Ocicat
Premium Member
I know a few have doubted whether I'd ever get my empty tank off my floor; well, here's some proof that it will happen some time in the near future! (I'm making no promises about filling it up, though.)
These pics were taken by Pat Keller, the woodworker who is building the stand and canopy. It isn't done yet; the two main things still to be done are: (1) The exterior has not been finished at all. It will not be stained because we want to bring out the natural colors of the walnut, so instead he will use tung oil to bring out the wood's colors and then varnish it. (2) He still has to add the trim along the top and bottom of the stand; he is going to wait until the tank is in place to put the top trim on, as it will go over the tank's black trim.
The stand is built of 3/4 plywood and wrapped in walnut; the canopy is all walnut. The stand is is 36" high; the canopy is either 12" or 15" high (I forget what we decided). The front/forward-top of the canopy opens in one piece, as you can see, and the rear top of the canopy opens also. The sliding feeder doors (there is one at each end of the canopy) were Pat's idea, and I think they'll be quite neat; he is putting them on a wooden track of some kind and still has to add little handles to them. He also made the cabinet doors, out of the same walnut used throughout. I explained the outside finishing above; the interior of the cabinet and stand has 3 coats of sealer primer and 4 coats of Behr exterior paint to waterproof it.
I think that is all for now. I will post more pics when it's done and my empty tank is on it!
Bare bones, April 22:
Coming together, April 28:
These pics were taken by Pat Keller, the woodworker who is building the stand and canopy. It isn't done yet; the two main things still to be done are: (1) The exterior has not been finished at all. It will not be stained because we want to bring out the natural colors of the walnut, so instead he will use tung oil to bring out the wood's colors and then varnish it. (2) He still has to add the trim along the top and bottom of the stand; he is going to wait until the tank is in place to put the top trim on, as it will go over the tank's black trim.
The stand is built of 3/4 plywood and wrapped in walnut; the canopy is all walnut. The stand is is 36" high; the canopy is either 12" or 15" high (I forget what we decided). The front/forward-top of the canopy opens in one piece, as you can see, and the rear top of the canopy opens also. The sliding feeder doors (there is one at each end of the canopy) were Pat's idea, and I think they'll be quite neat; he is putting them on a wooden track of some kind and still has to add little handles to them. He also made the cabinet doors, out of the same walnut used throughout. I explained the outside finishing above; the interior of the cabinet and stand has 3 coats of sealer primer and 4 coats of Behr exterior paint to waterproof it.
I think that is all for now. I will post more pics when it's done and my empty tank is on it!
Bare bones, April 22:
Coming together, April 28:
I have crazy amounts of stuff going on right now as well as lots of other expenditures happening at the moment. Before we can put water in it, we have to plumb it to the basement and get a sump tank. Maybe this weekend I will have time to start putting together the plumbing.
