Another 75 gal stand project

J

JSB

I've been moving so slow with this. Trying to do it right. I accidentally deleted the framing process, but this is what I have so far.

I followed the framing process I've seen people take recently. I had some wood start warping and twisting on me some. Probably because it was drying out, and I wasn't working fast enough. I thought I'd be okay with this (thinking glue, and screws would twist it back. Apparently, that didn't exactly work as planned. I ended up with a little bit of wobble on the bottom frame. I'm thinking this will level out with 75 gallons of water sitting on top of it. The second issue I have now is with the foot print of the tank. My frame must be cocked over a smidge, because if I line up the tank with the front ledge, one of the sides will over hang a little. If I line the sides up flush, then I don't have a perfect meet on the front. :x

So now I'm left with fixing the mistake with the finishing wood, and trim pieces. Hopefully it will go well. I'm going to start cutting out the face of the stand in an hour or so after I eat some lunch.

Until more progress...
 
If only it was stronger... :sad:




Just kidding! :lol: Looks great. Keep updating the thread for others to benefit from.
 
Looks great to me! Yours looks like it will stand up to the challenge of a big tank.

I'm going to be building one in the next week or two myself for a 70g tall. In people's opinion is the plywood bottom really nessarsary? I've opted to go for no plywood on top. Through 5" of sand I don't think light will leak up through the stand. Mine won't have a center brace either. (Yay, easier sump area to work with.) I'm under the impression that if the tank has a center brace the stand needs one too? My tank won't have a center brace at only 3ft long. What's the white stuff? Water insulation stuff? Or is just painted white to reflect the light in the fuge area?

I've never build my own stand, and with so many plans out there I'd really like to make a stand others can be proud to look at too. :oops: I'd kinda prefer it be level and not wobble either. . .
 
LOL! I know it's a little :wink: over done, but I wouldn't have felt good using anything less than 2x4's.
I wasn't going to put a top on it, but I spoke to a couple of guys on the forum, and decided I might as well. You can anchor things to the top if needed, and it well help with bleeding light.
I used a sheet on the bottom, because I wanted a large foot print on my wood floors. They are that tongue and groove style, and seem to dent kind of easy.
The white paint...I wanted to seal it up to protect against moisture of splashing from the sump, water changes, or what ever might cause some water to get on the wood. While doing that, I figured white would be best for reflecting light on the refugium. I used white liquid nails to seal up all the seams. So no light should escape this thing.

I'll add the pictures later, but I got the sides on the stand. I didn't put the front on because I can't decide how I should dor the doors. I'm thinking of using some cabinet doors that match our kitchen cabinets. I need to figure out what size before I start cutting. I think I'm going to hit Home Depot at lunch and check out what they have available. I'll keep you posted.
Thanks to the feed back and the razzing. :p
 
Well I guess it's time for an update for those that might be interested.

I decided against HD, and Lowes for cabinet doors. They wanted some thing close to $42-$50 dollars a door depending on what you went with (flat panel vs. raised panel, etc.) I did find a shop on Ebay though. Very nice people. They are sending me two 16x23 inch Maple raised panel doors drilled with hidden mounting hardware for $42 shipped. Unfinished of course, but she said they could finish them if I wanted. Not a bad deal compared to the home improvement giants.

Anyway, I went ahead and put the side panels on, and started adding the finishing pieces. I've screwed up a couple of things, because I don't build things very often, and I tend to get ahead of my self. So here's what it looks like today. I ran out of wood glue, so I need to get some more before I can move on.
 
I forgot to put the middle bottom and top square moldings in. :shock: I guess I'll have to go with out them now. I also had to move the top square moldings into the border at the top because the board ran a little short, and I don't think the wife wants me spending anymore on the wood. :lol: The part that is visible now will be covered by the crown molding.
 
So that's about it for now. I know I'm moving slow, it's getting there though. Tell me what you think.

Oh, btw it's getting heavy. :lol:
 
It looks quite nice, so far. Looking forward to watching how it turns out. Thanks for keeping us updated.
 
Well little by little it's getting there. Today after work I finished the bottom and side molding. Filled the finishing nails, and sanded. The doors came in too. They look great. Now I need to cut the door openings, and finish the crown molding at the top. I've been putting this part off. If there are any tips to crown molding please pass them my way before I screw it up. :lol: Also what do you think about a divider piece of molding in between the doors. Will it look funny with out the blocks? I'm leaning towards putting it on.
 
You can see the filler I'm using in this pic. I went with a darker stainable filler. Lets hope it blends in.
 
I wouldn't put the molding down the center.

When cutting crown molding, you need to cut it upside down. Do you have a compound miter saw? What I usually do is cut one end, then place the board against the project and mark the opposite end so that the cut is accurate. I made a lot of mantles this way.

I highly recommend you do a practice cut before you attempt the finished product. Or leave extra so that you have the ablity to cut it down to the correct length on your next cut.
 
It's been a while. The family took a vacation, and then I was busy catching up with everything, so the stand was put on hold.

Marc - I got a compound miter saw, but I'm having a little trouble figuring out what angles to cut with the crown molding. Since you have experience in cutting I thought I'd see if you know what angle to cut for a 45 degree corner. Unfortunately I cut a 45, but then realized I need a second angle for the crown to com together properly. I tried 30 but that wasn't right. before I make another cut an waste more crown should I slant it 45 degrees as well.
Thanks,
JSB
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top