Steel stands...how to make them look good?

[jcardona1]

Since it would not be giving any structural stability to the stand, i would just get some finish ply and wrap the stand. You could attach with screws or construction addhesive. I would use screws just incase it had to come off. Maybe 4-5 across the top would be fine for a 6' tank and a couple at the bottom.

You could cut out door holes and by pre-made cabinet doors and get some decorative hinges and hang um.
Then add corner moulding to all the corners and some more moulding to the top and bottom like crown moulding. And if you are not that good with wood just use some spackling to fill all the gaps and sand it up and paint it. putty is your freind.

After that you would not be able to tell it was a metal stand. And also if you are not comfortable making the cuts on the ply. Home depot will cut it for you for a small fee like 2 bucks a cut. And you can cut the moulding with a hand saw.

nice, thx man. pre-made cabinet doors, is this something you find at lowes/home depot? never look for them and making doors seems scary lol

 

[chemicall]

My 2x4's sort of do, they are butted in and guarantee the welds not to break, or if they did it won't fall apart.

 

[hybridtheoryd16]

nice, thx man. pre-made cabinet doors, is this something you find at lowes/home depot? never look for them and making doors seems scary lol

yes lowes has them in many sizes. And even walmart has some small ones in the craft section. They are only like 8''x12'' though. I used the wally world ones on my diy canopy.

 

[hybridtheoryd16]

And making some doors would be easy to do, I just do not have a router to give them any decorative edge. So I buy

 

[BFT]

Still a work in progress, have to finish making the doors (6 of them with a frosted glass insert)

But you get the idea, It's all attached to a 40mm x 40mm x 3mm SHS steel frame.

Holds my 10ft x 2.5ft x 2.5ft all glass off the ground!

 

[jcardona1]

thats awesome! howd you attach the wood to the steel?

 

[BFT]

It's just screwed through the back of the steel so as you don't see any of the screws.

 

[JN31]

hey cuz, been thinking about your question, what i would do is pre-drill your metal stand then cut sheet of plywood to the face of your stand and counter-sink metal screws to the plywood so the screw is just below plywood surface, only have to do it to the face and 2 sides, then just figure out were u want your doors and cut out with jig-saw and put trim on all your joints, if u down ill let u borrow air compressor and nail gun.....what u think?



________________________

MONSTER CICHLA LEAGUE# FIVE-O!!!!!
C.R.E.A.M.

WILL WORK FOR FOGO!!!!!

 

[Bawb2u]

So, steel stands are great and all, but lets face it. They dont look all that great in a living room! Has anybody dressed up a steel stand with wood or other materials to make it look better?

Care to share some details or pics??

How about this? I bought this off a guy on Craigslist, he had it as a reef tank. He made a website devoted to his reef-keeping, the build is under the heading "DIY PROJECTS: Cabinet and Hood. http://home.comcast.net/~76fxe/setup.htm

 

[jcardona1]

hey cuz, been thinking about your question, what i would do is pre-drill your metal stand then cut sheet of plywood to the face of your stand and counter-sink metal screws to the plywood so the screw is just below plywood surface, only have to do it to the face and 2 sides, then just figure out were u want your doors and cut out with jig-saw and put trim on all your joints, if u down ill let u borrow air compressor and nail gun.....what u think?



________________________

MONSTER CICHLA LEAGUE# FIVE-O!!!!!
C.R.E.A.M.

WILL WORK FOR FOGO!!!!!

sounds good, wanna help me out since you good with wood??? lol