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diy skimmer party???
- Thread starter sciknen
- Start date
I would love to jump on this. I got an router and portable drill press that I can offer for tools. I also have a portable band saw if we were to need one. I just picked up 150, so I would need something in the 250-300 range. What about the connections for the pump feed pipe. Just go with standard pvc sch 40?
jbishop
CIA Agent / Constable
with uniseals should be fine. Your welcome to help out
Sounds like it might be a two day thing. hahaOnly 2 day? I was thinking with the curing it would be a while longer than that. I could also work on the bubble plates prior to help cut down on time. I guess I am a a bit lost on how the pump hooks up to skimmer. I need to do a bit more reading on this. I was going to make one of snailman's skimmers, but instead of acrylic just go with all pvc and forfeit the ability to see inside.
jbishop
CIA Agent / Constable
fair enough, you would be the guy to ask / know. Maybe sat sunday over 2 weekends or something. The time frame doesn't really concern me just want to get it done and have it work
Honestly I have no idea. If i were planning this, I'd be building it over a few weeks. When I do acrylic projects, I try not to do more than a couple of seams per day. (weldon will seem to bond in a few minutes, but it's not really cured for quite a while. It's really easy to ruin a seam ((which usually means a ruined project)) by messing with the project before it's properly cured)
Are you getting all the parts cut on a CNC machine, or some other means? If your cutting the parts with hand tools, this will probably take a LOT of hours of work.
Are you getting all the parts cut on a CNC machine, or some other means? If your cutting the parts with hand tools, this will probably take a LOT of hours of work.
jbishop
CIA Agent / Constable
Hand tools were not cool enough for a CNC.
I'm also hoping to pick up some tips from you at the meeting.
Ooh, This is a very involved project. I think a lot of it would be way over my head.
Rolling sheet stock into a cone will be quite a challenge in itself. Then once you got it rolled into a cone, you'd need to get a nice straight cut and get the seam lined up and fused. THEN you'll need to figure out how to cut the ends so they will be flat to meet the flanges, I have no idea how to do this safely
. Maybe rough cut it then a LOT of sanding.
Siffice it to say I think it would be easier to make the cone out of a bunch of triangles, and I don't think that would be all that easy.
And then the flanges (time consuming, but basically easy)
And then assembling the cup.
My head is spinning....
Rolling sheet stock into a cone will be quite a challenge in itself. Then once you got it rolled into a cone, you'd need to get a nice straight cut and get the seam lined up and fused. THEN you'll need to figure out how to cut the ends so they will be flat to meet the flanges, I have no idea how to do this safely
. Maybe rough cut it then a LOT of sanding. Siffice it to say I think it would be easier to make the cone out of a bunch of triangles, and I don't think that would be all that easy.
And then the flanges (time consuming, but basically easy)
And then assembling the cup.
My head is spinning....
jbishop
CIA Agent / Constable
I have no idea how to do this safely
Do you know who your talking to?
There is no fire involved here. (or is there
)Seriously though, acrylic isn't the easiest stuff to cut without making a massive mess. Zero room for error.
jbishop
CIA Agent / Constable
There is no fire involved here. (or is there
Seriously though, acrylic isn't the easiest stuff to cut without making a massive mess. Zero room for error.
I know I have played on some projects.
Fire or not I never fail to hurt myself.
http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=70920&highlight=youth
Niiice. Im glad we got a good size crowd so far jumping on this. Cuts for the cone shouldnt be too bad at all. Im looking for a styrofaom cone of the same size/pitch that we can use as a template. but as long as we use a jig like gregs to cut perfect arcs..then the seams on top and bottom of the cone should be flawless. as far as cutting the strait lines. ive been using an old wet tile saw for that. i cut a 4x4' sheet of black acrylic today on it with a custom fence. its a slower cut but the edge doesnt even need to be treated for a finish.
ill post some more pics this evening on the how to build deal.
Ive got a bunch of black 1/4" that we can use for the disks/eurolock.
Plastic Supply in manchester, nh. g2 be a business owner though. but they do cnc work as well. Oh, the quotes on sheets were 1-3 sheets. we get a deal with 4+
my buddy is going to put the bubble plates in cad for us. and ill give it to Plastecs or plastic supply for a quote. with cnc ing, all the money paid goes into prep. so the more we get in on it the better. but with a few jigs here and there we should be able to make them none the less. just make take a while...haha
finished this skimmer box just 15 minutes ago. the second is an air recirc for my dart frogs...had a lot of extra time on my hands after shoulder surgery (may or may not have been influenced from pain meds-whoops)-lots of dremeling.
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh165/Sokretys/IMG_3977.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh165/Sokretys/IMG_3974.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh165/Sokretys/IMG_3980.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh165/Sokretys/IMG_3979.jpg
This skimmer is certainly going to be a challenge. but it will work out in the end.
As far as a pump?? ati bubble master pump? 80ish each. sendra 9000-95, eheim 1260 $132, 1262 $142. a few smaller recircs with mesh wheel? one or one large mesh wheel? mesh wheel period?
ill post some more pics this evening on the how to build deal.
Ive got a bunch of black 1/4" that we can use for the disks/eurolock.
Plastic Supply in manchester, nh. g2 be a business owner though. but they do cnc work as well. Oh, the quotes on sheets were 1-3 sheets. we get a deal with 4+
my buddy is going to put the bubble plates in cad for us. and ill give it to Plastecs or plastic supply for a quote. with cnc ing, all the money paid goes into prep. so the more we get in on it the better. but with a few jigs here and there we should be able to make them none the less. just make take a while...haha
finished this skimmer box just 15 minutes ago. the second is an air recirc for my dart frogs...had a lot of extra time on my hands after shoulder surgery (may or may not have been influenced from pain meds-whoops)-lots of dremeling.
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh165/Sokretys/IMG_3977.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh165/Sokretys/IMG_3974.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh165/Sokretys/IMG_3980.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh165/Sokretys/IMG_3979.jpg
This skimmer is certainly going to be a challenge. but it will work out in the end.
As far as a pump?? ati bubble master pump? 80ish each. sendra 9000-95, eheim 1260 $132, 1262 $142. a few smaller recircs with mesh wheel? one or one large mesh wheel? mesh wheel period?
haha spa flex all the way baby. Well, just got off the phone with victor from atb. their pumps are nasty, but they are 500 retail hahaha sooo..
it doesnt look like the cost of the skimmer body is going to be much at all. but a decent pump to handle the bioload we are looking for isnt going to be cheap. perhaps a few smaller pumps? i dunno.
it doesnt look like the cost of the skimmer body is going to be much at all. but a decent pump to handle the bioload we are looking for isnt going to be cheap. perhaps a few smaller pumps? i dunno.
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perhaps the reeflo dart needle wheel? i can get em for 250.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ay8OP5i8H5c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ay8OP5i8H5c
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That all sounds good to me. As far as the circle cutter, yes, they are very easy to make and use.
How do you plan on heating and bending the sheet? Even with perfect circles to wrap the ends around, it sounds very tricky to me??
I have no idea how well they work, but new ehiem needlewheel pumps reccently showed up on marinedepot's website. Might be an option to consider?
Edit, adding;
Hmm, if you found the right sized styrofoam cone, could it be covered in fiberglass (or something else that wouldn't be bothered being heated) so as to make it something you could wrap the acrylic right around? Maybe even wrap it in fiberglass, with wooden circles added at the top and bottom so you could flush cut it aginst the wood circles with a router? If that would work, it might not be all that hard to work with at all?
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