cedar for stand and canopy?

Chopper65

New member
Im getting a 180g, 6' X 2' X 2' and will build the stand and canopy myself.
For the framing of the stand and canopy I plan to use regular framing wood but for actually skinning it out I wanted to use cedar planks. My main reason for this is because I have a bunch of rough cut cedar and I like the look of it. What I dont know is how well this will hold up in an saltwater aquarium environment, mainly the canopy.
Would I need to put some kind of finish on the cedar, inside and out of the canopy itself, or is cedar just a bad choice all together? Id really like to use it to skin the outside of the stand and canopy but if its not going to hold up or warp and such I'll go another route.
 
I'll let you know soon lol...
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Before
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Nicely done Bluefish, I would definitely seal the wood. I would test the different sealers, I know on pine they blotch a lot. I would also recommend making a metal frame and skin it with wood, this way you can control warping. You could go as far as veneer over a stabler material. I have seen some nice looking cabinets made with slotted medal frames and skins held on with magnets and velcro. Another option would to build the base and canopy out of plywood and veneer it as well. You can get an stagering amount of strength from a properly designed plywood box and maximize your interior space. The plywood also offers the ability to machine with normal tooling.
Bill
 
cedar for stand and canopy?

nicely done, did you seal the inside with anything and did you do a canopy as well?



Thanks!
The inside is just painted white. Im debating what I want to do to the outside. Originally was planning on a wipe on poly. May still do that but part of me wants that weathered grey look...
The canopy build is starting this week. I dont want a real tall canopy so Im planning on solid 1x10" pine boards which I'll epoxy paint white. Then, I'll skin the outside of the boards with the cedar.

As far as wood deterioration from water goes... cedar is some of the best. I mean they side houses with the stuff.

Nicely done Bluefish,

Bill


Thank you!




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Cedar is naturally rot and bug resistant. I don't know how it will do as far as salt stains so I would definitely put a finish on it. Also I think certain fasteners will react with cedar causing ugly stains but check me on that I may be thinking of another wood.
 
I am currently building a cherry stand. There is some white cherry mixed in that will give it some contrast and it will look amazing when done. I considered cedar but it is a harder and heavier wood and not as easy to work with. I also like the smoother grain of the cherry. You can get the colors to look very similar but I am not a huge fan of how red cedar can get while still being so light. Cherry darkens as it reddens and I like that color much better. It is just a preference though so I'm sure yours will look great too when you are done with it.
 
I skinned mine in cedar. I used it because it is relatively inexpensive and because I needed something to just cover the ugly pine 2x4/6 stand. I got my wood from Menards. Nothing fancy. I just looked for pieces that I liked.

I haven't stained it. It does leave a salt mark if you get some on the wood. But it's not horrible.

It might take a while to get that weathered gray look because the wood won't be exposed to the elements outside. I suppose it will eventually oxidize and gray, but it won't be in a couple months like unstained cedar on a deck would. The staining from the fasteners also happens due to the weather. I used a small nail gun/brad nailer from Harbor Freight to put mine on. I have zero stains from the small nails.

I vote for leaving it unstained to get the (eventual) weathered look. If you're worried about salt stains...be more careful.;)
 
Thanks for all the replies.

Bluefish I look forward to seeing your canopy as well.

EDJFA A few years back I finished the inside of a 16 X 32 metal storage building in cedar
and used ss brad nail and also used my small nail gun for that. I was planning on doing the same here.

I guess I will go ahead and go forward with this and at least paint the inside frame.
I have enough cedar that I cut to build 20 of these, so I can afford to mess up lol
Id rather not of course, thats why Im asking beforehand.
 
Nicely done indeed Bluefish.

To the OP, unless you use a finish resistant to salt water, you will end up with stains no matter what wood you use.

I have a cherry stand I built a while back and eventually the salt water penetrated the wood in several areas and stained the wood. :(

I plan to have a black walnut ledge around the tank this time around to keep the water off the sides of the stand. I plan to seal it with a marine epoxy.
 
Nicely done indeed Bluefish.

To the OP, unless you use a finish resistant to salt water, you will end up with stains no matter what wood you use.

I have a cherry stand I built a while back and eventually the salt water penetrated the wood in several areas and stained the wood. :(

I plan to have a black walnut ledge around the tank this time around to keep the water off the sides of the stand. I plan to seal it with a marine epoxy.

I was planning on having a ledge on my build as well. What do I need to do to seal the wood beyond a standard finish? I guess I never thought about the saltwater penetrating the finish.
 
I was planning on having a ledge on my build as well. What do I need to do to seal the wood beyond a standard finish? I guess I never thought about the saltwater penetrating the finish.
I learned the hard way a standard finish does not work well. My best guess is to use what they do on boats: marine epoxy.
 
Cedar does have a natural resistance to rot and insects, the main thing you have to deal w/ is tannins bleeding through your finish, so you have to use a good primer/sealer before painting.
 
I used cedar and "distressed" it. Used it for all the trim. Looks great. I stained and sealed with poly.

Unfinished....gotta dig up a finished pic...
 
Finish is always a struggle for me, while poly does offer pretty good water resistance it remains soft and tend to ball up when sanded. The newer water based poly-acrylics seem to be a small improvement. My nano stand I built out of MDF and just painted it black, I used bin shellac primer and that sealed the mdf well and sands quite nicely however shellac has poor water resistance so i coated it with enamel. I would have preferred to spray the enamel however I have nowhere that I could do it so I just rolled it with a low nap roller. It left a consistent texture so I was not to offended and it was a test mule for finishes. When I build speaker boxes I veneer the base wood and like the deep look of multiple coats of lacquer but not practical for water contact. Rovster nice looking woodwork.
Bill
 
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