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		Working with Acrylics
		Ralph Cote	February 20, 2003
		I built engineering models for a year and we worked mainly with acrylics. This is what I learned, mostly the hard way. Acrylic plastic is the most common plastic sheeting used with aquariums. Plexiglass is the trade name for the same stuff, and there are others too. There are advantages to using it and some disadvantages too but it is often a good option for the home DIYer (Do It Yourself). It comes in about any color you can imagine but clear and white are the most common. It is normally used in sheet form and comes in any thickness you'll need. Larger cities have fabricators (they make mostly display cases) that will sell you sheets or actually cut them to size for you. Acrylics have also been showing up in hardware stores as an alternative to glass windows. The price varies but is in the neighborhood of glass. For a 12-pack of Dr. Pepper though, my local fabricator lets me go through the scrap bin. Leave the paper on the sides of the sheet, it protects the plastic while you are working on it and you can use it for drawing cutting lines and doing calculations. Safety glasses and gloves are recommended. I use a circular saw or table saw with mine. Hack saws can cut it if you are patient, fine toothed hobby shop hand saws are better than hack saws and you will build up those arm muscles. A fine blade is highly recommended, I use a 150 tooth on my 7 1/4" circular saw. Larger teeth can lead to chipping (flying pieces of hot plastic). And feed it slow, kickback's a mother. You'll get some burnt plastic buildup along both sides of the cut, just let it cool about ten seconds and then run the shaft of a screwdriver along the piece and the stuff flies off. We also used hot wire cutting tools for fancy cuts. Exposed ends of cuts can be buffed and polished smooth (practice on scrap first). If you have to bind the pieces, use acrylic solvent, it actually dissolves the contact points of the two pieces to be joined which rebond together (almost instantly) making the joint stronger than the plastic sheet. The fabricators sell it or you can get it over the internet. It is a clear liquid applied with something that looks like a syringe (there is also a bottle applicator). Be careful not to drip the solvent on exposed acrylic because it will blur the clear sheets. If you need a waterproof joint, the pieces have to be flush (and I mean touching everywhere) before any solvent is applied, it won't bond over gaps. And use the solvent in ventilated areas. It is possible to make bends in sheets but it is a little advanced and requires a machine with heating coils. Done well, it looks great though. I make tank covers mostly with the stuff but we've all seen those acrylic aquariums. It's also used for tank dividers, wet dry filters, in-tank stuff, etc. Advantages: it is light, easier to work with than glass, clear, strong, doesn't react with water, reasonably priced, no special tools needed, doesn't shatter with normal use, and allows room for your imagination. Disadvantages: scratches easily, can bend or sag over time, doesn't like longterm sunlight or high heat, and usually needs thicker pieces than glass.

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