my WELD ON 4 from Amazon, also they had it on EBay. It came as a kit, with a Syringe, Fine Needle, also Squeeze Bottle and a Fine Needle for bigger Acrylic Weld jobs. One thing I’d love to get is the Acrylic Hot Bender, with the coolant pipes on either side of the bend. BTW an excellent source for Free Acrylic is a locally owned store. Try a Greeting Card Store, Book Store, or Music Store. 

[Lypto]

Do you mean like for old displays and things?