The last time I did extensive maintenance on my tank I noticed that the stand is gradually deforming in several places. It is made of particle board, covered with plastic to look like oak. It is the original stand for the tank I have, a Jebo 45 gallon tank. When I had problems priming my filter I spilled water and soaked part of the stand sides, which caused me to begin worrying that some day that stand will give up and dump my tank onto the floor - a second story floor. So, that was all the excuse I needed to decide to build a replacement made from wood, not particle board.

Here is the original stand:


The stand has large corner radiused side pieces, a curved top, to match the tank front, and a nice door design - at least I like it. My first problem was to make the corner radiused pieces, so I started with them, figuring if I couldn't do that I wouldn't be out the cost of the rest of the wood. Here is the piece I made for that:


It is just an oak 1 X 2 face glued to an oak 1 X 3, to make a rabbited 2 X 3, which I rounded the corner on with a router bit.

The next hardest parts to make are the top and bottom, so I made those next. They are 3/4 " scrap plywood, with oak edging, wide enough that only oak will show on the outside. Because those pieces are about 1 1/4" thick on the existing stand, I made them from two thicknesses of 1 X 2 and 1 X 3 oak. I used a biscuit joiner to attach one thickness of oak to the edges of the plywood, then glued a second thickness on the bottom of that. Here they are, partly completed: The top


The bottom: I glued two thicknesses of oak 1 X 2 on the bottom of the bottom piece to serve as feet to hold the weight. I still need to add a filler strip under the inner edge of the feet so the load is carried over a larger area. Here it is with the feet being glued on:


Tomorrow, I will start making the sides and back and attaching them to the bottom. Those will be 3/4 oak veneered plywood.

Nice work Vaughn its like an episode of this old house reading all those imperial measurements and biscuit joiners .

Will you be using the Binford 2800 gt hi torq varipitch all weather fastners?


or just nails? :P

So far there isn't a single piece of metal involved! Modern yellow glue is so good, screws and nails are superfluous. And, biscuit joiners are the greatest thing since the discovery of fire!

The base and sides are done now. The base, upside down, has lots of area to be in contact with the floor, and it will not deform at all with the weight of 45 gallons of water:


And, one of the sides, made of 3/4" oak veneered plywood, with the corner piece already made. I had to cut 1/16" thick shims to make up for the difference in thickness between the plywood and the oak 1 X 2 at the edge, using just a Skil Saw. By using a clamp on saw guide, and some ingenuity it worked out well.


Next will be assembling the sides, back, base and top into a cabinet - tomorrow.

The body of the cabinet is together now, using a few drywall screws to hold the top and bottom to the sides, in addition to the glue.


Next will be the plain slab of plywood doors, easy by comparison - very easy. The top ended up not flat enough, because plywood never seems to be flat anymore, especially after sitting in the garage for several months, as this did. So, I had to do a lot of belt sanding to get it flat enough, but I still will need a layer of sponge pastic between the tank and the top to account for the slight non flatness.

Dang Vaughn, that's one nice stand if you ask me!
Good job using the biscuit joiners!

I use very little metal for mine as well.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Regards,
Tom Barr

Thank you Tom!
Not too bad for working with just hand tools and hand power tools, but not nearly as accurate as using a table saw. Now, a question: what is the best stuff to use under the tank to prevent the slightly uneven wood surface from overstressing the glass? Carpet padding?

Vaughn,
I just built a stand with plywood as well. The 3/4 oak plywood had a warp to it, but I built the cabinet superstructure square and plumb, then I filled the 150 gallon tank slowly to see how the plywood flattened out. I had a few more layers of plywood on my 6' x 3' x 32"-deep cabinet. But I was happy to see that the plywood top followed the tank bottom quite well. I think when the cabinet is built well, the plywood top will follow.

Nice series on your constriction techniques! I know how difficult it is to stop and take pictures, thanks.

Joseph

Looking good! Wish I could make something that good but my DIY skills are crap. I might have a go at making a stand for the two nano tanks I'm planning (but will probably end up getting it made ).