Tank Stand Design - Woodworks requested!

[Cablemonkey]

Definitely not Thompson's! It is useless on decks and won't do anything for your stand. A good quality water based polyurethane is your best bet. Cut the first coat of poly 50/50 with water to thin it and the wood will soak it up much better giving you better protection. 4 or so coats should do the job nicely. For a prettier finish sand the 3rd coat after it has dried with 400 grit paper on a hard sanding block before applying the 4th coat. This will level out the surface and flatten out any runs from the previous coats.


I would take a slightly different approach to construction. Don't plan on the plywood you are using being the finished wood. Instead screw through the plywood with glue to make the carcase very secure then skin it with what ever finished wood you want. Contact cement works very well for this. When you apply the veneer make all the pieces oversized and then cut them down to the carcase dimensions with a router and a flush trim bit. Then finish the exposed plywood ends with solid wood pieces.

My local surplus wood dealer carries door skins that are perfect for skinning and very inexpensive. I like maple but my local guy also carries oak door skins.


I would make the shelf surfaces out of Formica applied with contact cement as mentioned above and trimmed with a router as mentioned above. The Formica will be a much nicer surface for slopping up spills than wood.

If you can score some Corian or other solid surface material for the shelves this would be even better. You can work Corian very well with woodworking tools. I would route a drip grove in the top of the Corian around the outside of the tank perimeter. Good luck finding it as most solid surface manufactures will only sell to "Authorized Dealers".

I will have to check it out, I was planning on using the plywood already veneered, my dad used to run a cabinet making shop when I was a lot younger and I have seen what it takes to do veneer right so I will have to weigh the debate on that one but thanks for the other ideas, I will check and see if CL has some scraps.

I am a woodworker and I would not build that stand design. I think it could be done, but remember that tanks don't flex. If the front bows down the tank will crack and you will have a mad wife.

You are talking about hundreds of pounds of weight. There's no doubt that wood can support it, but support tables are built on acceptable deflection. The acceptable deflection when building a tank stand is near zero...

I LOVE the design, if I was making it I would had 8/4 square posts to the front corners. These "should" provide more support so that you don't have issues.

What if I made a 2x8 "T" where the center 8 inches of the tank (50% of its overall width) are sitting directly over that vertical support then the cross member, also made of 2x8, with 2x4s on 5" centers ran perpendicular to the T's forming the shelf, with 3/4in plywood "shelf" on top. Then having a 2x4 running the entire vertical length on the interior rear of the cabinet, using pegs and long decking screws through the 2x4 into the 2x8 to give it extra support from the back, being held down as the rear legs of the lower shelf for the 70? Fully loaded we are talking about 460 lbs, at least 50% of that directly supported from a vertical "beam" and the rest supported by a box frame affixed to the 2x8s and rear 2x4s. Do you think the 2x8s would still flex that much? I am not against using heavier lumber to get the job done I would prefer that over a straight sided "book case" look at this point. Still throwing ideas, I understand the bowing issues but I would think that 2x8s, or even doubled up 2x8s should be able to support it, your thoughts?

 

[Piscine]

What if I made a 2x8 "T" where the center 8 inches of the tank (50% of its overall width) are sitting directly over that vertical support then the cross member, also made of 2x8, with 2x4s on 5" centers ran perpendicular to the T's forming the shelf, with 3/4in plywood "shelf" on top. Then having a 2x4 running the entire vertical length on the interior rear of the cabinet, using pegs and long decking screws through the 2x4 into the 2x8 to give it extra support from the back, being held down as the rear legs of the lower shelf for the 70? Fully loaded we are talking about 460 lbs, at least 50% of that directly supported from a vertical "beam" and the rest supported by a box frame affixed to the 2x8s and rear 2x4s. Do you think the 2x8s would still flex that much? I am not against using heavier lumber to get the job done I would prefer that over a straight sided "book case" look at this point. Still throwing ideas, I understand the bowing issues but I would think that 2x8s, or even doubled up 2x8s should be able to support it, your thoughts?

Doubled up plywood will hold it.