beta testing my seams

[Casie]

I wanted to make a small box just to play with the weldon 4 and get a feel for it. Its just a 8x4x8 box... i haven't tried the edge roundover thing yet. Week 3 hurry up! ; )

I just got Gabe to hold the box peices and I taped it all together with cheap 1" masking tape. Then I glued the bottom on it. We waited 20 minutes and then took the tape off and turned it on its side. Then I glued the 2 sides from the inside of the box. We waited another 20 minutes and then turned it to reach the last 2 side seams and glued em up too.

The weldon 4 was VERY thin and it ran up the seam FAST. My last peice I didn't plane the edge as smooth as the others and it really showed when the glue left bubbles in all the uneven edge. I got glue to run into the rough joint by adding more to the outside of the seam. But Its full of tiny bubbles and ugly. I'm guessing its not as strong as it should be either... good thing its only gotta hold a half gallon. =D

So after letting it cure for a day Gabe decided it was time to test our seams. And what do you know? No leaks!

Now we have moved into betta testing. =)

LOL! Its been a long time since I had a fresh water fish. I almost put RO water in the box! The second betta is Gabe's. He's been planning his own box all evening. =D

 

[hfmann]

way to go Casie, looks good to me.

very impressive!

take care,
Hal

 

[mattboy]

Your box looks good! Gluing the individual sides to the bottom first is the way I glued my first sump. It came out great. Recently I posted something about gluing order, and was advised to glue the sides together first, then glue the whole bit to the bottom. I did this on my recent sump project, and it did not work out well. I understand the logic behind it, but, I would advise anyone doing this to make SURE the edges of your sides are lined up exactly when you're gluing them, so that when you present the "box" on the bottom, it's a nice flat surface. I think clamps, a square, and an extra pair of hands are necessary for this. The bubbly joints you described are gaps between the bottom and the sides. If it doesn't leak now, eventually I bet you'd have problems, especially if you're building something that will hold a significant amount of water.

As we're all learning, there sometimes really is no substitue for experience. I just wish that I had waited a bit longer before embarking on this sump.

On to week 3!

Matt

 

[Casie]

Yes yes! On to week 3!

How do you do the pin/razorblade thing? And does anyone have a good planer or sanding trick to finish the edges for gluing that wont angle the edge? The sand-peices-lightly-over-220-taped-to-the-counter method works great! But what do we do with bigger peices?

Looking forward to more info!

 

[fergy]

Ah ah ah...read week three before you sand those edges, or pull out the razorblade.

Week 4 will explain how to not get any bubbles in your seams. Also, you should wait more than 20 minutes with #4 when you do it like that...and clamping with slight pressure would have helped.

Always do all the walls together, then onto the base. Just make sure your pieces are square. If you do the walls to the bottom first, you can wind up with leaks about 2" from the bottom edge. I'll explain that later.

BRIAN
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[Casie]

Ahhh, cool! Some of that makes alot of sense now!

I can't believe how much I am enjoying this. Knowing what I was doing wrong just encourages me to try again for better results!

Thanks Brian!

 

[fergy]

NP
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