Question for those who work with acrylic

[adam2373]

I'm thinking about making my own acrylic cage for my ETB. Currently he's in a Vision 222 but I want to put him in something about 36x24x24. What thickness of acrylic should I use that won't flex too much and withstand a heat panel mounted on the inside top? I don't have many tools other then a drill and a 1/4 inch tile bit. I'm going to take the front and the 2 sides to a plastics place here in town to get cut. Also would anyone one recommend acrylic hinges or brass?

[fade2black]

I do a lot of acrylic fabrication. For your application, you can use 1/4" since it won't be full of water. The heat won't be an issue either. The forming temp of acrylic is over 350F.

For the assembly, unless you have perfectly prepared edges, use weld-on #16 to glue the pieces together. If you have prefectly fitting joints, use Weld-on #4 or #3 (fast setting). For hinges, you can use the acrylic hinges and just glue them on. That is what I use on all of my vivariums and have yet to have any problems with them.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask me. I have been doing this for a while and have probably run into every problem you can think of.