Show me Your Fancy STANDS!!!

Thanks Mecheng99, I am a figured wood freak. If I am building a piece it WILL have some figured wood in it. I is sometimes hard to get smooth enough to get a nice finish on it but the time and effort are well worth the trouble.
 
We used big leaf maple burl for our corner pieces and it took a LOT of work to smooth it out. But, like you said, definitely worth the effort!! All we could find locally was a veneer, and we were worried about that peeling in such a harsh environment. Is yours solid?
 
Upgraded System

Upgraded System

Here are a couple pictures of my new tank. I combined my old 75g and 25g tanks into this 150g DT with a 55g sump/fuge below. The first picture is what it looks like now that I have finished it. The bottom picture is how it looked when I bought it a few months ago. All I did was strip the stand and canopy of all the trim, and re-skinned it with birch plywood, added the pillars on the corners, built the new cabinet doors, and re-trimmed it. I think it turned out pretty nice for my fist true build. My wife is happy with this one at least. She wasn't a huge fan of the two older tanks.

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MechEng99, I buy all my stock as thick as I can afford. Then I mill it to the thickness I need. The cherry panels are 1/4'' the maple is 7/16, and the fir is 1/2. It is all mounted on 1/2'' plywood. It was quicker to build a strong structure with plywood and then skin it with the hardwood. I find that a cabinet scraper is the best way to smooth figured wood. I can go right to the finish after I use the scraper. It saves time, the cost of sandpaper,and no fine dust in the air.
 
Peppie - that's awesome. Our stand/canopy was only our second wood-working project ever, but we definitely learned a lot (especially to appreciate work like yours).
 
Just finished mine up. Took me 80+ hours to build. First time Ive built any kind of fine furniture. Turned out great. All birch construction. Ripped all my moldings except the crown. The entire front of the canopy is removable for access to the tank.

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Very nice. Does it flip up and open? Lets see a pic!!! I'd love to try building one myself someday. My fiance will not let me use the table saw though. =( He was going to build me one, but he had shoulder surgery and could not. I had to order one online.
 
No the top doesnt flip, it was too heavy=80 lbs, It lifts straight up and off completely to be set aside. Ill try to get a picture soon.
 
Here is mine - the last two drawers had to be modified and will be installed this weekend

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Dockery! WOW!!! How did you do that? Is it hand carved? Did you do it? I have never seen anything like that. Very cool. Why is the top designed like that? Function? Looks? Do you have a build thread? Wow, I hope so. =)
 
Dockery! WOW!!! How did you do that? Is it hand carved? Did you do it? I have never seen anything like that. Very cool. Why is the top designed like that? Function? Looks? Do you have a build thread? Wow, I hope so. =)

My FIL did it about 8 years ago, he decided he did not want it anymore. It is designed like that to look like a treasure chest - it is a big PITA for the lights. Most of it is hand carved. With the new plumbing the other drawers wont fit.
 
Here is mine - the last two drawers had to be modified and will be installed this weekend

IMG_0670.jpg~original

Dockery,

That stand is absolutely amazing. Your rockscape is nice too. How did you make the top and where did you get the doors? Did you carve them yourself? That is so sweet. :thumbsup:
 
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