Frag plugs

[grizfyrfyter]

But to answer your question, emarco is not the cheapest option.

 

[grizfyrfyter]

Designed and printed up some test pieces for new plugs.

The blue ones are a little bigger, take up a square and a half in each direction so they sit flush next to each other on egg crate.

Next one is bigger so each plug covers 9 squares of egg crate and two still sit flush.

Round and square tile molds are printed.... Just waiting on material that probably won't be here for two weeks. I can get some myself if I feel like driving 4 hours to pick it up

 

[grizfyrfyter]

I always forget the pictures....

 

[Coral reefer]

So why blue?

 

[grizfyrfyter]

So why blue?

That was the material I had in the printer that wasn't busy. They are just test pieces to make sure they fit like I wanted since I'm out of material to make any real ones right now.

 

[Flagg37]

You should be able to add color to the emarco.

 

[grizfyrfyter]

You should be able to add color to the emarco.

I can. I thought about black and purple but it's not something I care about.

 

[grizfyrfyter]

Large frag plug design.

 

[grizfyrfyter]

Mold for plates and tiles

 

[rygh]

Something to think about: Frag plugs that fit the plastic lighting grid better.
Seems like the little round part is a bit too small.
And since you 3D print mold, perhaps square, not round.

 

[grizfyrfyter]

I intentionally make them small. I have had too many plug like ocean wonders that don't fit in certain frag racks but still fit in egg crate.

 

[glee]

The square design really maximizes egg crate. Nice work!

 

[grizfyrfyter]

I also don't like the thick stem because they are hard to cut.

I'm using this material because I can make thin pieces that are still strong. It's considerably more expensive than Portland cement.

 

[jccaclimber]

I'm not a fan of snug fitting stems, or square stems for that matter. I've had my share of frustrations with plugs that *almost* fit in certain frag racks as well as times that I've had to get a vermetid snail shell to fit through the square hole on removing a plug that's been in place for a while. My coral transport container is designed for round stems, and I routinely use rotating plugs around to get more frags in the same space.
This is a bit in contradiction of your square plugs (I'm a big fan of that for encrusting things), but in my case I would still need to fit them in the transporter container which only grips round plugs.

 

[grizfyrfyter]

I'm happy with these

 

[grizfyrfyter]

And these.

The flexible filament was the right way all along.

 

[OurCoralReef]

Very nice work
Ill be testing this out and see what i get personally i want something that can have good flow and can break easily to continue to frag

 

[grizfyrfyter]

I haven't been updating this thread enough.

So, with the masteremaco n 400 material I have found a few things. Compared to Portland or white cement, this material will break a little easier.

I talked with my buddy that owns a concrete company and does a bunch of decorative concrete work (including the universal studio theme park in Singapore) to get mixtures right.

This material sets quickly so I have to run small batches.

For plugs, I use fine grade aragonite sand as filler. For discs I use coarse sand.

I'll post recipes next

 

[grizfyrfyter]

For plugs, I use 4oz of concrete, 1oz of fine sand and around 1oz of acrylic polymer water mixture (3:1 water:acrylic concentrate).

For discs/tiles I use 4oz of cement, 2oz of coarse reef sand and a little more than an oz of polymer.

 

[OurCoralReef]

For plugs, I use 4oz of concrete, 1oz of fine sand and around 1oz of acrylic polymer water mixture (3:1 water:acrylic concentrate).

For discs/tiles I use 4oz of cement, 2oz of coarse reef sand and a little more than an oz of polymer.

How long do these need to be cured