Quote:
Originally Posted by
Monsinour http:///forum/thread/382146/post-for-acrylic#post_3333052
This may be true about the sustainability, but it will give me something to do while I look for jobs.
Are all of those big, expensive tools really needed? I dont have a a table saw, router, or drill press as I am not a typical man with a garage full of tools. Heck, even my basement is not full of tools. I am sure I could go out and get the small stuff, but I dont think I could go and get the big stuff.
Well, without a router, I don't know how you are going to cut teeth for overflows and spillways. Without a table saw, I don't know how you are going to achieve straight, square cuts.
While you may be able to cut functional teeth with a dremel or by hand, or you may be able to cut panels with a circular saw, for example, your fit and finish will suffer at best, and the integrity of the build will be a problem at worst.
Take the teeth... if you don't have a router (I use a router table, but it can be done with just a router with enough care), you'll need to cut teeth via some other means, and it will be incredibly difficult to produce professional looking results.
The panels are the real problem. IMO a table saw is needed to create perfectly square and straight edges. Again, this may be possible with a inexpensive table top saw, but because of the way acrylic joinery works, square and true edges are critical. If you do not achieve this, your joints will look like crap, and while they may hold water initially, they are likely to fail down the road. I use a cabinet saw with a biesemeyer fence to ensure accuracy. Melev (Godfather of sumps if you don't know) even goes so far as to use a jointer to further true up the edges.
You can make due without the miter saw and drill press.
Apart from those two, that's a pretty basic list of tools you need to do acrylic fabrication well. Since you're planning on selling your products, fit and finish make a big difference. Shoddy acrylic work is readily apparent... bad or even imperfect seams, cement splashes, uneven teeth, etc will all stick out like a sore thumb to a buyer. While you may be able to design your sumps around the limitations of your tools, the real money is in building made-to-order sumps. Partner up wtih an LFS and they'll refer high dollar clients that require a special sump design to fit a built-in application and you'll make a buttload of money, but you need to have the tools to build whatever they want or they'll move on.
I don't want to discourage anyone though... my advice is to work with a buddy who has some of these tools. If you don't know anyone, check out pawn shops or ebay. Often, industrial auctions yield incredible buys. My father in law bought a gigantic 7.5hp sliding table saw from an industrial auction for an incredible deal. If nothing else (and I mean if nothing else because I do not advocate buying cheap tools), buy inexpensive tools... instead of that high dollar Bosch router, buy a Skil. Get a cheap table top saw for now. Funnel the profits from your first two builds into better tools...
