Mike's 140 Cubish Build

[brittlestar08]

seems like you may run into some structural issues... Those trust joists I see in the pictures... how long are they? I would drop some lolly columns under those TJI's. I also see no blocking bracing and those are crucial when constructing with TJI's. contractors miss those all the time. TJI's twist under major point loads or concentrated loads. your 2000 lbs tank would be such a concentrated load. The best is to have a structural engineer look at those beams to see if tey can sustain 2 kips and proper moment. Just a thought. take a look at the connections of the TJI's to the concrete wall. you should see metal hangers. This connection would also be crucial since the tank is going on the end of the beams.

 

[brittlestar08]

I just noticed you mentioned that the TJI's are spaced 19" apart. and you only have oriented strand board ply for sub floor. be careful. by the looks , I would say the home was built within the past 20 years... no later.

 

[brittlestar08]

are those 14 foot beams sistered? or are they monolythic? are they tied into the center I beam in any way? or just resting on top of it.

 

[brittlestar08]

double post

 

[maroun.c]

Mike could you please indicate some good metalic stand build threads My stand will be finished mid next week and I still have to decide on which wood to use to cover it and what stain.... I'm still not able to decide if I should make a separate us shaped closet that slides in front of the stand and hides it and can be taken away for heavy maintenance and have front doors for daily maintenance work or just have a wood frame attached to the stand and build the fixed closet on it.... any ideas or worth reading threads would be greatly appreciated. Also can you please share how you plan to cover your stand?

 

[miwoodar]

brittlestar -

Thanks for the input . You're right, it was built in 1996. The joists are atop concrete that is just out of site in that pic and they run the entire width of the house (28 feet total). I think I'm going to do the web stiffener attachments to the side of the trusses and add perpendicular 1x4's to minimize deflection.

I've been focussing on building the tank and stand the last handful of days. The metal is all welded up. I'll be grinding it today and tomorrow then painting it this weekend. I'll post some pics. The tank is done but for the overflow box and some polish work on the edges.

 

[miwoodar]

maroun.c

Here are some stand threads that I can think of now:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/printthread.php?s=&threadid=1138733&perpage=58

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/printthread.php?s=&threadid=737498&perpage=15

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-06/totm/index.php

I still need to determine how I'm going to stain it. I've never worked with cherry before so I'm going to have to do a little homework first.

The facade will be made of three separate sections - one for each side and one for the front. I do not plan on attaching them to each other. Rather, the sides will be installed first then the front will be installed then all will be tightened to appear as one unit.

Hanger bolts will be used with wingnuts on the inside of the stand so I can remove easily remove a panel if need be.

 

[miwoodar]

Quick update...

The internal portion of the stand is nearly complete. The tank is done but for the overflow and the final polish. Merkid pic:

This is why I had a friend help with the welding (my welds would NOT have looked like this:

This was my first effort out of steel - thanks to my friends for helping me out with this (Brett, Lief). I didn't realize how much work it would be. I spent about 6 hours cutting and grinding prior to the welding. The welding itself took about two hours. Grinding and cleaning after the fact took about another 6 hours. The first coat of paint took about a half an hour. Post grinding and cleaning:

I'm not really one for the 'standard' colors... In fact, almost all of my projects have a crazy color hidden somewhere. Thanks jnarowe, I noticed you recommend POR-15 in a thread once. I looked it up and decided to use it to finish the stand. First coat of paint:

The steel....it's going to save a ton of room for equipment. I test fit the sump and wow what a difference in available space over the other options I looked at. I think I'm going to be able to fit everything under the tank as planned.

 

[miwoodar]

DP...

 

[melev]

I like your stand. It looks nice and beefy.

 

[miwoodar]

Thanks Marc...it's made from about 60 feet of 11 gauge 1x2 and it's definitely rock solid relative to any stand I've ever owned.

Second coat of paint is done.

 

[erics3000]

This is a cool build. I like the bonsi aquascape

 

[miwoodar]

Thanks Eric. I like my 65 but it seems like every time I stick my hand in the tank I accidently crack off a frag. I've also lost a few corals or tips in the past few months due to aggression. My hydnophora demolished a birdsnest and my mille's have each zapped a tip off of something along the way.

Your tank is coming along well too! I showed it to my wife a while back in hopes of convincing her to let me take over a portion of our living room in a similar fashion. I'll give you one guess regarding her response...:hammer:

 

[Shekki]

I would add a glu lam or two under the tank before installing a pair of lolly collumns 3 feet from your wall. Depending on how your suspended ceiling is running, you could remove the cross braces and stick the tallest pair of glu lams you can fit in there. You may have to shim them on your foundation wall and steel beam to get them tight to the bottom of your floor. I would put a fat bead of construction adhesive on the top of the glu lams before installing them to prevent floor squeaking.

I've used structural engineers many times and all they are all very concerned about covering their own *sses so everything will be WAY overbuilt and WAY expensive.

 

[miwoodar]

I don't think I'm willing to go that far....however....it would set me up really well a room divider 6'x3'x2' successor tank down the road a few years. Brilliant! If I weren't already over budget I would give it some serious consideration.

 

[erics3000]

thanks..I forgot I love your chevy orange stand ..heheheh My next stand will definetly be steel.

 

[jpndave]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11848798#post11848798 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by miwoodar
I still need to determine how I'm going to stain it. I've never worked with cherry before so I'm going to have to do a little homework first.

[/B]

You will absolutely love working with the Cherry but, please don't stain it. Cherry is a beautiful wood. I would finish it with a very durable CLEAR finish. I use Milisi two part urethane (basically like the clear coat on your car). It is incredibly durable and forgiving to work with but is also expensive. Cherry will darken over time as it is photosensitive. I'll try and post a few pics of "new" cherry as opposed to "old" cherry. Just let the beauty of the wood show through. JMO

My stand is cherry, I'll try and get a picture of it also. The canopy isn't done yet but I'll take a picture of the base. I would also consider just using a ss bolt or maybe ss allthread epoxied into the wood rather than the screws you have pictured above. They will hold up better and will most likely be cheaper.

I am still trying to get into my supplier to have them run the specs on your I joists but haven't been able to get in there yet.

 

[miwoodar]

Please don't stain the cherry. Cherry is a beautiful wood. I would finish it with a very durable CLEAR finish. I use Milisi two part urethane (basically like the clear coat on your car). It is incredibly durable and forgiving to work with but is also expensive. Cherry will darken over time as it is photosensitive. I'll try and post a few pics of "new" cherry as opposed to "old" cherry. Just let the beauty of the wood show through. JMO

My stand is cherry, I'll try and get a picture of it also. The canopy isn't done yet but I'll take a picture of the base. I would also consider just using a ss bolt or maybe ss allthread epoxied into the wood rather than the screws you have pictured above. They will hold up better and will most likely be cheaper.

I forgot to mention - we brought home the wood for the stand this weekend. No-go. The floors are cherry and we mistakenly thought that making the stand/canopy to match would be a good idea. It didn't look good at all. Afterwards, I went by the wood shop for some scraps of other types of wood then hit Benjamen Moore with a piece of furniture we would like to match.

It's looking like we might end up with alder (not what I would have expected) with a dark chestnut finish. The color will roughly match our piano. I'm open to suggestions on other options to achieve the best possible piano match.

Good idea regarding using epoxied bolts rather than the fasteners I was planning on - much sturdier over time.

I am still trying to get into my supplier to have them run the specs on your I joists but haven't been able to get in there yet.

Cool - I would be interested in hearing their thoughts.

 

[erics3000]

When I stain stuff I use a rag. I start light and add a couple coats if needed. There are really a lot of cool different color stains available. Good luck.

 

[jpndave]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11877856#post11877856 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by miwoodar
I forgot to mention - we brought home the wood for the stand this weekend. No-go. The floors are cherry and we mistakenly thought that making the stand/canopy to match would be a good idea. It didn't look good at all. Afterwards, I went by the wood shop for some scraps of other types of wood then hit Benjamen Moore with a piece of furniture we would like to match.

It's looking like we might end up with alder (not what I would have expected) with a dark chestnut finish. The color will roughly match our piano. I'm open to suggestions on other options to achieve the best possible piano match.

Good idea regarding using epoxied bolts rather than the fasteners I was planning on - much sturdier over time.



Cool - I would be interested in hearing their thoughts.

Alder is a great wood too. It is very popular right now for cabinets here (the cabinets in my personal home are alder). I have built A LOT of things with it lately. It is a bit soft but with a good finish should be fine. It should also be 1/4 the cost of the cherry, another nice feature. Make sure the stain is compatible with whatever finish you choose to put over it. With a sump in the bottom, the finish is critical. I'm not sure what to suggest in the "consumer" line. This Milisi is great stuff but has to be sprayed on and is only available through commercial sources. If you want to try using it, lmk and I can get some for you.