yaksplat
Aquarium Advice Freak
I posted some of this elsewhere, but I thought that I'd make a new topic out of it.
I had looked at PetCo and PetSmart for a tank stand for my first tank and I didn't like what i saw. Most of the stands that I found were very poorly made and not worth the high prices that they were charging. So, like most of you here, I decided to just make it on my own. I'm from 4 generations of cabinetmakers, although my dad never got into the hobby, leaving me to learn it all on my own. But I inherited the generations of tools last year, which definately gave me the push that I needed.
All of this work was done last saturday afternoon except for a bit of sanding and oiling, which I did last night. I constructed the entire from 3/4" maple veneered plywood. All of the boards are held together by #20 biscuits and glued with yellow woodworking glue. This was my first project with my new biscuit jointer, so it took a little longer to do than I had planned. Most of the stands that I saw in stores were lacking a back. Personally, I think that a back on a stand gives a great deal of lateral stability, especially under such a great load.
The next picture shows the stand with the trim attached. This trim covers up the ply edges so it looks as though the stand is made completely from maple. The trim was nailed on with an air nailed as well as glued. This was necessary, since the top trim only has a 1/2 of contact area to the main portion of the stand.
So, up to that point, it was really only 5 hours of work and $30 in wood. I still have to complete the doors. I'm picking up a set of router bits from a friend of mine today, so hopefully it'll get done this weekend. Fortunately, I can set up the aquarium without the doors as soon as all of my supplies show up.
I'll post more pictures as soon as I get some more work done on it. Feel free to post questions if anyone has any.
Jim
I had looked at PetCo and PetSmart for a tank stand for my first tank and I didn't like what i saw. Most of the stands that I found were very poorly made and not worth the high prices that they were charging. So, like most of you here, I decided to just make it on my own. I'm from 4 generations of cabinetmakers, although my dad never got into the hobby, leaving me to learn it all on my own. But I inherited the generations of tools last year, which definately gave me the push that I needed.
All of this work was done last saturday afternoon except for a bit of sanding and oiling, which I did last night. I constructed the entire from 3/4" maple veneered plywood. All of the boards are held together by #20 biscuits and glued with yellow woodworking glue. This was my first project with my new biscuit jointer, so it took a little longer to do than I had planned. Most of the stands that I saw in stores were lacking a back. Personally, I think that a back on a stand gives a great deal of lateral stability, especially under such a great load.
The next picture shows the stand with the trim attached. This trim covers up the ply edges so it looks as though the stand is made completely from maple. The trim was nailed on with an air nailed as well as glued. This was necessary, since the top trim only has a 1/2 of contact area to the main portion of the stand.
So, up to that point, it was really only 5 hours of work and $30 in wood. I still have to complete the doors. I'm picking up a set of router bits from a friend of mine today, so hopefully it'll get done this weekend. Fortunately, I can set up the aquarium without the doors as soon as all of my supplies show up.
I'll post more pictures as soon as I get some more work done on it. Feel free to post questions if anyone has any.
Jim
