Second DIY: HOT Fuge

[Gujustud]

I've been working on a design for a HOT fuge for my tank. I wanted to add more volume to my tank. So I started to build a HOT fuge, with a inside dimension if 18"x5"x13" (5 gal).

I haven't gotten to far yet, but I've finished the main portion of making the box itself. All the pictures are located here.

Here is the box itself. All the brown stuff on the outside is the protective skin. I'll take that all off, once i've glued it (its held together by tape right now).


Thanks to the world of CNC, I was able to mill these side corners, so that I'd have a bigger surface area when I glue the peices together


I wanted to do the same for the bottom, so I made it like this. The inside of it, fits perfectly into the box.


I'm now wondering what to put into the fuge, lol. So far I'm thinking of 3 sections total. One where the water comes in. The next section for some sand and a small peice of LR or so. And the next section for the submersible pump (unless this this may be not a good idea). For the walls in the tank, I was thinking about putting some slots on the side walls, that the baffles would slide down them. This way they could be removed if needed to be cleaned for any reason. Good/bad idea?

I was also thinking about making another section where I could put a small peice of filter media as well. Any suggestions? Thanks!

[Gujustud]

I did have one question regarding gluing the surfaces. I've got weldon 16. However it says the surfaces should be sanded after you cut it (ie: with a saw blade). Since I used the mill, i'm wondering if the surface is TOO smooth for the glue to stick properly. Should there be a slight ruff surface, or is the smooth surface better?

[StirCrazy]

if you use a inproper saw blade you might have to use a sander to make the surfaces flat and square to each other. I would not use weldone16 unless your parts fit togeather sloppy, if you have nice tight fits and flat surfaces use weldon 4

Steve

[Gujustud]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

if you use a inproper saw blade you might have to use a sander to make the surfaces flat and square to each other. I would not use weldone16 unless your parts fit togeather sloppy, if you have nice tight fits and flat surfaces use weldon 4

Steve

Grrr, back I go to coquitlam to get weldon4

The fit is pretty tight. I kept it in tolerance to .001"

[hw]

Originally Posted by Gujustud

I did have one question regarding gluing the surfaces. I've got weldon 16. However it says the surfaces should be sanded after you cut it (ie: with a saw blade). Since I used the mill, i'm wondering if the surface is TOO smooth for the glue to stick properly. Should there be a slight ruff surface, or is the smooth surface better?

since weldon (and the like) actually dissolves acrylic, i would think that being too smooth would not make a diff. having close tolerances is what's needed.