DIY 75 Gal Oak Stand - Building Log

[sharkbait]

Hi folks, I'm going to build a solid oak aquarium stand for my new 75 [acronym:1dc5f4e595="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:1dc5f4e595] aquarium. This is the start of my building log, where I will share pictures of my progress with you. Feel free to ask any questions or offer any feedback you might have. I expect that this project will take me 2 months to complete. Tonight I'm starting to cut the wood, so no pictures yet. Instead, I've included a link to the plans I drew up.

http://sawdust.servebeer.com/aquariu...tand_plans.pdf

[fishfreek]

A Granite top? How heavy is that top going to be? Is that gonna cost a load of $ aswell? After all most of the top is going to be covered and you will never see it.

[acronym:9f494ba94d="In my opinion"]IMO[/acronym:9f494ba94d] you could save alot of money by just framing the stand so the tank sits on top and you maybe have a lip that goes around the tank so it looks like the tank sits inside the stand by a few inches. There is no real need to support the very middle of the underside of the tank. Just along all four sides.

[Biggen]

Cool drawings. What program did you use?

This is a glass tank I assume? If so, I second FF advise about not having to worry about supporting the middle as long as all sides are taken care of well.

[ohio reefer]

hey take a look at mine this is what i built for my 120gal. only cost $150 bucks.

[sharkbait]

fishfreek: Thanks for your thoughts. The top is probably going to be Corian or Silestone rather than real granite. It will still weigh in a little over 100lbs. Thats nothing compared to the weight of the stand or the aquarium. You will be able to see the edge and about a 1" wide band around the top.

I understand that glass aquariums don't need support in the middle. I am planning for the future, when I may decide to get rid of the aquarium. If I do, I'll still be left with a quality piece of furniture with a nice top. Saving money was not a primary concern here, although this will be much cheaper than buying a comparable quality piece of furniture.

Biggen: Those drawings were done in DeltaCad. It is a low-cost, basic CAD program. The more I use it, the more I like it.
http://www.dcad.com/
I know I don't need the top. My wife and I just like the way it will look.

Ohio reefer: Thanks for showing your stand. It looks very nice and I bet it was built very well. When I was in college, I built two stands using oak veneer plywood for the back and sides. That is another cost-saving option for the more dollar-conscious Aquarist.

This will be my 6th large woodworking project. I like to keep challenging myself, so I chose this more complex design. Woodworking is a hobby I also enjoy, so this is a labor of love.

[yaksplat]

What kind of wood are you using? I'd go with mahogany and wenge

Jim

[yaksplat]

duh...i should have read the title, "75 [acronym:d31002e79b="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:d31002e79b] OAK stand"...... well, good luck

If you have any woodworking questions, feel free to ask.

Jim

[sharkbait]

Originally Posted by yaksplat

What kind of wood are you using? I'd go with mahogany and wenge

Jim

Wenge? Thats some very pretty wood, but it can cost over $40 per [acronym:af3755cab1="Board Foot"]bf[/acronym:af3755cab1]. It is also supposed to be easy to bend. A veneer would be easier on the wallet, but I don't like veneer in wet environments. Thanks for the suggestion. It might be nice on something smaller.

Mahogany would also be beautiful. However, it too is relatively easy to bend. That is definitely not a good thing in an aquarium stand.

I chose Oak because of its structural properties, because I like the way it looks, and because it matches our other furniture. By using Oak I can get away with not using 2x4 framing ala GARF.

Here's the first pic. Its just a pile of wood right now

[sharkbait]

It's starting to look less like a pile of wood now. Here are the 2 end panels. They are just dry-fitted here as a test. I still need to do some sanding before I glue them up.

[yaksplat]

looking good