7 replies to this topic

[Space]

I want to turn a 10 gallon fish tank into a vivarium, but I was worried the ants would be able to escape, since the silicone on the corners isn't as smooth as the glass. I then thought that i could use a plexiglass cut to make a lip around the edges, as ants struggle to climb upside down with fluon on the surface. Anyone know where I can buy a cut like this?

[Domagoj]

Sign making companies should have no problem selling you acrylic cut to your specification. Plan ahead and include holes for whatever purpose. Having them laser cut the holes at the same time as the rest is much easier and cheaper than doing it yourself later (ask me how I know that).

[ANTdrew]

You can also buy a cheap poster frame. The thin plastic in these can be cut with good scissors if you drill a starter hole in the middle.

[MrKotter]

If you have a scroll saw to cut it, go to Lowes and buy a sheet of 1/8" Lexan for under $20.  If not, I agree the sign shop is definitely your best bet.  Anything bigger than a 20 gal long would require making the top out of 2 pieces with a typical scroll saw.

[SuperFrank]

Use glass instead. It won't warp, yellow, or scratch. It's also way cheaper if you're smart:

you can buy pictures at goodwill for 5-10 bucks. (Protip: items have different color tags in goodwill, each week one color tag is 40% off so you can potentially get one for a few bucks) get one large enough for you to use the glass inside, keep or toss the frame and painting. A glass cutter at home depot is $5,and of course you can use it many times.
While you're at the store grab some rough sand paper ($3-5).

Cutting glass is super easy, you're basically just scratching it and then breaking it along the crack. You can use any sort of straight-edge (piece of wood, level, book, etc.) And if you don't have clamps maybe get someone to hold your straight edge or jam it up against a wall to hold it. This video I made a while ago shows the process. Once you get the hang of it you can make all sorts of things: enclosures, faceplates for nests, etc.

P.s. the video is potato but I'm not a pro YouTuber lol

[ANTdrew]

Very useful, thanks. How would you ventilate this lid, though? Drill holes with the carbide bit? Would there be a way to cut out a donut hole in the middle of the glass?

[Domagoj]

Since I'm in the process of making pretty much the same thing, this is my approach. I found a discarded piece of acrylic near a dumpster and promptly liberated it. It's been sitting in my workshop for about a year and now has finally found its calling. It is a bit scratched, but beggars something something choosers...

I cut it to size on table saw and cut out a rough hole on scroll saw. Then on a milling machine bored out the hole to size, which made it nice and round with a clean cut. The hole is 140 mm (5 1/2'') in diameter.

Then on lathe I turned two aluminium pieces between which I'll sandwich a mesh for ventilation. The two pieces are held together by some screws (I'll probably use countersunk screws for final version).

The aluminium piece can be removed for maintenance and feeding. There is a bit of room around the ring for fluon application.

Next on the to do list is to cut out a square a hole for a thermometer / hygrometer.

This is what it currently looks like:

 

I would have done it on laser, but I was a cheapskate and bough the smallest thing available, which has a working area of 20 x 30 cm (8 x 12''), while the lid is 20 x 40 cm (8x16'') and the acrylic doesn't physically fit in the machine.

On laser it would have been a 10 minute job, but now I'm spending hours doing it. I don't even know what I'm going to do about the square hole, probably mill most of it out and hand file the corners.

I could have somebody else do it for, probably, fraction of the cost of my time, but who charges time on own projects, right? It's good fun really.

[Kaelwizard]

I think you mean beggars can’t be choosers.