DIY stand for my new 225 gal tank

Forum Rules

[alexv]

As I posted earlier (http://ovas.ca/index.php?topic=23824.0), I've got myself a new 225 gal tank (72"Lx24"Wx30"H).

Now I'm building a stand for it. I have some limited woodworking skills and not too many tools at my disposal, so I'm trying to do the best I can with what I have

The basic design of the frame is quite simple. I decided to go with regular 2x4's for most of the frame and use 3/4" plywood for top and bottom of the cabinet and use 1/2" plywood to finish sides and the front. This would add structural strength to the stand.

Here is the drawing I used for my project.


I bought all the materials at Home Depot. I have cut the 8'x4' sheet of 3/4" plywood to end up with 2 pieces measuring 2'x6' (for top and bottom) and one remaining 4'x2' which I may use for something later... I made sure that at least the top sheet is at least 2'x6' (I made it even a bit bigger) and the bottom sheet will be a bit narrower than 2' but that should be Ok...

I assembled the top and bottom frames by using the plywood as a template (watch for Home Depot's "precistion" cuts as my plywood wasn't exactly square).



I assembled the frame on actual plywood sheets I'm going to use to ensure all the wooden beams align properly and all touch the plywood. I used some wood glue to ensure even stronger joints:



When the outer frame was done I measured the distance between the beams and tried to cut the cross members as close to those dimensions as possible. 2x4's are generally not very straight so I used the cross members to straighen them up as well...



This way both the top and the bottom of the stand were assembled.

[alexv]

Then I cut the vertical support beam trying to make them as close in size as possible. The good DeWalt compond mitre saw is a god sent for that...



I started assembling the corner posts first by gluing/screwing two planks together. I also reinforced the corner with a metal bracket:



then I mounted them onto the bottom plate:



It wasn't all that easy because of the thickness of the wood on the bottom. I had only 4" screws and the 2x4's width is actually 3.5" and the plywood is another 3/4". So I ended up countersinking the screws quite a bit...

Same way I mounted the middle 5 posts. I used 2x6" for the two font and middle pack post for additional strength. I didn't install the middle post in the front to allow for easier access to the inside of the stand (if I end up putting some equipment under there) and that's why I put two 2x6s instead of 2x4s...

View of the front of the stand (it's upside down):



And the back:



(I used a couple of full 2x4s to align the vertical planks to ensure they glue up nice and straight).

This is how it looks right side up:



I have also reinforced all the posts with metal brackets.

After adding the top of the stand and gluing/screwing it onto the base I started adding the side walls made of 1/2" plywood (finished in oak so I can stain the stand later):



This is pretty much where it is at right now... Two days of work got me to this point... I will update you on the progress of the project.

Once I finish the walls/front the most "scary" part for me would be making doors... Still have no ideas on how to tackle this. Tried to get them ready-made from the store but they are all come finished and I don't want to try to match the stains. It seems my options are either to have custom doors built by a kitchen company or have them built myself. I'd rather explore the second option but I'm somewhat missing some important tools to do a nice job of it (namely, a table saw and a router)... Well, I guess I'll get there when I get there... I still need to complete the finish of the stand and doors can wait a bit...

[Tyler.L]

use a dremel and try to do it by hand then sand it and get it as close as possible you couldnt be that bad with wood the stand turned out pretty nice so far

[speckledmind]

Very nice Build 

[dan2x38]

Nice start looks great. Home depot will cut the wood for you. You get 2 cuts free per piece then a buck a cut. If you get the right guy he won't charge ya for a few extra cuts they didn't for me. Be nice to see more pics. Instead of routing the edges trim them Home Depot has tons of nice trim. Then use the Loc-Tight glue to hold the pieces on.

[alexv]

Nice start looks great. Home depot will cut the wood for you.

The problem with Home depot is that their saw isn't really precise... I guess it could be if used properly, but the plywood they cut for me was even out of square, not just cut too short/long... It's good enough for cutting a sheet of plywood in half to load into a car but for door, I'd use something better...

But anyway, I'll ask a few local companies and see what they would offer for custom made doors. If they turn out to be too expensive, I'll make them myself. I have a few options to go from here:

- Cut 1/2" sheet of plywood to the size of my doors and use some kind of half-round trim on edges (by the way, Home Depot doesn't have too wide of a selection of trims in this size, they do have a fair amount of trims for baseboards and doors, but the only thing they have in 1/2" is the quarter-round corner trim [which I used on the corners of the stand - see pics below]. Any suggestion of another store that could carry a wider selection of wood/trim for furniture making?).

- Cut the doors out of wall wood panels. They look like a bunch of beveled planks glued together. Could be more attractive than plain flat doors.

- Assemble doors from four frame pieces with the middle insert. If using a router, could shape the edges to have some nice-looking doors. This is the best direction but the most labor-intensive and requires table saw (to cut the lip/tongue) and a router to shape edges.

I will see what happens, but I did end up ordering a router on eBay... Should be here soon, so I will have to find out what I can do with this thing... Never even held a router in my hands before

As far as the project progress is concerned, I (almost) completed the front of the stand. Put the oak plywood on the outside (front and sides), filled and sanded all the seams. Installed the corner trim and the base moulding.

Still need to finish the top (level the side plywood sticking above the surface in a few places and sand the whole surface) and install a top trim piece.

Here is how the stand looks now:





And a close-up of the corner trim:

[RoxyDog]

looks pretty damn good to me so far!    do you mind if I ask what it has cost thus far, and then again when it's done? 

[fischkopp]

This looks really nice to me too! I hope you have no trouble moving the stand to its final spot.

I am looking forward to see how your tank project develops as I am planning to do the same thing one day ... 

[alexv]

do you mind if I ask what it has cost thus far, and then again when it's done?

I think right now it's around $200.

[speckledmind]

The problem with Home depot is that their saw isn't really precise... I guess it could be if used properly, but the plywood they cut for me was even out of square

You correct on writting that, I have had the same problems with several places who cut lumber ( Reno, Home depot, Pillon Lumber ), final cut size far from what was requested, and totally out of square.
I have had plywood cut 1/4 inch short of what I had requested, having it out of square did not make my life / build any easier.
I don't mind paying the $1 per cut since I don't have the place to store a table saw, but I would expect it to be on the money when I leave there ( I can live with 1/16" off, it's an industry standard in Cabinetry ), specially that I paid full rip for the lumber, plus approx. $25 for the cutting 

Last place I tried who was on the money with all the cuts ( Rona Hull sector / Plateau ), very precise and no complaints with them at all.
Problem is, that there lumber was at least 1/3 of the price more expensive : /

[sdivell]

I would suggest having things at home depot cut so you can still fit it into you vehicle but have them cutt it atleast 4" larger then you need.  When you get it home fix it up with a square, nice chalk line and a skill saw.

your stand looks good.  I always planned to do this eventually for my 60g but my honey-do list just keeps getting larger and its always at the bottom of the priority list.

As for your doors, you may not want to go the router route if you've never used one before.  It can be easy to make some ugly doors using a router.

Are you trying to keep this stand simple? clean and modern? Consider just making some 1x4 pine and making a frame with 45 Degree corners and use a sheet of 1/8" plywood laminated as the infill for the frame.  its clean, simple and easy to construct.  cheaper then a router as well.

[Iceman]

Laminate pine and router the edges with the bit of your choice.

[alexv]

Laminate pine and router the edges with the bit of your choice.

Yes, that's the route I'm looking at right now... BTW, my router just arrived in the mail... Still waiting for the router bit set...

[Mettle]

I would suggest having things at home depot cut so you can still fit it into you vehicle but have them cutt it atleast 4" larger then you need.  When you get it home fix it up with a square, nice chalk line and a skill saw.

You're better off renting one of their vans for 1.5 hrs at $19 and simply bringing everything home and doing it yourself.

I was thinking of getting the wood cut there. But after reading this I'm just going to bring it home.

[dan2x38]

For door designs & cabinet ideas (I am cheap) go have a coffee at Chapters... I go to the DIY section browse for books sit with a coffee and check things out... I get a lot of good ideas and pieces to the puzzle when I need to do something. Like I said I am cheap... LOL

[alexv]

Good suggestions, but I think I'll be fine. My router arrived and I already tried it on some of my other wood projects (never used it before ). Seems to be Ok. I also got a router table, so that should help with precision cutting. Only thing missing is the wide router bits for cabinet door making (which is still in the mail). Once I receive it, I should be fine to try it out. I'm sure I'm still ahead (pricewise) even considering the cost of equipment (vs ordering the custom doors made). eBay rules

I'll update you on my progress with the stand when I have some

[alexv]

Ok, finally I got around to finishing the cabinet doors. After trying to find good piece of oak board for the central panel and figuring out that even if I were able to find it it would cost too much, I decided to go with a regular pine for doors. Since the cabinet is going to be stained black, I hope there won't be too much of a color difference between the doors and the rest of the cabinet (oak vs pine).

Turns out it's not all that difficult. With the right equipment one can do anything

I bought a bunch of 1.5" x 3/4" for rails and stiles a 24" x 72" pine board for the central panel. Using the router bits shown below (which I bought for about $25.00 on ebay + s/h) I shaped both the frame and the panel for a nice tight fit...



In the end, the doors turned out to be quite nice and cost me about $15 a piece for the wood (not counting the tools but I will surely use them for other projects).

Here is how the cabinet looks today. Just needs some staining.



Well, even though it took me over 2 months to finish the stand, it doesn't mean I spent all this time on it In meantime, I also prepared the room in the basement below the main floor where the tank will be so I can place all the equipment there. I installed a new laundry tub where I can wash my filters (and not having to share it with the rest of other household to eliminate any chance of contact with harsh chemicals), installed the counter on which the sump will be placed. The biggest project was to provide the drain. I had to open up the concrete floor and put some sewage pipes in there. It was a scary project (my wife had to leave the house while I was using the jack hammer I rented at Home Depot - she couldn't stand the sight of me wrecking our home ).

It worked pretty well in the end. Here is how that "room" looks like now.



Now I need to actually open up the wall to put the in/out pipes to the main tank and install all the plumbing in the basement, construct the sump (or have someone build it), make the light fixture and the million other things in order for the whole set-up to be complete... But this is going to be a subject of another post

[alexv]

Finally today we brought the finished stand into the living room where the tank will go... I have also provided a separate 20A circuit for the tank (behind the stand).

The tank itself is still in the garage but today I have filled it with water to test for any water leaks... Thankfully there were none

I still need to finish the sump which would go in the basement below the tank and put in all the plumbing... But I'm slowly getting all the equipment (just got a 1000W titanium water heater with remote temperature sensor). In the mail are the 72" T5 light fixture (8x80W 6500K), water filter (for constant drip water change system), bulk activated carbon (for the filter)...

Can't wait for the day everything is running, but I guess it'll still take some time. Trying to not cause too much dent in the budget at once...

I wonder if there are people here with some tank plumbing experience... Maybe someone can provide some more advice for me as to the best way of having everything done. Maybe someone can even come to my house and a have a look-see type of chat while sipping some beer? (winking at redbelly after reading this: http://ovas.ca/index.php?topic=29794.0)

[RoxyDog]

very nice! 

[dan2x38]

Wow nice job looks very sharp. So can I have your router? Having the tools makes a difference. Now have to get that tank up there and post those pics. Quite a project thanks for sharing.