Simplest way to clean up a cut?

drainbamage · Mar 3, 2011

Going to be making a small tank for a wedding centerpiece (tank will be supporting the wedding cake.)

Quite comfy working with acrylic, but I've never had to worry about exceptionally clean work, as most of what I've done has been sumps/fuges, or commercial application stuff.

So after cutting and gluing up, what's the best way to clean up the cut edges? I'm not worried about making things perfect, but more perfect than less perfect would be preferable.

Cutting will be on a table saw for the most part, I know a lot recommend routers but I've always preffered the saw cuts, so just going with what I know instead of experimenting on a significant project (especially one with a deadline :xd: )

Thanks for any tips and suggestions!

ruppertb · Mar 3, 2011

what if you framed the edges in a wood corner trim, jsut to cover up the edges?

Troylee · Mar 3, 2011

For something like that just sand it with a da sander if Ya got one with some 320 and hit it with the torch real quick to
Polish her up... Btw I do not recommend flame polishing ever it stresses the acrylic very badly and can lead to premature failure fwiw... But in this case go for it!!!

drainbamage · Mar 3, 2011

ruppertb said:
what if you framed the edges in a wood corner trim, jsut to cover up the edges?

That's what I wanted to do, but wouldn't work for the overall design, so bare corners for good or bad.

Acro76 · Mar 3, 2011

Troylee said:
For something like that just sand it with a da sander if Ya got one with some 320 and hit it with the torch real quick to
Polish her up... Btw I do not recommend flame polishing ever it stresses the acrylic very badly and can lead to premature failure fwiw... But in this case go for it!!!

I think most people screw this up by not sanding through the grit #'s and then aggressively applying the torch. Just out of curiosity do any manufacturers do annealing on acrylic tanks or skimmers that you know of?

Acro76 · Mar 3, 2011

sorry double post

Troylee · Mar 3, 2011

Acro76 said:
I think most people screw this up by not sanding through the grit #'s and then aggressively applying the torch. Just out of curiosity do any manufacturers do annealing on acrylic tanks or skimmers that you know of?

Never on skimmers... Big manufactures do on the big tanks but not any mass produced ones that I know of... They don't really need it honestly it's good for bringing Weldon 40/42 up to full strength but something any one us would have In our house is never gonna need it... Alone I think solvents and 40/42 without being annealed are rated at like 2500psi that is way more than any tank is gonna ever experience.... Hth...

drainbamage · Mar 3, 2011

Troylee said:
For something like that just sand it with a da sander if Ya got one with some 320 and hit it with the torch real quick to
Polish her up... Btw I do not recommend flame polishing ever it stresses the acrylic very badly and can lead to premature failure fwiw... But in this case go for it!!!

I've never run a torch before for acrylic-what gas is best and any quick rundown on it? I'll give it a go with some scrap pieces first, but any advice would be appreciated.

Also, are you thinking I won't need to run through a bunch of grits? Just do a quick sand-off of any roughness, hit the 320, then apply the torch?

Not too worried about structural integrity, tank is only going to be maybe 6 inches of water max in height, just want to make sure I can get it as clean as possible, though of course don't want to cause expansion and get cracks showing.

Troylee · Mar 3, 2011

Ya 320 alone is fine... Get a map gas torch if at all possible it's cleaner than propane but either will work... Keep the flame off the acrylic you want just the heat and move down the edge at a nice steady pace like a inch a second or so... There is prolly tons of YouTube videos showing if ya wann check them out.. The vids will help ya more than I can through words lol...

drainbamage · Mar 3, 2011

Troylee said:
Ya 320 alone is fine... Get a map gas torch if at all possible it's cleaner than propane but either will work... Keep the flame off the acrylic you want just the heat and move down the edge at a nice steady pace like a inch a second or so... There is prolly tons of YouTube videos showing if ya wann check them out.. The vids will help ya more than I can through words lol...

Nah, that's all I needed, just a rough guideline and a few pieces of scrap to experiment on.

Thanks for the tips, I'll try and get pics put up of the finished product-at the least it'll be interesting; tank will have some damsels and chromis, some random hardy corals, some LED's, then the tank's lid will actually be supporting the cake, with granulated sugar spread over the tank lid to give the imitation of white sand, with a 3 tiered cake on top of it all. Will either turn out nice, or pretty bad, I'm hoping on nice :squigglemouth: