SaltGeeks Monthly Meeting Madness
March 20, 2011
Events and Happenings at Jsuter’s Place
Hello all you Saltgeeks!
As most of you know we had our March club meeting at Jason and Jamie’s home this
month.
A lot of good changes the past year here at Saltgeeks and we hope to continue
improving our club and what the club offers our supporting members as well as
the members that have not yet taken the plunge and joined our knowledgeable and
diverse community of saltwater enthusiasts. We here at Saltgeeks feel that, once
you meet the people you are talking to on the forums and experience our meetings
and our outings, you will feel more comfortable here in the quality of genuine
friendship, experience, helpfulness and knowledge as you endeavor to create your
own slice of the ocean in your home.
All of us at Saltgeeks would like to thank Jason (Jsuter) and his wife Jamie for
their hard work and hospitality in making our third meeting of the year a huge
success.
Once again, thank you for your hospitality.
On to the happenings that took place at the meeting.
Members in attendance:
Marinelife
Trini 2D Bone
Aquatic mouse
Ghurlag
Jsuter
Nate21887
Chromiumlux
213crisp
Rayviv
Topics that were discussed at the meeting:
Advertising:
Carrie (Aquaticmouse) has made some nice business cards for the club members to
pick up at the meetings as well as print from the site. Very nice Carrie! Thank
you for efforts. Also discussed were ideas concerning listing our club in many
of the major magazines available in this hobby.
Club equipment:
The group discussed this briefly during The January meeting. I am happy to say
the club now has 2 new pieces of equipment for the club members to use. A new
Par meter and a new Coral saw. Please contact Eric (Marinelife) or Andy (Chromiumlux)
on the site for questions you may have and details concerning the use of these
items.
Monthly meetings:
Our club offers a monthly meeting that can be attended by anyone interested in
the saltwater hobby. These meetings are always posted ahead of time on the site
to ensure that everyone has ample time to make plans for attending. As always,
members have a choice to either hold the meeting at your house or to organize an
outing for the group. We encourage all new members to hold a meeting so we can
get to know each other better and share our experiences with each other. The
meetings are held on a voluntary basis and are enjoyed by all who attend…as we
all enjoyed this month’s meeting.
Club Membership:
The group discussed club membership and what we can do to make our club more
appealing and helpful to new members. It was put to the group members that
expressed interest to become involved in the membership thread.
Club Member Sand Swap:
We began our member’s sand swap this month. The idea is to bring a cup of sand
from your tank and give to the meeting host so they can add it to their tank.
This practice will help new tanks and old tanks by increasing bio-diversity. The
club is also starting a sand tank bank that Eric will be setting up and
maintaining for the use of all club members. This is a great way to introduce
new strains of bacteria and critters to help maintain a healthy sand bed. More
to come on this…..
Demonstration on how to drill glass:
Brian (Ghurlag) provided a glass drilling demo for the club members today. He
drilled the holes in his 40 breeder which will incorporate a coast to coast
overflow. This is going to be an awesome build also. Thanks Brian for the demo
and for grabbing a flip for filming it with!!
We had a new member attend the meeting today, 213chrisp. We would like to thank
you and all of our members for attending and being a part of our club. A big
welcome to 213chrisp!
Many thanks to Jason and Jamie and for providing some great snacks and drinks
during the meet. Thanks to everyone else that contributed food and drinks.
Pictures of the meeting and Jsuter’s awesome tank build to fall as well as video
covering the demo coming soon.
In closing, I would like to thank everyone for attending another awesome
SaltGeek’s meeting and to all that make our club what it has become over the
past year. We have a great group here. Until next month….Happy Reefing!
Chromiumlux
Andy
Members chating:
Hole Cutting:
Beautiful Skin:
Write up below by Brian (ghurlag):
Click here to watch the video of the
tank drilling
And here is a little write-up of my experience...
Hole #1 - This was completely and utterly a new experience for me. I knew from things I'd read, and other videos I'd viewed that I wanted to come in at an angle to start the grinding. I'd got off to a pretty good start, but stopped a little too soon to check the progress, and had some trouble getting started again. Eventually, I ground through (after 11 minutes). I noticed that the bit had traveled up and to the left of where I had started. It wasn't enough to be a deal breaker, but it was noticeable.
Hole #2 - This time, I had the bit spinning well before it came in contact with the glass. I got off to a really good start, and let it grind for a little bit before checking my progress. At one point, I kept the bit spinning when pulling it away from the glass. This resulted in a scary scallop out and away from the hole - by far the biggest issue of the whole day. The glass that chipped away wasn't, I believe, enough to cause integrity issues, but it was still disheartening. Hole #2 took ~25 minutes
Hole #3 - Taking what I had learned from the first 2 holes, I started in on the third. Again, I had the bit spinning well before I contacted the glass. Anytime I stopped to check progress, I stopped the drill first. This hole took about 25 minutes and was nearly perfect.
Lessons Learned:
First and foremost, keep the bit cool, and don't exert any pressure on the drill. I carefully observed this from start to finish. There was no binding of the bit, and there were no cracks in the glass
Secondly, if you are free-handing the cuts, like I was, make sure the bit is moving as you come in at an angle. Don't stop the drill until you have leveled out and made at least a little progress in the cut - otherwise it's hard to line back up with where you were.
I think if I do this in the future, I would like to have a template made out of wood to at least get started on all the holes, to ensure they are lined up and equally spaced. Perhaps the template could be removed after the holes were started.
I know that it is not recommended to use a drill press for this sort of task, as you can quickly exert pressure that can result in a crack; however, I believe that if you are careful, you can not only line up all the holes, but also save wear and tear on your arms from having to hold the drill steady for that length of time.
Would I do this again? Definitely. I believe the results are well worth the effort, and the risk is completely minimized by thorough study of the procedure, and prior experience with power tools.
ghurlag's discussion thread can be read here!!
