Another proposal... two-tier rack... made of wood!

[BrownBullhead]

OK... so I looked into metal shelving at Wearing Williams... the corner posts cmoe to maximum of 6'0" in the E-Z-Rect line of shelving... I need 6'7" corner posts... and I don't want to get into cutting them... further to that, it was going to cost over $225 (CA$,or $175 US$) for the setup... so I think I will go with wood so I can customize the heights however I want.

Please remember from my previous post that my space the rack is to go into is 79" high, 53" wide, and 28" deep front-to-back. It's a former clothes closet with the doors removed, on a cement sub-floor in the basement of the house. A 150-gallon currently sits on the spot where i intend to slot my finished rack.

So for starters, I was drawing the basic shelf template each tank will sit upon. You can see the measurements, all in inches... and the orange lines are 2.5" wood screws.

I intend to use all "2x4" pieces which are accurately measured 1.5" x 3.5". I intend to use 8 of the 2x4 for the sides of the rack, and fasten the shelves to those sides. Below the bottom shelf, front-and-back, and between shelves, behind each tank, will be an additional post to distribute the load.

Please comment on this shelf design for now and let me know if you think this shelf will stay together as is or if I need to start from scratch right again. Please let me know.

CLICK THE THUMBNAIL FOR FULLSIZE IMAGE. You will need to maximize your browser window AND mouse over the image (in Internet Explorer) and in the lower right an icon to maximize the image to it's natural resolution will show. You will need to do this to ensure you view the image at its full resolution.

 

[snorkel]

You could easily build a two tank rack with 2x4s A single 2x4 can hold a lot of weight end to end i.e. like a table leg. (compression)

 

[DeFeKt]

heres a little something I just whipped up.
This will be more then enough for your tanks providing it's 2x4 material for everything.
Screws are the red dots, and liquid nails should be used on all joints.
dimensions are up to you.
btw i'll be building one of these in the next 2 weeks.

Matt.

 

[mp3z24]

regarding the picture posted in the above response....

my personal opinion here is that i put very little faith in that type of butt joint construction, when you are loading a surface and relying on screws to transfer load to the legs. if i were you, i would have a 2x4 screwed into the inner side of the legs. that means 2 more lengths of 2x4, one from the floor to the bottom of the first level, and a second one from the top of the first level to the bottom of the top level. that way, the weight of the tanks will be transfered directly to the floor instead of relying on the screws to transfer the force from the shelf to the leg. the outer legs will be there to stabilize things, and carry a little load, but the inner leg components will be the main load carrying elements. and they will be loaded in compression (wood beams are very strong in this type of compression)

im anal about building things, so i tend to overbuild then, but i dont trust screws in a shear loading condition (i.e. loads applied perpendicular to the axis of the screw.). so, take my adivce, or toss it aside...

~mike

 

[DeFeKt]

You mean like this.

Good point on the weight issue

The problem here is securing the legs into place. You would have to have some sort of a corner bracket or a length on the inside from leg-shelf-leg.
Not only that but it is near impossible to find a drop saw that will cut a perfect 90deg angle. so any shift in weight could have a collapsing effect on the entire setup.
I presume over there you'd have the liquid nails, which in essence would be enough to hold the wood and tanks together by itself, the screws are only for extra support and to keep it square while it sets. (btw 3 to 3 1/2" screws minimum)
However I will also be putting a 2x4 length diagonaly across the back for extra support and to keep it level/square for life.
Man, you should have seen the rough as guts stand I had under my 4x2x2.
And that was built by a stand/tank builder.
Only saw it when I got rid of it the other week, all nails and basic wood glue.
made me shudder.

I'd chock a car up on that stand and consider myself safe working under it..
cheers.

Matt.

 

[BrownBullhead]

This is revision 2-a to my plans for a wood aquarium rack. Please note, as some of you haev been suggesting, I CANNOT place the 2x4's "on edge" with the 1.5" edge facing sky, as opposed to my current "flat" design with the 3.5" flat side facing sky. If I do this, my cabinet shelve space will be too minimal to hold the 70-gallon (48 x 19 x 21) tanks I plan to place inside.

I am now using 2x6 for the corner posts!

Please see my design and let me know what you think. The schemes for shelf, side posts, front, and back of rack are now shown.

PLEASE... let me know your thoughts.

SHELF


SIDE POSTS


BACK


FRONT

 

[DeFeKt]

quick question...

I CANNOT place the 2x4's "on edge" with the 1.5" edge facing sky, as opposed to my current "flat" design with the 3.5" flat side facing sky. If I do this, my cabinet shelve space will be too minimal to hold the 70-gallon (48 x 19 x 21) tanks I plan to place inside.

how do you figure that?

 

[BrownBullhead]

quick question...

I CANNOT place the 2x4's "on edge" with the 1.5" edge facing sky, as opposed to my current "flat" design with the 3.5" flat side facing sky. If I do this, my cabinet shelve space will be too minimal to hold the 70-gallon (48 x 19 x 21) tanks I plan to place inside.

how do you figure that?

The cabinet has to fit inside a 79" high cubbyhole, and it already measures 76.5" high. As is, the bottom shelf is only 3" off the ground!

Please review my drawings and measurements to see why I say that.

 

[BrownBullhead]

Meaning... my shelf beams currently 1.5" "thick" in the position they are in. If I turn them "on edge" as you propose, that is 3.5 "thick," thus losing 2.0". Multiple this by 3 shelves (2 for tanks, 1 at top) and I then lose 6.0". I only have 2.5" to spare as is and that assumes I was exact at measuring my 79.0" heigh of cubbyhole.

 

[DeFeKt]

aah gotcha.. my mistake.

 

[DeFeKt]

have you considered putting the lights inside the hoods?

 

[BrownBullhead]

There are no "hoods"... using those flat glass lids, that hinge in the middle, opening horizontally.

 

[BrownBullhead]

My inspiration for the notching from shelves into corner posts comes from here... http://www.winnipegfishforum.info/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1694&highlight=rack

Previously I had not implemented notching between the beams and corner posts. This notching will enable transfer of weight from the shelf beams directly into the corner posts, instead of relying on the screws / wood glue alone.

This would appear to address the concerns raised in the "drafting" pictures above, since weight would transfer from beams to corner posts directly without solely relying on wood glue / screws. Also, the corner post is one complete piece so no worries as posed in the second diagram on how to connect the "legs".

 

[DeFeKt]

good thinking 99
you'll have to make the shelves wider to allow for the notched setback

 

[BrownBullhead]

From a side view (see diagram #2 of the set of 4 opsted together), the entire 3.5" "flat" of front & rear beam of shelf is notched into a 2x6 corner post, creating a flush back and front corner. If you see diagram #1 again (of my set of 4 posted together) the entire 3.5" is notched into the 2x6, and the remaining 2.0" shown on diagram #1 is the inner edge (toward center of side panel) of the 2x6.

 

[BrownBullhead]

I have reviewed these concepts further... about how my 2x4 are laid "flat" ni my shelf concept, thus resulting in a given shelf being 1.5" thick.

It has been pointed out to me by multiple persons that having the 2x4 "on edge" instead of "flat" would result in greater strenght... but would result in each shelf becoming 2.0" thicker... and 3 shelves total (2 for tanks, plus top shelf acting like canopy) would result in net addition of 6.0" to total height, which messes me up...

However, if I could come up with hinge lids that are say, 6" / 12" split for 19" flat glass hinge lid, instead of the standard 9" / 9" split, that would save me 3.0" on each aquarium level, which equals the 6.0" that were added above...

However, this involves making my own lids... I wonder how feasible this is!?

 

[DeFeKt]

perspex, drilled, hinged and screwed, spose glued to the glass.

 

[mp3z24]

notched side legs are definately the way to go, if you cant use the legs to directly support the load.

that link you provided gives what i would consider to be an appropriate starting design for this situation. but, what gallon size tanks will this be supporting? i ask becuase this may increase your member size supporting the perimeter of the tank, and may also add a requirement for a center support.

~mike

 

[snorkel]

You mean like this.

Good point on the weight issue

The problem here is securing the legs into place. You would have to have some sort of a corner bracket or a length on the inside from leg-shelf-leg.


Matt.

You absolutely do not need any brackets, you just have to glue and toenail everthing with 3 inch deck screws, I have a 75 gallon sitting on one right now that I just glued and toenailed the legs to the top and bottom frames.
Because the frames are sitting on top of the legs a toenailed deck screw is more than enough, also i would not use liquid nails, it's not as good as a good quality water proof carpenters wood glue, liquid nails is mainly used for gluing paneling to walls etc.

 

[BrownBullhead]

I have made "Revision 3.b" to my Aquarium Rack, Wood, Two-tier, 50" x 28" shelves. My revised diagrams will be complete by Sunday morning.

I have followed numerous suggestions from users on the forums where I requested feedback to my plans, and the 100% consensus was to build with the 2x4 "on edge," with the 1.5" ("2") sides vertically, and the 3.5" ("4") sides horizontally. This was not obvious to me in the beginning but I now understand why. My new plans are built as such.

Thank you for the feedback so far and I look forward to more of your comments!