180g stand and canopy build

[YBeNormal]

As most of you know already, Mohsin bought a 180g tank a few weeks ago. It came with a standard black stand but Mohsin has discriminating tastes. He found a build thread for very nice stand on RC and asked if I could build one like that for him. The price for a stand like was well above his budget but I had been thinking of building one anyway (just for fun) so we negotiated a little and agreed on a price that we could both live with. Here is a picture of the stand that Mohsin's will be modelled after:

 

 

After being admonished for not posting a build thread for the bow front canopy I built recently, I decided I'd post one for this project. Mohsin's stand will be ~42" tall with the top recessed to hide the trim on his new tank. The decorative posts will be moved to the ends of the stand and will wrap around the corner. There will be doors on both ends of the stand and decorative posts in the back corners to balance things out. The framing is heavy duty, more than is required for a 180g tank but not quite as overbuilt as many other stands I've seen.

 

Enough talk... Let's see some pictures!

 

Start with a pile of lumber:

 

2x4 and 2x6 pine isn't smooth or straight and width/thickness varies greatly so the first task was to plane, joint and cut the lumber to size:

 

Prep the corner posts ready for gluing:

 

Assembled the corner posts and base:

 

Begin assembly of the stand:

 

Added center posts for the front and back. Rather than gluing and nailing pieces of plywood to the back of the framing on the stand, I decided to use my router to recess the panels. The looks nicer and adds even more support and stability to the stand (as if it needs more support and stability!):

 

As you can see, this work can be quite messy:

And the stand is beginning to take shape!

 

The next parts will all be made from oak hardwood. Home Depot and Lowes charge way too much for hardwoods and their stock is not all that great so I am purchasing unfinished oak from a local lumber supplier. It will all need to the planed and jointed but the end result will be worth it. Hopefully I'll have some more pictures to post tomorrow evening.

[jamesbuf]

You are so building my stand and canopy for my graduation tank. Or hopefully Mohsin will want to upgrade tanks again around August of 2008 I called first dibbs!!!

[treesprite]

That stand is going to be awesome.

 

So James, a tank will be your graduation present?

[flowerseller]

What color are you going to paint it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks good Bob!!

 

Any threads/polls started betting if Moshin changes his mind before the stand and canopy are done?

[trble81]

Bob,

 

I'll PM you the next time I need some fancy wood working skills on something for our house

 

 

Can't wait to see how this turns out.

 

 

 

 

--Mike

[Guest tgallo]

great job.

[zotzer]

Wow, can't wait to see this progress. Looks like it will be gorgeous!

 

I'm already getting bored looking at this stock-stand and some well-earned scratches on the tank itself. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my new set up, but I can see how people are always seeking bigger, better, even MORE beautiful.

 

This one looks like it is really going to fit that bill!!

 

Tracy

[Guest Pumping Fe]

This is going to be a bad ass stand

 

 

Nice work Bob.

[EBR]

Added center posts for the front and back. Rather than gluing and nailing pieces of plywood to the back of the framing on the stand, I decided to use my router to recess the panels. The looks nicer and adds even more support and stability to the stand

Very cool idea -- That will certainly help you manage the the profile elevations of the panel fields and the corner trim (columns). Great work! Looking forward to more...

Matt

[bigJPDC]

YB - off the hook. Milling dimensional lumber is a step that only another woodworker would even care about.

Rock on man,

jp

[mosheikh]

Bob,

 

I can't wait to bring this bad boy home. Everything's looking awesome, and I appreciate all your hard work.

 

You are so building my stand and canopy for my graduation tank. Or hopefully Mohsin will want to upgrade tanks again around August of 2008 I called first dibbs!!!

Once I get my 340g Starfire next summer, you can have first dibs.

Edited September 17, 2007 by Weap0n_X

[jason the filter freak]

You are so building my stand and canopy for my graduation tank. Or hopefully Mohsin will want to upgrade tanks again around August of 2008 I called first dibbs!!!

 

 

 

Great work bob!

[Jager]

bob and i did a crash stand build in about 24 hours with the canopy as well in pine, you can not only hold a 75 gallon reef setup easily, you can probably park a truck on it, again this was about 24 hours worth of work and way back in 06 before he had all the really nice tools this was all miter saw router and alot of sanding.

 

 

 

the best shots i have recently of it are back in april before the series of coral crashes due to me being sick and phos reactor crap. and do not show the stand as it is now, but it was sealed with a clear sealer and still retains a vivid grain and white color.

 

bob does masterful work even with serious lack of time to build.

[YBeNormal]

Thanks Justin. Yes, that was a crash build. The 24 hours included coming up with a design and shopping for materials. (P.S. The stand is made from 3/4" pine panels with no internal support framing.)

[YBeNormal]

OK, let's move on to the next phase of construction. It's nice to have places like Home Depot and Lowes when you need a few boards or other supplies but let's face it, their hardwoods are overpriced and the quality isn't that great. I've spent hours digging through glorified piles of firewood grade hardwoods there trying to find a few pieces that are good enough for past projects. For this project, I'm going a different route.

 

First, I dropped by the local lumber supply and rummaged through large racks of rough lumber, carefully selecting a few pieces to get the project started. This is kind of a diamond in the rough process since you never really know what the wood is going to look like once it is cleaned up. Here's a sample of what the rough boards look like:

 

 

And here are the same boards after running them through the planer a few times. The board on the left is plain sawn and the one on the right is quarter sawn.

 

Here is the stack of wood I planed today for the face framing of the stand.

 

Having a dust collector is a must for this type of work. Here is my donation to the county mulch pit for the week (approximately 30g of wood chips & dust). I've been hauling this much out of the garage every week for the past three weeks.

 

The lumber is then then ripped and rough cut for the framing.

 

And here is all that remains from the large pile of wood in the third picture:

 

Tomorrow I will begin gluing the face frame together and hopefully I will have time to buy some more wood on Tuesday for the false posts, raised panel doors, and canopy. Unfortunately I have a day job that actually pays the bills so I'll limited time to work on the stand for the next few days.

[dandy7200]

Very nice work Bob.

[YBeNormal]

Thanks Dan and everyone else that has taken time to post compliments.

 

I glued the face frames for the ends of the stand and prepped the boards for the front of the stand today. Hopefully I'll get home from work early enough tomorrow to finish that part of the project.

[lanman]

Okay... NEXT time I drop by for a tank visit - it's got to include a garage visit! I have all those tools, too. Stacked in piles all over the back of the basement, and the shed. ONE of these days, I'll quit spending so much time on the WAMAS board, and get my woodshop set up!! And my TR-6 back on the road. And... And... Okay - so I should have started 20 years ago.

 

Great work!

 

bob

[treesprite]

Okay... NEXT time I drop by for a tank visit - it's got to include a garage visit! I have all those tools, too. Stacked in piles all over the back of the basement, and the shed. ONE of these days, I'll quit spending so much time on the WAMAS board, and get my woodshop set up!! And my TR-6 back on the road. And... And... Okay - so I should have started 20 years ago.

 

Great work!

 

bob

 

LOL. Sounds like you need an early retirement to get all that done.

[Brian]

The stand looks awesome!!! So when are you taking orders? I'm in bad need of a hood to go with the 125g tank I bought a long time ago.

 

Can't wait to see how everything turns out.

[tygger]

Bob, awesome work! Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

btw - Who is that in the first pic posted by jager?

Edited September 19, 2007 by tygger

[YBeNormal]

btw - Who is that in the first pic posted by jager?

 

You mean the short balding guy that would need a step ladder to see over a dime? That would be me!

[tygger]

heh. Cool! Just wanted to put a face to screen name since I don't get to make it out to many of the functions.

[YBeNormal]

The stand looks awesome!!! So when are you taking orders? I'm in bad need of a hood to go with the 125g tank I bought a long time ago.

 

One project at a time but I'll add you to the queue. Take some time to think about what you want and we'll talk later.

 

Can't wait to see how everything turns out.

 

Same here. The fun part of woodworking is seeing the finished project. Well, sometimes things don't work out so well but it's usually the fun part of that hobby!

[tygger]

How long do these projects usually take?