Steel Stands?

[clevengergl]

Well, just found out that I've got a co-worker whose husband welds steel, so I thought I might look into a steel stand option for my new 220g Display (500+ gallon TSV). Footprint is 72" x 24".

Anyone have any designs for their steel stands that they'd be willing to share? Also, what's the best type of material to buy and where can I purchase it? Price?

I don't think I'm interested in going the powder-coated route. Probably just 5 or 6 coats of Krylon Fusion would prevent rusting, right?

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[hogall]

I am having my build. Here is a thread that I was following:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1330053

I am using 2.5" square tubing since it will have to support close to 7,000lbs. All of the materials were purchased by my welder here locally. I like the power coating, since I don't have the space to spray-paint (the area I live in is very windy)

Here is a link to calculate how much your system will weight. It can help to determind the size of the square tubing

http://boonedocks.net/fishtank/ftweb.php

HTH

Dennis

 

[Fiziksgeek]

The size and wall thickness will depend on the weight your trying to hold up and the distance between vertical supports. Generally speaking, 1/8" wall tubing is plenty strong enough for common designs. If using 2" x 2" x 1/ 8" I would keep open spans to 30" or less, and step up to 2x3x1/8 for spans over that. For example if you wanted to use a single center vertical support, I would use 2x3 tubing for the long horizontals on top. 1.5 x 1.5 x 1/8 wall makes great legs...anyway...tank a good look through the thread hogall gave, lots of different ideas in there.

Look in the local yellow pages for a metal supply shop. I last bought stuff here:

http://www.sullivanmetals.com/index.html

Obviously that doesnt help you, but there are surely some local places. Steel is usually sold by the pound, and there are usually minimum buys, for instance you may have to buy an entire 20' stick. They will usually cut it into shorter lengths for little or no charge. With a little careful thought, you can usually minimize the waste pretty well. Or just leave the extra to whoever does the welding!

 

[clevengergl]

Thanks a lot for the advice, guys, and thanks for the link to that thread Hogall. Have to start scoping out some local steel vendors to get some price quotes!