DIY stand completed

[justDIY]

thanks to all that have gave me great suggestions in my previous stand related post... your ideas have come together to make what I hope is a very strong and usefull stand / table

This is a diagram of the stand ... more and better pics will come later, soon as I drop a roll off at the 1hr

pictured is my stand and my lightbox (covered in another post)

the stand is constructed of premium white-board pine studs and 3/4" plywood

fasteners used are #10 2" and 3" steel wood screws (slightly smaller than 3/4" lag screws, and have a phillips head ... in relfection, this was a mistake ... driving a 3" screw into even soft pine took a lot of effort, and these are not hardened steel, so many a screw had it's head stripped ... a lag screw with a hex drive would have resisted stripping more. I also found that lubricating the screw with wood glue before insertion helped a LOT. The reason I choose wood screws over lag screws; I was concerned about driving two 1/4" thick screws into a piece of 3.5" wide 2x4 ... splitting the wood, even with pre-drilling

fasteners where there would be minimal shearing stress were 2" drywall screws ... drywall screws are nice because they are hardened which makes them almost impossible to break or strip ... but, they don't take shearing stress and will just snap rather than bend


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again, more pics to come!

 

[justDIY]

oh ... another thing ... I would like to mount that lightbox on the underside of the top shelf, BUT it needs to be easy to remove once there is a tank only 6" under it ... I thought I could just run screws through the top into the center supports for the top shelf, but then I wouldn't be able to get a screwdriver in there after a tank were in place.

if I get a big tank (like 90+ gal) I'll probably make the 30 a sump since it's all scratched up (yardsale special) ... and a sump doesnt need 192 watts of light!

 

[Bearfan]

Looking great!

 

[r95rdstr]

Lookin' good. Setting the top shelf directly on top of the L-Legs is very solid.

My 2x4 stand skinned in cherry is still in progress

 

[hisc1ay]

Awesome! It makes me all the more excited to make the cabinet I'm going to build for the stand I was given.

-j

 

[justDIY]

I have finished the web-page with commentary and more pictures.

check it out at

http://www.dimension-x.net/gordon/aquaria/stand2/default.htm

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admins,

I've been linking to these externals pages only to save you some 'overhead'. If you would rather have the articles posted on the forum, I'd be happy to do that instead.

 

[Bearfan]

Looks Good!

 

[Guest]

You mentioned the screws being cheap and stripping easy. Next time, try using ivory soap and pack the threads with it before screwing them in. Wax works well also...

 

[Bearfan]

I don't know if you predrilled, but it is the one step that 90% of DIYers miss. It prevents a lot of wood cracking, and makes the screwing in easier.