Stand: which hardwood: ash, maple or oak?

[Canoe]

I've got to build a stand for a ~280g 6'x30"x30", which from the inside dimensions  will hold 254g. Best I can estimate for the 3/4" glass tank weight (300 to 600lbs.), means I should come in around ~3,000 lbs. for tank with water.

For the structural members, I'm going to use hardwood. Which of these three is best for our purposes:

• ash
• maple
• oak

Thanks

.

[HomerJ]

I think any of these 3 woods would be ok for a stand.  Maple and Oak are the hardest and more dense.  Depending of how you want to finish your stand, you might want to pick maple over oak, or the other way around. 

I find maple is harder to stain, especially for dark stains.  On the other hand, I LOVE the look of unstained maple, with clear poly only (which is how I finished all the furniture in my daughter's room).

Oak will take stain better, and you can even used grain filler to achieve interesting effects on the finished product.

Ash I've never worked with. but I think it's not as strong as the other 2 (but I'm sure still plenty strong for a stand).  It is used for example for baseball bats, because its strength to weight ratio is better than other hard woods.

Looks like you have the choice!

[Cbellehumeur]

Maple is the strongest.
But like HomerJ said it up to you how and what you want to stain it with and what look (grain wise)you're going for.

p.s
Teak is very strong and has moisture-resistant properties...usually used in outdoor furniture

Rosewood is very strong and is fragrant and close-grained

[bitterman]

It all depends on the look you want.

Maple can be nice, but alot of the maple is actually soft maple (still considered a hardwood) Sugar/hard maple can be very nice and is hard as nails.

Oak, Red or White. Red isnot good for an aquarium stand as if water penetrates the finish it has a habit of turning black. White oak is a good choice and is used in boat building for things like ribs of a boat.

Ash is very nice, but given the Emerald Ash Borer ash may not be a good idea and there are restrictions on it, for firewood, and furnature... I'd avoid it as a result but in my eyes Ash is the most beautiful of the all.

Bruce

[Canoe]

thanks for the replies

Actually, this wood will never be seen - it is all structural.
The structural wood will be painted white inside and stained black on the outside. The outside will be partially visible behind the doors and trim. The doors will be something like African Mahogany and the trim something like Blood Wood or Cocobolo.

So for the three woods, I guess I'm looking for strength, resists water, resists bending, other?

the basic stand idea is along the lines of:

[Funkmotor]

Ash I've never worked with. but I think it's not as strong as the other 2 (but I'm sure still plenty strong for a stand).  It is used for example for baseball bats, because its strength to weight ratio is better than other hard woods.

Actually, they use maple for bats as well.  World-beating stuff, right here in Ottawa!  http://www.sambat.com/

[fender316]

use maple if you're painting, dont use oak or ash.  also 10 times stronger at least...

[Vincenzo.]

toothpicks would be strong enough, if you build it right.

basically, does not matter what u use, it's how u build it, and with what materials used to secure it.

[johnrt]

"toothpicks would be strong enough"

+1

So, I think the question can then be re-framed as: What kind of wood are toothpicks made of?

[QueensU]

If you're not staining it, and just covering it up, why even use hardwood? Why not use spruce 2x4's then skin it with hardwood? Hardwood lumber costs about 5x as much as softwood. And if you plan and build it right, you'll never know the difference. Even pressure treated 4x4's should be cheaper per foot than hardwood. Seems kinda crazy to me. Save your cash for nice hardwood veneer to skin it with. Or better yet, corals!

[Canoe]

If you're not staining it, and just covering it up, why even use hardwood? Why not use spruce 2x4's then skin it with hardwood? Hardwood lumber costs about 5x as much as softwood. And if you plan and build it right, you'll never know the difference. Even pressure treated 4x4's should be cheaper per foot than hardwood. Seems kinda crazy to me. Save your cash for nice hardwood veneer to skin it with. Or better yet, corals!

Pressure treated: around an aquarium? How toxic is it if it can dissolve the wrong type of screws?

Over softwood, I get greater strength for the same dimension of lumber. For the given foot print, with proper construction, I can use smaller dimensions, which with a rather short stand (floor to tank-base height), I can get a greater opening and space for sump & equipment, along with greater strength, greater rigidity & greater dimensional stability. Dense hardwood cut ends don't distend under load, providing straight transfer of the vertical load, which otherwise could result in a horizontal component.

Most, if not all the verticals can be bought as shorts at a $1 a pound. And for the four beams (upper & lower long beams), the extra $ for hardwood over much wider softwood isn't that much of a premium.

Did I mention that the hardwood is straight, and dry? I haven't seen a straight 2x4 (or 6 or , in years, nor one that doesn't twist as it dries further. With straight lumber, vertical loads (totaling ~3,000 lbs., plus stand, sump, lighting, etc.) stay as vertical loads with absolutely no static horizontal component - for a ~3,500 load I really like this. The only horizontal loads come from equipment vibration. So there is no meaningful horizontal component requiring careful design, careful implementation of square cuts and load-bearing joints (hardwood is better here too) nor lots of cross bracing; those components of the stand are not preloaded containing horizontal loads, but are present as extra safety and overkill for containing any attempted movement from vibration, my clumsiness or my robotic vacuum bumping the base. ;-)

I can't be bothered with veneer anymore. You have the cost of the veneer and the wood you glue it too. Surprising how little the premium is to use solid hardwood. Look at what people pay for a quality veneer kitchen, when as little as 10% to 20% more could have had solid wood construction (although I prefer oriented strand board for the cabinets). Solid wood not that much more $, and you don't have to address adding veneer or solid trim for the edges, all for way less work (and less waiting); and you'll never have to re-glue the veneer around a humid aquarium.

Looks like it's going to be maple for the beams, and various shorts (maple, possibly some oak & ash) for the verticals.

or composite beams engineered from balsa wood, vertically oriented layer & surface bonded with popsicle sticks, vacuum bagged with epoxy resin  ;-D