We finally have a date to cut the plexiglass for the flume! The design that we have decided on is 72″ long, and 10″ wide. One of the unique things about the opportunity the DKC has given me, is that I’m able to be present for all of the steps of the building process. Usually, there will be different people at every step, from purchasing, to designing, to building, with minimal communication between branches. However, the DKC allows me to be involved at every step, which is rare and valuable because it gives me an appreciation of the process and gives me an opportunity to practice effective communication so that things go as smoothly as possible. For example, the actual width of the channel is going to be 9.5″ since the thickness of the plexiglass is 1/4″ thick, so when making the back panel of the flume we have to take into account that we will lose half an inch. Engineering complexities like such are often missed at one of the steps, and can create a frustrating time for one of the branches. Being able to see this at a small scale gives me practice in catching things like that, so that they won’t be missed in the future.
Additionally, instead of using a glue or epoxy sealer to attach the pieces of the flume, I’m going to use a technique called solvent welding- a methylene chloride. Essentially, it melts the pieces of plexiglass together, and create a chemical bond between the panels. This will increase the bond strength, making the flume less susceptible to bowing and leaking. This won’t require much more work, but it is something new that will undoubtedly require some practice. In the long run, it will be an improvement, since leaking and bowing was an issue that we suffered from last time.