Check this out! DIY Coral Viewer

Hey guys. Here is an easy to build coral viewer if anyone is interested!

The total cost was probably under $6 - $7.. (Better than spending $15-25 on these) you could buy a frag with the money you saved ;D



Sorry not all of you have gabbyr189 to help you out. She is a master siliconer! hahah
Anyway, thanks gab for your help on this project, I know you will read this;D

Materials:

• 1/4" black pvc connector - $2.50
• Thin piece of glass (home depot cut it to 4x4" square for me) - $3
• Glass Cutter $3 maybe
• Silicone - Had some laying around (new should be a few bucks)
• Painters Tape - Also found some around the house
• Sharpie and Dremmel tool (Not necessary)

1. Outline PVC connector on square piece of glass with sharpie

2. Cut Glass with glass cutter.
- Just score it in the arch shape outlined. Then prop both sides up and apply pressure against the score.


3. Cut all four corners off of the glass square. Now you have a circle


4. Super Glue your circle to the pvc piece. Apply pressure with something heavy and let it dry.
-This will create a fingerprint chamber and you will be able to lift your prints.. if you are a forensics fan.. haha


5. Make a circle out of painters tape and place in the inside
-Leave about a 1/4" space from the edge for the silicone.. This will make everything a lot neater.

-Make a tab to easier pull it out. Pull it out after siliconing the inside (before it dries)


6. Then silicone the inside edges.
-Apply a steady even bead.. Dont be scared to put too much. Thats what the painters tape is for.
-Then wet your finger and slide it over the siliconed areas to push it in the cracks.


7. Clean Finger
- Nail Polish Remover?

8. Wait 24hrs for silicone to dry

9. Grind down edges with a dremmel.
-Be careful. Go Slow. If you dont have a dremmel, a simple grinder or sand paper would work.

10. Enjoy
- Pics with finished product:

 

Very cool. Great work guys!

 

Nice!

 

Dang, ya beat me to it. lol. Working on one of these currently. I am using acrylic from lowe's though, instead of glass. The circle will be cut out on a band saw. Oh and 3" PVC. What size did you use?

 

Thanks guys.

Probably about 3". I dont remember exactly and I dont have it with me. From what I remember it was the only black PVC connector Lowes had. A little shorter of a piece might have been better, but it works great. You can tilt it more the bigger taller the piece is which is kind of cool.

 

Very nice DIY write up. I made one similar from 3" PVC too. I found a magnifying glass at WallyWorld that once popped out of the frame/handle was a perfect size to fit in the PVC. It's really nice for magnifying and looking for pests or just checking stuff out up close.

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Yeah, I just bought a 3' section of sched. 40. and will cut it to length. I will be spray painting it black with Krylon Fusion.

 

Stealing this idea for a mgnifying insert.

 

Great job..nice looking corals also..any advantage using glass over acrylic?

 

Yeah thats an awesome idea I was thinking of doing something like that. I saw one that was magnetized to the outside of the glass which was pretty cool.