Help with DIY stand

johnpoole: Give me some ideas. I really don't know how I'm going to do the doors. The oak ply is 5/8" and is heavy.

cobra: I got my ideas by looking at posts on RC. There is also some plans in the DIY section. Check out http://www.garf.org for additional info as well.
 
Doors are easy. Buy premade ones. Here is a picture before I finished it of doors. I hinged on the outside since I didn't get them exact to flush on the inside.

canopyfrontview.jpg
 
nice set up, solid stand too!, it works as 2 things 1 a tank stand,2 a shelter for when the hurricanes come back. good work.
 
I hopefully will be finished this weekend. Working right now on sealing the inside of the stand (overkill = 2 coats primer, 2 coats exterior white, 2 coats spar poly). I decided to make the doors with some added trim work which has taken a lot longer than I thought. The trim work will hide any rough edges on the door or facing though so it should look nice.

I do have a staining question. Is it critical to sand the outside with fine sandpaper before staining? The oak ply has a very smooth finish already.
 
Hey JJ70,
I am in the planning stages of a 75 and was looking for some stand info. Very nice looking job. Another Montanan, cool, i don't see too many.
Jerry
 
Hopefully this weekend sms76 but the weather is supposed to turn cold again. Why does it have to be 70 degrees when I'm at work and snowy on the weekends. :mad:
 
Because you live in Montana...following this for ideas for my diy stand for a custom built (but not for me- i'm buying 3rd hand) 75g acrylic. It''s a cool size, 60L, 18H and 18W. I was thinking instead of the inner and outer lengths of 2x4, i would just use 4 4x4's as corner legs, two more in the back center of the tank and one in the front, connected with 2x4's and covered in a thin plywood or that luann stuff someone mentioned...is this a recipe for disaster? or just overbuilding? it's more out of laziness to do the inner/outer legs...
 
Too much snow and I'll by making some turns on the slopes instead of working on the stand (which is taking up our entire garage = wife not happy). I think the 4x4 legs are a bit much but you'll be fine either way.

I've never owned an acrylic but I believe you want to make sure you have good support for the entire bottom of the tank so I would get at least a 5/8" ply for the top of the stand and have several additional cross braces. Then again I'm no expert.
 
Here is a quick shot of one the doors I've been working on. Nothing fancy but some fun with the mitre saw.

83070doors.JPG
 
Hey JJ70, where did you get your tank if you don't mind me asking. The local petco doesn't stock RR tanks and another LFS gave me a price on an RR and seemed kind of high.
 
I can not figure out why people use this brace on something like a glass tank with plastic frame like al All Glass - can someone tell me
4906883070stand2.jpg
 
mtbetta: While visiting in Denver and got it at The Sherman Tank Company. Good place for dry goods if you are ever in Denver.

jnick: I believe it should provide some laterial stability for the main weight bearing horizontal supports. You can see that it is slightly lower than the main top frame since it would not support any weight due to the plastic framing on the tank.
 
I used it for extra support but not from the tank but from any swaying. Since I'm having a very light backing (1/4") I figured it couldn't hurt. Also because wood is so uneven, I did it to make sure my 2x4's were spaced out correctly all the way.
 
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