glue order of acrylic panels

[Robin Goodfellow]

hi.
I wonder if there is any structural reason for the order in which the acrylic panels are solvent cemented?

Usually, the four sides are cemented together, and the top and bottom are cemented afterward.

I wonder if the top, bottom, and two sides can be cement together first, and the front and back is cemented last. I ask because I want to reuse a large acrylic box that I have. I want to route out the top and bottom panels, rotate it up 90 degree, and glue on the front and back (formerly top and bottom) openings with a thicker acrylic stock.

 

[Acrylics]

hi.
I wonder if there is any structural reason for the order in which the acrylic panels are solvent cemented?

Usually, the four sides are cemented together, and the top and bottom are cemented afterward.

Hi Robin, yes there is. Usually to maintain flatness on the bottom panel. If you glue the vertical panels to the bottom first, you can run into problems keeping the bottom perfectly straight when gluing ends/sides on. Any warpness in the bottom panel makes for more issues. If the bottom panel is not planar, it creates much more stress on the entire tank.
It can be done, just not the easiest of ways to build a tank.

HTH,
James