Building a stand and need some help

[Ding2daDong]

I have a few questions so bare with me please.

First, I went to homedepot today and the 2"x4"s all seemed to kinda have a slant to them. I am not used to working with wood so is this normal? I dug through a bunch and they all seemed to curve a little. Will this effect the stability of the tank?

Secondly, I talked to the guys at homedepot about them cutting the wood for me and they said it has to be over 12" and they can do it. My problem is I have a few peices that are less then 12". I took a nice walk over to the table saw department and wow they are up in price. So with that said does anyone know where to go to get the wood cut? I am only building the stand so I don't need a table saw for anything else.

Thirdly, does anyone have any recommendations on what kind of wood to use over the other? Most of the wood I picked up had alot of rough spots, would I need to sand those down before painting/staining?

Fourthly, does anyone have recommendations on screws to use? Ones that won't rust easy or something.

Thanks for any help, I am new at working with wood and it all looks the same to me right now, very confusing.

Thanks again

-Matt

 

[ek9vboi]

Surprisingly I've read a few articles about building stands and so on. Little to no experience in building one, but any advice is better then none.

2 x 4s, although they seem slanted, which it might be it will not make a big difference. The pieces are going to be 2-4" high and one on each corner should hold fine. If the tank is a 200+ gallon then more support might be needed in the center of the tank.

Homedepot will cut wood, I've had them do it for me before and they cut out whatever I wanted. The thing is when you know how to talk to people, they tend to help you out. If all falls out, tell him you will give him like 5 bucks for cutting the little pieces. I had a really cool guy cut my wood for me, didn't charge me for any of the cuts at all. As around on the fourm, maybe someone will lend you a table saw.

It is normal for some pieces to have rough spots. What I did was picked up some wood filler and just filled in the areas I didn't like or didn't think the paint would cover. Sand it down a little to make the surface cleaner. Sure I could have bought skins and called it a day, but I need it to somewhat match my bed room furniture. I should take some before and after pictures of my canopy I am working on. I bought the canopy already made, but not finished... that will be done by me.

As for screws, I have read and been told galvanized screws are best to use. Also, when it comes to using wood, I don't know anything. BEST THING TO DO RIGHT NOW is use the search. Use key words and tons of info will pop up in the search. Use this link if you can not use the main search on RC:
http://www.reefcentral.com/search.php?s=&menu=11

 

[chinaman4u]

What are the dimensions of your tank. exactly?

 

[Flamehawk]

Hi, i gave up using 2x4 for furniture building for the same reasons you state.

I use 3/4" plywood now. If you plan it carefully, you can make a whole stand with a single 8x4" sheet. The raw sheets are dead on straight, no warping. Dont know if you already know but plywood sheets are _specifically_ designed to resist warping. Thinner sheets are glued together with their grains running perpendicular to each other to create even strength which keeps the board stiff straight.

You can build a whole stand with
1. a single 8x4ft, 3/4" thick sheet of ply
2. Drywall screws
3. Glue

My current 180 gal satnd was built this way.

In my humble opinion, most DIY stands you see here are waaay overbuilt, making the inside really hard to access and leaving you with little cabinet space.

3/4" ply allows for a less combersome stand.

Shell Lumber on 22nd and US1 will cut any wood you buy from the for $1.00 the first cut and 50 cents for subsequent cuts. The selection is great, hands down better than the Depot. Off the top of my head an 8x4ft sheet of 1st grade red oak ply will run you about $80.

Hope this helps, JOHNNY

 

[Ding2daDong]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8942685#post8942685 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chinaman4u
What are the dimensions of your tank. exactly?

Its a 33g long so 48"x13"x12".

Thanks everyone for all of your help.

-Matt

 

[ek9vboi]

I wouldn't worry too much about the stand falling apart. My friend build a POS looking one with no frame and it still holds today.

 

[racermike27]

I built mine using 2x4's and 1/2 inch ply to face the whole stand.
I used outdorr deck screws and wood glue to build the supports and frame.
When I was facing the stand I used finishing nails and wood glue.
Then I just sanded, stained and sealed it the color I wanted.
It is really very strong and I am not worried about the stand falling apart.
I kind of followed the design from this website.
www.cnidarianreef.com under the stand and canoppy section. Mine does differ slightly but it is almost identical. For the front of my stand I made it so there were no doors visible, instead teh whole front is removable so i can get easy access to the sump and other equipment. I like this design very much. I will post pics when I get a chance. As far as cutting the wood I did it myself. I have a bunch of saws. I used to use Home Depot before but sometimes I think they only hire idiots because I would tell them one size and they would give me another... plus you have to wait all day for one of the sales people to help you out, and then if you are lucky to find one they tell you that they don't work in this department. Yet their little apron will say, " I help in all departments." LOL

Just check out the link above it has more than enough info. If you get stuck I can help you out too.

-Mike-

 

[jeffbrig]

Hey, I know a thing or two about stand building.

This

PLUS

This

EQUALS

This

A well thought out design can be VERY strong, yet allow plenty of access to what's inside. Mine provides complete access using double doors on all 3 sides. I used a bunch of 2x4s (they're cheap), sheeted it with 3/4" birch plywood, then installed the cosmetic doors and trim to the outside.

That said, when dealing with a 33g tank, there's a LOT less to worry about, since the weight involved is so much less. Where my stand has to support about 3500lbs., yours will be significantly less. You could get away with all plywood, but that requires careful gluing and screwing. Your margin of error would be significantly reduced if you reinforced with 2x2s at the corners, just to give you some added material to shoot screws into. Edge screws in plywood can tear out under strain if they're close to the surface. I prefer having a little solid wood in there.

The problem with having HD (or any lumberyard) cut your wood is that they may not do it with the precision you require. For example, if they cut one side piece for your stand 1/4" taller than the other, that's going to be a pain to work with. Or, what if you find that the front or top piece isn't cut square? If you have the time and desire to do it right, sometimes it is better to do it yourself.

You don't have to have a table saw, either. An inexpensive circular saw and a clamped straight edge can also produce clean cuts. I have a small table saw, and I still do this from time to time when working with large sheets.

Oh, and if you want to take a peek at my stand construction pic sequence, click here

 

[gasman059]

Hey jeff i had the opportunity to go thru your thread lots of work -specially after the hurracaine- great job and superb craftmanship. Around that time my tank was also being built and i waited thank god for my standbay gen to be installed prior to taking the plunge. Anyways great job man!!

 

[jeffbrig]

Thanks gasman!

 

[chinaman4u]

Still thinking of building? I have some plans here.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=548701

At Lowe's they have precut dimensional lumber, I used oak. Start with a top frame where the front and back piece will be 48"x4"x1/2", the side pieces willl be 12"x4"x 1/2", this will give you the 48x13 size for your tank. The bottom frame is the same. See no cutting involved. Reinforce it using pine 1x2x8, you can cut these easily with a hand saw. (Beware that 1/2" isn't 1/2", maybe 3/4" is what you want.)

For your side pieces, use 4x8 sheet or several 4x4 sheets of 3/4" laminated oak. IF YOU'RE CLEVER, you can take this sheet and with a few key cuts get the dimensions you want.

My stand has been up for 3 years and I love the clean look, without using 2x4's

 

[Ding2daDong]

Finally I am getting around to the final plans to the stand. I decided to put a .25" edge to the whole stand... any comments on that? Here is my overall basic plan, I drew these up so everyone can get a better overall idea of what I am doing.

Onto something besides stands. I first planned on running a mag 9.5 that would tee off to my red see berlin skimmer and return... The more and more I talk to people the more I keep hearing different opinions on which pump to go with. I am now considering a mag 12 or worst case if needed a mag 18. If anyone can help me out on which one would be the best for teeing off that would provide enough for the skimmer and tank? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am still new to this hobby and I'm on my own building this. Thanks again

-Matt

 

[Flamehawk]

Mag 18 on 33 gal tank= boiling water. JOHNNY

 

[jeffbrig]

Are you saying you'll skin it with 1/4" ply? If so, I would drop the inner 2x4 on each post. Remember, a 30g tank is only going to weight 300lbs. 1/4" ply is more than enough to prevent racking and hold the frame in place.

 

[Ding2daDong]

The whole basic stand will be made out of 2"x4"s. I want to make a really nice stand like Jeff Brigs but like I said before, I am new to this and all the information is overwhelming. One person says one thing and I decide to go with that and then another person adds comments against it. I want front doors and a really nice finish with nice wood.

Should I not put the .25" edge on the whole stand or make if flush with the size of the tank so when I add wood for the the stand it wont look alot bigger?

Thanks

-Matt