Acrylic Sheet Supplier

[mvrck]

Hey guys,

I wanted to get into building my own acrylic tanks, and was going to start out by making a few small desktop aquariums for my office as practice, before moving onto larger projects. I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for an acrylic supplier in Seattle. If they do cuts cheaply, that's a bonus, but not necessary. Thanks!

 

[TheFishPimp]

Not gonna say he's cheap but he's a solid guy and does GREAT work...Call American Products in North Auburn. Owners name is Larry. Tell him Aaron sentchya


TFP

 

[MRTom]

Been working with Tap Plastics for a few random cuts of acrylic. Very happy with the results so far. Seems like they have some aquarium experience too.

 

[mvrck]

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

I had checked out Tap's website today, I haven't had a chance to call them yet due to work, but their little online store seemed prohibitively expensive (something like a clear sheet sized 2'x4' for $70). Has that been your experience with them as well MRTom? I notice their finished cases seem much cheaper for the relative amount of material that must be used, so maybe it's just the thickness that's hiking the price?

I was figuring a specialized dealer would be at least a bit cheaper than just going to Home Depot, but I know the 2' x 4' sheets are about $55 each uncut.

 

[Cory]

I find that tap is more expensive acrylic wise. However their knowledge saves me a lot of money. They'll say, oh you should do it this way and it'll save you money. They also do simple cuts, and other add ons for free. Like I wanted 4 custom betta tanks to be made which would have been expensive with the thickness of acrylic i wanted etc. They were willing to do the cuts and put it together for a pretty cheap price.

They also have jigs there for when they are putting stuff together to get a perfect finish. for instance they were going to glue my tanks up, with 1/8th of an inch lip around every seem for glue to dry. Then use a router to take off the little lip and polish the edges for a perfect finish. These are things I can't accomplish myself without buying extra tools and building jigs to hold stuff while I do it.

 

[MRTom]

What Cory said. I find that going in person and telling them the problem I'm solving usually has the best results.

 

[mvrck]

I find that tap is more expensive acrylic wise. However their knowledge saves me a lot of money. They'll say, oh you should do it this way and it'll save you money. They also do simple cuts, and other add ons for free. Like I wanted 4 custom betta tanks to be made which would have been expensive with the thickness of acrylic i wanted etc. They were willing to do the cuts and put it together for a pretty cheap price.

They also have jigs there for when they are putting stuff together to get a perfect finish. for instance they were going to glue my tanks up, with 1/8th of an inch lip around every seem for glue to dry. Then use a router to take off the little lip and polish the edges for a perfect finish. These are things I can't accomplish myself without buying extra tools and building jigs to hold stuff while I do it.

That's cool to hear, but maybe not exactly what I was looking for then, but I will definitely give them a call. More than a little of the point is I love projects like this and really wanted to get a feel for how to do it start to finish before we did a much larger project in a year or so if/when we found a more permanent place (downtown apartment is fun, but only being able to have one fish tank? And capped at 55 gallons? It cannot last). Though I am totally stealing that idea for the 1/8 inch lip for glue drying, thank you for that.

 

[JPG@CFI]

Try Laird Plastics in Seattle, they can cut the acrylic for you. Make sure to order Cell Cast acrylic, Tap does mostly extruded which is what you don't want. Also Tap has a no aquarium policy for liability reasons. Best of luck, Jason

 

[freddieb]

+1 on Laird Plastics. Give them exact dimensions to cut and it makes gluing a lot easier. Ask me how I know.
You need truly straight cuts to make joining the sides strong and permanent.