A Stand and Canopy Done Wright

[jlanger]

Bold title, I know.
Please just keep reading.

A couple of weeks ago I posted my stand and canopy in the "fancy stands" thread and I said I was planning on doing a build thread.
(Don't bother looking back at that thread, I moved the pictures to a new folder and they do not show up anymore.)
Anyways... Here's the original photo I posted.

Preface/Disclaimer:
I have been working with wood in some respect since I was a kid.
I have been employed as a cabinetmaker for the past 15 years.
I do not want to know how many kitchens, vanities, bars, offices, entertainment centers, .... I have made in that time.
If we need something for our home, I will chose to build it over buying it every time.
I've done cabinets, built-ins, sideboards, desks, racks, shelves, frames and much more.
I just enjoy working with wood.

"Even though the tree is dead, the wood is still alive." -me (possibly someone has said it before.)

I am a huge fan of the works by Frank Lloyd Wright and Greene and Greene.
I was influenced long ago by the mission/arts and crafts style of architecture and furniture.
And I wanted my reef system to honor that style, and build on a new theme for the look of our home.
I wanted a piece of furniture.
I wanted a work of art.

Enough blabbing.
This thread will be pic intensive; at first.
I forgot my camera at home during the canopy build (dumb@$$), but much of the construction was the same.
Hopefully I can talk you through with the photos that I have.

This thread will take some time to construct, so be patient.
You do know how it ends!

Feel free to ask any questions.
And enjoy.

-JASON

 

[Misled]

What, no cookies??? Still think it's a beautiful set-up!!! Ever been out here to see the FLW house? It's pretty cool stuff.

 

[jlanger]

Design Phase

Design Phase

I spent quite some time designing how I wanted the stand to look.
My main focus was to create a free-standing piece of furniture that was going to look good on its own. Something with a "Wow" factor.
How I got it to look that way, and be strong enough for a 120gal reef tank was my challenge.

Every good piece of furniture has to carry the weight that is put upon it.
My stand was designed for the four corners of the stand to be directly under the corners of the tank.
From there, I added the posts. They look like the are located outside of the tank, but I'll show you how I managed to do that.
I wanted the entire front of the stand open for ease of maintenance. No center post.
I wanted the sides of the stand to match a design element I have already used in some of my work.
I wanted the back of the stand to be open for plumbing, yet finished enough to be easy on the eyes if someone was to stick their head back there.
I wanted a molding detail to add the craftsman style to the stand.
I wanted doors to match the sides and appear to be inset. (They not.)
I wanted a lot.

I ended up drawing 1:1 scale drawings on a sheets of mdf so I could visualize what would work and what wouldn't.
It also helped to visualize the size of this stand.

Once I had the design done, I was ready to order material and get to work.

-JASON

 

[jlanger]

What, no cookies??? Still think it's a beautiful set-up!!! Ever been out here to see the FLW house? It's pretty cool stuff.

I thought I could get away from The Lounge! Dammit!

No, never been out that way.
I've been to the FLW Home and Studio in Chicago. Absolute favorite!
(Until I go see Greene and Greene's Gamble House.)
I was even considering on how I could incorporate the FLW Studio skyglass into my canopy. Maybe something else.

-JASON

 

[billdogg]

more pics please? What I see looks great!

I will be upgrading my 25yo 60g cube to a 120 soon and plan on building a stand in similar fashion, to match, like you, the furniture I have already built. Yours appears to be red oak? Mine will be cherry, sort of an updated Mission Style (my favorite wood to work with, and it helps that there is about 300bf in the basement ready to be used, all from the same tree)

 

[jlanger]

Construction Phase 1 - Board Prep

Construction Phase 1 - Board Prep

Every good project starts with good materials.

I love the look of Rift-sawn Red Oak. Not quarter-sawn. Rift-sawn.
My lumber was delivered on a day I was out installing, so when I walked into the shop and saw it arrived, I was excited.
But something was wrong. They sent me quarter-sawn red oak.
Now, there's not much of a difference. But when you get to really looking at the grain, there is.
So I had the lumber sent back, and they sent me the rift-sawn red oak the next week.

And it was perfect!
Very nice straight grain. Very little knots. And hardly any cracks.

Here you can see how nice and straight the grain is.

When you order lumber into a cabinet shop, you can have the supplier straight line edge the lumber for you at a small cost.
I don't mind doing this myself.
I take the boards and attach a long enough piece of mdf to the board that will run along the fence of the saw to create one straight edge.

The lumber also comes in thicker than 3/4".
I ran each board through a planer to a 25/32" thickness for working with.

Now the boards were ready to be sorted for the various pieces I need.
The "uglier" boards were going to be use for the painted panels.
While the best boards were saved for the posts and doors.

-JASON

 

[Reefocd]

Wow! Love the open space between canopy and top of tank. Truly inspirational ...
Look forward to hearing more about the build. Curious as to weight of the canopy? I am in earthquake country and that could be an issue. Subscribed

 

[jlanger]

Construction Phase 2 - Making Panels

Construction Phase 2 - Making Panels

The first thing I had to do was glue-up the panels for the sides and doors.
Waiting for glue to dry gives you time for the other steps.

From my designs, I had figured out the sizes of panels I was going to need.
The glue-ups are made oversized, so they can be cut to down to size later.
I cut the lengths and widths I needed, and glued the edges and clamped them down tight.
The photo shows two sets of glue-ups; two boards each. No glue in the center seam.

Staying with the panels.
Once the glue was dry, I needed to run the panels through the sander with 80grit sandpaper. The sander's a big one.
This helps flatten the panels down to one smooth panel as trying to glue 48" of wood perfectly flat isn't very time effective. Or possible.

Once the panels were flat, I needed them to be only 3/8" thick.
I ran the panels through the planer to just about 3/8".

Now I was able to cut the panels to size.
Once all the panels were cut, I ran them through the big sander again at 120grit and 150grit.
To remove any remaining imperfections, I used a hand sander with 180grit discs to achieve a nice smooth finish.

The next step was to prime and paint the panels.

**** Side Note ****
I really wanted the panels to stand out from the over-all appearance of the stand.
I did several mock-ups of doors with varying styles and colors before I settled on the final design.

I wanted the paint to match the hardware of the craftsman style. Oil-rubbed Bronze.
Lucky for me, they make a metallic spray paint in Oil-rubbed Bronze.

After a few coats of paint, they were ready for the doors and sides.

-JASON

 

[jlanger]

Construction Phase 3 - Cutting Wood

Construction Phase 3 - Cutting Wood

In the design stage, I had made a cut list of all the pieces I needed for to build the stand.
I used the table saw to rip the boards into blanks about 1/8" over the width of the pieces I needed.
This is so I can run the blanks on edge through the planer to remove all the saw marks. And I am able to get very straight, square and precise widths of pieces.
You can see saw marks in the photo. These are eliminated and the wood has a nice smooth edge.

Since I need to get the side panels built first, I ran the corresponding pieces of wood through a dado blade to create the groove for the panels to fit in.
I stacked the dado blades to give me a 1/4" groove and ran the wood through.
The pencil marking you see on the wood tells me this is the outside of the board. It helps remind me which side is up.

From there, I cut the wood to the lengths I needed on an undercut chop saw. (Fancy chop saw.)
I now had my stiles and rails.
To make these parts fit together, I need to put tenons on the rails that will fit into the groove I just made with the dado saw.
I set the blade at the correct height and length and cut the tenons.

Here's a closer look.
Left: Stiles
Middle: Rails
Right: Center Stiles

With all my parts for the panels ready, I'm ready to begin assembly.

-JASON

 

[jlanger]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Wow! Love the open space between canopy and top of tank. Truly inspirational ...
Look forward to hearing more about the build. Curious as to weight of the canopy? I am in earthquake country and that could be an issue. Subscribed

One of the major design elements was to not have ANYTHING visible between the canopy and the tank.
The canopy is quite heavy. I had to re-inforce the ceiling and add some mounting blocks. But I'm getting ahead of myself!

-JASON

 

[broberts]

Truly inspirational Jason.

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

What a sweet shop! What a first class job compared to blanks and face frame hacks like me. I was cruising a small neighborhood close to the U of Mn looking for a small prototype FLW house; we were sitting in front of it when the fellow renovating it invited us in. I loved how he used the paver flooring all the way through from the foyer to the living space all the way to the back of the fire box. What a gig that guy had replicating everything.

 

[Misled]

Jason, since you put it in the title Wright, I'll post this.

Falling Water

Give it a look. We visit every year on our way to Cucumber Falls. It's a beautiful place and well worth a visit. Even looking through the building plans is something that gets me everytime I see them.

 

[Twin Reefs]

What an awesome piece of work! Makes me jealous enough to want to try to make one myself!,, keep the pictures coming please!!!

 

[jlanger]

Jason, since you put it in the title Wright, I'll post this.

Falling Water

Give it a look. We visit every year on our way to Cucumber Falls. It's a beautiful place and well worth a visit. Even looking through the building plans is something that gets me everytime I see them.

Fallingwater was one of the first FLW designs that grabbed my attention long ago.
When I was thinking of a title for my thread build I was trying to come up with something based on one of his homes.
I had come up with "Fallingsaltwater" and "Fallingreef", but I didn't want any stigma from those titles to bite me later.
I'm sure once our kids have grown up and moved out, my wife and I will get to do some traveling. And Fallingwater will definitely be on the list of places to visit.

-JASON

 

[ChrisKey]

That is a sick way of putting up a conopy. I absolutely love the suspension and think it adds to the uniqueness of the build.

 

[Breadman03]

B E A U T I F U L ! ! !

Yeah, that needed to be in all caps.

 

[kirdro]

Amazing work. I can't wait to see the rest of the build!

 

[tundra1000]

I do believe that is one of the most impressive DIY projects I have ever seen posted. Big time props coming from someone who has also been woodworking a long time.

-Matt

 

[xchandlerx]

ok ive gotta comment. ive been working construction my whole life, and i restore and build custom furniture as a hobby. not big on the forums mainly cruise the diy forums and so far this build is the only one that has really impressed me flat out. beautiful detail and dimension. amazing build.