Starboard Q

[xcaret]

Does anyone have info on this material?
I know eight (Jason) has the tank with the starboard but how to carve/form it?
I've been asked by some reefers in Mexico about it.

Thx

 

[sfsuphysics]

Starboard is HDPE, you can get a data sheet on it if you're curious what exactly HDPE is.

 

[GreshamH]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-density_polyethylene

 

[phishphood]

Who needs MSDS sheets when you have wikipedia

 

[xcaret]

Thx guys

Maybe I had to ask a different way, how do you work with it?
I saw Jason's (eight) tank when it was still Ron's here in San Francisco, I saw the starboard but I had no idea what it was back then, since it was not just a flat sheet, it had more of a real sandy kind of look.
For the faux sand look do you use epoxy/sand combo?

Thx again

 

[GreshamH]

Who needs MSDS sheets when you have wikipedia

It wouldn't pass snuff with the regulators

 

[tuberider]

I was just reading about an old friend of mine on Wiki, man they got a lot of things wrong, oh well, I saw him on TV the other night and he didn't look worse for wear

One thing about starboard I don't read about is that it is very easy to weld, HDPE and LDPE are what you get started with when welding plastic. I'm not sure if people have ever welded their panels together, if you did, there would be no detritus accumulation for sure.

 

[sfsuphysics]

Yeah, easy to heat weld, not solvent welding though... of course could be I haven't found the right solvent

 

[tuberider]

Yeah, easy to heat weld, not solvent welding though... of course could be I haven't found the right solvent

A solvent would chemically bond, not weld, correct?

 

[sfsuphysics]

Well the way weldon works is a solvent weld, it melts the surface a bit, allowing the molecules to "roam" eventually the solvent sputters out and the roaming molecules from each side of what you're putting together eventually stiffen back up so the two halves are indistinguishable on a molecular level, depending upon how good of a job you did Making it really strong, although I don't know how it's strength compared to heat welding of plastics, also PVC cement really isn't cement its a solvent that works in this same fashion.

I got really interesting in plastic welding when I saw on one of my favorite tv shows "Little People" on TLC, I love that show because Matt is the ultimate DIYer, well they were putting in an absolutely massive geothermal system and the guys working there welding ABS pipe together with a little vibrating tool, and I had no idea you could do that with plastic, so I got really interested in it.

 

[tuberider]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welding
Wiki is always correct

 

[Gomer]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welding
Wiki is always correct

Quoting it makes it true.

 

[tuberider]

Nobody clicks on the links, that's what makes it true, the hypertext

 

[sfsuphysics]

Yeah not sure if you were supporting me or refuting me since there is a lot of information on that page... but when in doubt fight fire with fire

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_welding

And this time with quotes

Solvent welding

In solvent welding, a solvent is applied which can temporarily dissolve the polymer at room temperature. When this occurs, the polymer chains are free to move in the liquid and can mingle with other similarly dissolved chains in the other component. Given sufficient time, the solvent will permeate through the polymer and out into the environment, so that the chains lose their mobility. This leaves a solid mass of entangled polymer chains which constitutes a solvent weld.

This technique is commonly used for connecting PVC pipe, as in household plumbing.

Dichloromethane (methylene chloride), which is obtainable in paint stripper, can solvent weld polycarbonate.

 

[tuberider]

Mine just says welding, yours has that other word in it.

 

[sfsuphysics]

Plastic?

 

[xcaret]

Seems starboard is a nice thing to work with wood carving tools will do the trick but how to put a faux sand bed on it?

Thx

 

[tuberider]

Most faux sandbeds eventually get covered in coraline and don't look like natural sandbeds in the firstplace, however most people mix up epoxy and sand and pour the mixture in. I'd imagine you could make sections outside the tank and place them in after the epoxy cures, I'd be a little leery of putting epoxy/sand mix directly into the tank since it heats up so much when you are curing large amounts, shoot the good stuff catches on fire if you're not careful .