Alright, I am just curious on what grade of plywood is best used for a plywood tank? I was at the depot this morning, and there is a big jump in plywood for sanded furniture grade to just your basic sheets. If I am going to be using epoxy to seal the tank if this changes anything.
Plywood tank question
- Thread starter dr_sudz
- Start date
The way i understand it is u can get the sanded plywood and have less prep work for the inside of the aquarium or u can get the regular plywood and have more sanding/prep work if ur using epoxy/fiberglass. I think they are equal in strength its just how much work do you want to do and how much u are willing to spend.
Construction grade is fine, put the side you care about out or in and patch and paint/seal the other.
Some grading ref.:
http://www.tpub.com/content/construction/14043/css/14043_75.htm
http://www.cwc.ca/products/plywood/grades.php
http://www.weyerhaeuser.com/ourbusinesses/buildingproducts/plywood/grades.asp
Dr Joe
.
Some grading ref.:
http://www.tpub.com/content/construction/14043/css/14043_75.htm
http://www.cwc.ca/products/plywood/grades.php
http://www.weyerhaeuser.com/ourbusinesses/buildingproducts/plywood/grades.asp
Dr Joe
.
I wood (lol) recommend you consider marine grade plywood for tank construction. It is a little pricey but made entirely of Douglas Fir, a tough and partculary strong fibre. It is also guaranteed to have water proof resin construction and requires less finish preparation. A lot of forming contarctors use it because it is so tough and will last up to 10 times longer than other plywoods.
See link for more..........http://www.glen-l.com/wood-plywood/marine-plywood.html
See link for more..........http://www.glen-l.com/wood-plywood/marine-plywood.html
I think you would be wasting your money buying the marine grade plywood. When your just going to epoxy over the material. Since its been proven regular plywood works fine why waste the cash on the plywood put it into something else on the tank. Unless ur 1 of them people that likes using 1 inch glass when 3/8 will do the job.
I think you should use at least plywood labeled "exterior" because the epoxy they use is waterproof. Marine grade plywood is very expensive, people use them to build boats. The reason is , depend on the grade, they used better epoxy, better grade of wood, more plies per inch (so it's more bendable and stronger) etc...
Marine grade plywood is good if it's in the budget. Solid without internal gaps or spaces.
Exterior grade could cause problems because if gaps from knotholes in veneers in tank usage.
None use epoxy as an adhesive. Nor are they chemically treated.
Exterior grade could cause problems because if gaps from knotholes in veneers in tank usage.
None use epoxy as an adhesive. Nor are they chemically treated.
I am thinking of using the furniture grade plywood only because it is smooth, least amount of knot holes and within my budget.
BrianOKC;532624; said:
I agree with the caveat that in constructing very large tanks, marine plywood has superior strength properties which would allow a simpler sidewall supporting structure, that may at the end of the day, be cheaper in total construction cost.
If your talking about building a tank less than a thousand gallons, using marine plys may not justify the expense.