DIY Bowfront Stand

[Druu]

Anyone have experience with these? Plans would be helpful too.

I've built a basic 2x4 stand for a 38 gallon and skinned it with quarter inch ply for cosmetics and that ended up looking pretty good.

I will [hopefully] be picking up a 72 bowfront soon and will need to build a stand. I'd rather built the front so it conformed to the bow of the tank, but I'm open to suggestions.

 

[krytan]

Heres what i did for my 15g bowfront.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146585

 

[rallysman]

I've been thinking about framing a stand like I normally would with 2x4s, but add a plywood top and bottom to match the contour of the tank. Then you could put a 2x4 (or 3 of them) in the front of the stand for support. Once you've got that taken care of you can wrap the front with tongue and groove boards to match the contour.

 

[Flash]

That's a good idea, Krytan.

 

[Druu]

Great job krytan, it looks professional. I'm not sure something like that would work with the weight of a 72 though.

Rally, I was thinking about doing the same thing- 2x4s in the 4 corners, one or two along the rear and maybe a few in the middle of the front like you said. I wasn't sure how to get an edge around the bottom rim of the tank to hide the trim though. Your tongue boards (never heard of them, not as handy as I thought I guess) sound a lot easier than getting quarter inch ply, wetting it, warping it, and drying it. How would the doors work though?

 

[Pharaoh]

I would recommend the 1/4" plywood method. I would be really easy to do. I haven't tried it, but you might not even have to wet the plywood. You could just tack it as you go. Just build the frame as a normal rectangle stand and add in an extra board to support the fron lip. The put the plywood on. Should be really easy.

If you want doors, you could use a similar method to make the doors. I will do some looking and see if I can find another way of making doors that would look good.

Levi is just talking about tongue and groove planks. Work well for making bends on round objects.

 

[krytan]

Great job krytan, it looks professional. I'm not sure something like that would work with the weight of a 72 though.

Thanks , my 180g is sitting on a similar design only i bought the stand for my 180g instead of DIYing it.

 

[Knowdafish]

If you want to bow plywood there are 3 methods that I know of:

1) Steam the whole piece at one time until it is pliable and fasten it in place

2) Use 1/2" or thicker plywood and cut 1/8" wide (or thickness of the saw blade) vertical grooves every 1/2" half way through the plywood

http://www.graspr.com/videos/EZ-Smart-vs-The-Table-Saw-1

3) Soak the wood in hot water until pliable, bend to fit, and let dry on a jig

Or......

You can use multiple layers of paneling/veneer and glue up your own "plywood"

Or......

http://www.google.com/search?q=how+...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

 

[hybridtheoryd16]

If it were me i would make a regular 2x4 box frame and then a plywood top and bottom matching the tank outline. And then run some 2x4's every 6'' across the front bow vertically. And then you can come back and use a thin ply or even paneling as a skin and connect it to the ply that the tank sits on top and bottom. And tack it to some or all of the vertical supports. -----------i hope you can understand what i am saying.lol---it is easy to picture in my mind but not so easy to put into words.

 

[Druu]

Thanks for all the input guys. Unfortunately, the tank was sold, but I will definitely consult this thread when I come across a bowfront I need to build a stand for.