mentallylost
Aquarium Advice Freak
I have always believed that if a person is going to DIY and show it off, then extra attention should be taken to ensure that looks as good as possible. With that in mind, I proceeded to build this stand and canopy for a 10 gallon aquarium. This will soon be home to my first little reef set up. As long as I can keep it alive for 6 months, “she who must be obeyed” says that she will allow a larger tank for my next reef set up.
This stand/canopy so far has cost me no $$$. It has been built out of stuff that I have had laying around the garage for the last couple of years. It is made out of red cedar (left over from a cedar strip kayak that I was building a couple of years ago) and pine for the framework.
The cedar strips were made by ripping them across my table saw into 1/4”x 3/4” strips, the length of the board. They were next cut to size and shape for wherever it was going to be placed and glued on edge to the next piece over the framework.
The legs were made by gluing 4 pieces of cedar together to form a block. I then cut the blocks square and placed them on the lathe for a turning. They turned out nicely I think.
The internal framework is all pine, well because I just didn’t have enough cedar to do it all that way and I didn’t want to spend any money on it. And you weren’t going to see it anyway. I did place a piece of 1/4" plywood across the top of the stand for the tank to rest upon. This also helped with the rigidity of the stand.
The stand/canopy were next sanded down moving progressively from 120 grit to 240 grit sandpaper to remove any rough edges and gouges.
I finished them first with a couple coats, from hand rubbing Formby’s Tung Oil Finish. A light buffing and run over with steel wool between coats. Followed with a couple more coats of Minwax Polyurethane. Again with a run over with steel wool between coats for that smoothing.
Unfortunately, this will end up costing a dollar or 2 to complete. I tried a couple different handles for the drawer that I had made, but have not liked any of them. So now I am on the look out for a knob in the shape of Texas, and maybe Texas star for the front of the canopy.
This stand/canopy so far has cost me no $$$. It has been built out of stuff that I have had laying around the garage for the last couple of years. It is made out of red cedar (left over from a cedar strip kayak that I was building a couple of years ago) and pine for the framework.
The cedar strips were made by ripping them across my table saw into 1/4”x 3/4” strips, the length of the board. They were next cut to size and shape for wherever it was going to be placed and glued on edge to the next piece over the framework.
The legs were made by gluing 4 pieces of cedar together to form a block. I then cut the blocks square and placed them on the lathe for a turning. They turned out nicely I think.
The internal framework is all pine, well because I just didn’t have enough cedar to do it all that way and I didn’t want to spend any money on it. And you weren’t going to see it anyway. I did place a piece of 1/4" plywood across the top of the stand for the tank to rest upon. This also helped with the rigidity of the stand.
The stand/canopy were next sanded down moving progressively from 120 grit to 240 grit sandpaper to remove any rough edges and gouges.
I finished them first with a couple coats, from hand rubbing Formby’s Tung Oil Finish. A light buffing and run over with steel wool between coats. Followed with a couple more coats of Minwax Polyurethane. Again with a run over with steel wool between coats for that smoothing.
Unfortunately, this will end up costing a dollar or 2 to complete. I tried a couple different handles for the drawer that I had made, but have not liked any of them. So now I am on the look out for a knob in the shape of Texas, and maybe Texas star for the front of the canopy.
