Not finished with the stand, but it good enough for a good working space. This is where the FUN begins!
Time to try a wooden aquarium
10" maple milled to 3/4". Actually its more than 1/16 over 3/4. This will make for a good solid structure
Thanks. I will be building a "window frame" out of hard wood maple, its not the strucure I am worried about, it is the glass. I may go with 1"
Next stop, Home Depot. 3/4 inch Birch plywood. I cant believe I am going to build a wooden aquarium. Wood, realy? "I have a bad feeling about this"
Hah, i remember thinking that exact same thing while my wife gave me the crazy eye. Wait until you fill it up for that first time....
Pocket hole guide, with extra bit. Maple is so hard I suspect I may need two, maybe three. Arm will be tired, so I may have to learn how to do some left haned. Testing the hole debth here.
Nice start. The maple viewing window is a nice touch, but if I'm understanding your pics correctly you're drilling your pocket holes through the maple into the plywood? I would do the opposite - drill your pocket holes in the plywood and drive the screws into the maple - they will have better holding strength in the hardwood than the plywood. If you do this you'd also be better off using self driving screws with a narrower thread - it looks like the ones you're using are the coarse thread which is better for softwoods. Probably also good to drill some pilot holes - I'm currently working on a new plywood tank with a solid walnut face frame (need to start a build journal) and I accidentally cracked the wood at one edge by driving a coarse head kreg screw with no pilot hole. I ended up tightening all the others by hand - good arm workout.
Thanks for the tip. Allready done, I will know better for next time, thats half the fun though right? When its all said and done, I can always find ways to do it better, and then have an excuse to do it again. I did both, first every 4" to maple, then, every 4" to plywood. Few cracks on the inside but I will fill with epoxy. I finally realized what all those numbers on my drill are for. I set it for 7 and it seemed to help. have only been working with hard wood for about a month, carpenter Im not, but loving it so far. Photos to come. I would love to see photos.
I dont know whats more fun, the aquarium or the challenge of the build.
By the way, where do I get glass?
I dont know whats more fun, the aquarium or the challenge of the build.
By the way, where do I get glass?
