# DIY aquarium stand lots of photos - first ever woodworking project



## butacska (Mar 21, 2008)

Hi guys, I haven't been here for a while, and the reason is that I couldn't get rid of the algae in my tank and I wasn't too proud of it, so I didn't come to post pictures.

Now, me and my husband decided to build a stand for the tank we have empty and tear down the 55g and put this 36g together. But as we didn't have a stand for it, we wanted to make one instead of buying one. The budget - of course - is already way over the price of the new stands but building is fun  And… this would be our first together project ever 

We bought 4 2x4-s first and make a frame, then we covered it with a ½ inch birch plywood, stained it and that is it… so far, as we could not make the doors yet… as we don’t have router table or table saw… And that would be a VERY expensive stand if we bought those just for this project. 

So…

*First we cut the 2x4s. the tank dimensions are 30x12x18 (30.5x11.5x~18). So we made an extra ½ inch on both side. We used my husbands miter saw for this.*



















*Then we had 2 2x4s left to the height of the frame, so we calculated out how high the stand should be*
*So we had all the pieces:*










*That is the bottom.* 


















*The joint is a 1 ¾ wood dowel plus 2 3inch long drywall screws topped with woodglue.*









*Although this joint won’t hold any weight, I wanted it to be massive.* 









*Bottom and top:*










*When we wanted to put the legs together, we realized that we made a terrible quality cut on the wood:*









*So a little headache and 3 hours later…*




























*So now they were exactly even.*
*It is hard for me to explain how the legs are built (my first language is Hungarian), I’ll try to show it in the pics. But the legs are double 2x4s:*









*Dowels are holding them together plus glue plus the screws.*


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## Jace (Feb 20, 2008)

Nice, I'm working on mine right now but it's not nearly as professional looking as this. I hope to cover up most of the defects with formica :/


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## resowner92 (Jul 23, 2007)

Nice! Any pics of the whole stand?


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

butacska - 

Thats a nice looking frame you have there. Did you and your husband design it yourselves or did you use the design from somewhere else? The design looks like a combination of different ideas I have seen on the Internet.



butacska said:


> *The joint is a 1 ¾ wood dowel plus 2 3inch long drywall screws topped with woodglue.*
> ...
> *Although this joint won’t hold any weight, I wanted it to be massive.*


While that joint won't be under a tremendous amount of load from the tank, your method of joining the wood makes a lot of sense. The joint comprised of butting 2 x 4s could have a tendancy of pulling apart due to the tendancy of a 2 x 4 wanting to twist. Your joint should remain sound and stay together without any problem.

What kind of 2 x 4s did you use? They look a lot like Douglas Fir.

Pre cutting all of your pieces is also a great idea. It allows you to check to make sure that your measurements between the pieces are precise which will help to make a square and level stand.

Great job!

I would like to see some full stand shots as well.


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## butacska (Mar 21, 2008)

BiscuitSlayer said:


> butacska -
> 
> Thats a nice looking frame you have there. Did you and your husband design it yourselves or did you use the design from somewhere else? The design looks like a combination of different ideas I have seen on the Internet.
> 
> ...


 Thank you guys for your comments.
It is just plain dougfir.
The design is defenetly some mixed combination of every sort of things  I was looking for plans on the internet and could not find the exact thing I wanted for, so we just started without a fix plan.
As I said we calculated the height of the stand during cutting the wood 
Thanks fot the comment guys


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## butacska (Mar 21, 2008)

*Well... I drew the calculation for the 4x8 birch plywood. One sheet covers the whole thing.*




















*The top was added first*











*Then the bottom:*










*As we don’t have compressor and nail gun, I used elbow grease and I loved doing it I loved nailing the plywood to the 2x4s. In Hungary, I have actually never seen a finishing nail punch and I just loved hiding the nails with the punch  I used 3d 1 ¼ nails. A lot of them *



















*Then I used wood filler to cover the tiny holes.*



















*Then we added the back:*










*The sides:*




















*And the front… that was the trickiest.*



















*As originally we wanted to cut the holes out from a whole front sheet (we cut it up into top, bottom and 3 columns instead) there was nothing to hold the center piece… So we had to make something for it.*




























*Finally it was done.*


























*It has some kind of chicken pox… I guess… too many nails… *


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## butacska (Mar 21, 2008)

*The next step was the molding. Now that is a really time consuming procedure! I hadn’t thought before we started it. First we added the corners: ½ in quarter round.*


























*Then we started the base. We bought pine baseboard for that. And it is a pain on the neck, to cut the 45 degrees angles and have the exact size… yuk…*


















*We used a piece of plywood as a guide, so the saw wouldn’t break the molding.*


















*We made some pilot hole into the molding, because it cracked when I was trying to put a nail into a small piece. (I decided to upload smaller images, sorry if they were too big so far...)*




























*Then we started the top. We had a smaller kind of baseboard for that.*

















*
I like the way it turned out. *










*This is the top view:*


















*On the back we are missing 3 inches of baseboard, but Lowe’s only sells them in whole 8’ long pieces, so I am going to check HD if I can find the same kind of baseboard.*










*Then I filled all the holes with wood filler,*


















*
and I let it dry for 20 minutes… it was time for a coffee break *



















*Than I sanded the whole stand, first with a 150, then with a 180 just a little bit.**After sanding:*


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## butacska (Mar 21, 2008)

*So after sanding…*









*I have never stained anything. This is the very first one! So I was kind of nervous about it. Especially since I read that birch plywood is a pain to stain… well I guess it is. I bought some pre-stain wood conditioner, and stain, the color is gunstock. I had some extra plywood I sanded it the same (150 then 180) as the stand and tried the stain out.*









*Haha it was funny. The first two pieces got the same finish plus conditioner plus one layer stain… and they are all different:*









*So I grabbed two other pieces, and without sanding I put some conditioner then stain, on the fourth one I skipped the conditioner and used the stain right away…*










*I have no idea why I got the results I got, I didn’t see the difference so I guess I just wanted to look professional with the sample *

*I cleaned the stand, first with a vacuum cleaner.*









*Then I wiped it with an old damp T-shirt.*









*You can see there was a lot of dust on it after vacuuming.*









*Then I applied the conditioner, waited 5 minutes, wiped it then stained the top first - this is the one side that’s going to be the most invisible.*









*I recognized that the nail holes and the wood filler is really ugly, *








*so I tried to sand the ones on the side a little bit more…*








*It got a little bit better, but not perfect.. *








*ohh well, next time less holes, less wood filler…*

*Then I stained the rest of the stand.*

































*I just love the color. Unfortunately the camera does not reflect the original color and of course it is not the final stage, but I just love this gunstock stain.*

























*Then we made a little (2in) hole to the back for the wires:*
*(The inspector said it is OK to do so...  )*

















*And installed the timer and an other search protector.*

















*Now that is it guys.*

*Today, after work I sanded the whole thing with a 320 sandpaper, it got really smooth. I love it. Then I stained it again, but didn’t take any pictures. Tomorrow I’ll sand it with a 600 paper and do the final staining. Why/ because I enjoy staining  And the darker the color get the more I love it.*

*Later this week we’ll thy to do the doors or… it has to wait until the weekend.*

*Any comment appreciated. *


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## lescarpentier (Feb 2, 2008)

Nice!
Built like a ship.:icon_wink


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## PGH3962 (Jul 13, 2008)

That looks great! Wish I had the skill and patience to build something so beautiful.


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## butacska (Mar 21, 2008)

lescarpentier said:


> Nice!
> Built like a ship.:icon_wink


yeah, and as heavy too :red_mouth:icon_bigg



PGH3962 said:


> That looks great! Wish I had the skill and patience to build something so beautiful.


Thank you
It for sure needs patience. And time. We were even thinking about buying doors for it, a little bit ran out of steam, but then today i bought some molding real quick so we HAVE TO finish by ourselves.


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## tropicalfish (Mar 29, 2007)

Wow, that's a really nice stand!


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## unirdna (Jan 22, 2004)

Are you filling your tank with Mercury?  That thing could hold a truck!

In all seriousness, the stand is very nice. The crown and base molding is a nice twist.

Great documentation, too!


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

butacska -

Your stand looks great! I think your choice of stain was a good one. The stain is definately not over powering at all.

The wood conditioner is used so that the stain is soaked into the wood evenly. It basically fills the wood pores to some degree so that the stain is not soaked in as deeply. When you use birch, it isn't really necesary since birch doesn't have large pores that soak in the stain too deep.

What are you going to use for a top coat? Polyurethane?


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

Very nice stand. Any holes for filter tubing? Why didn't you wait to do the staining until you have the doors prepped?


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## butacska (Mar 21, 2008)

*Hello again*

*Finally we put the doors together, we used the molding on the side of the plywood as you would put a picture frame together.*

















*First we glued them, but then it expanded and became ugly, so we just nailed the rest of the molding to the plywood.*

*Then I stained the doors, but as the cabinet itself received 4x staining and sanding, that’s what I have to do with the doors too. And the drying time between 2 stain coats is 24(!!!) hours. So 3 more days until we can put the doors up. Slowly but surely it’s getting done  :bounce:Can’t wait.*
























*I don’t know how even and level the doors will be though… We’ll see.*


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## butacska (Mar 21, 2008)

tropicalfish said:


> Wow, that's a really nice stand!


Thank you 



unirdna said:


> Are you filling your tank with Mercury?  That thing could hold a truck!
> 
> In all seriousness, the stand is very nice. The crown and base molding is a nice twist.
> 
> Great documentation, too!


Thanks Really, it is amazing how much difference some molding does. It is a pain in the butt to install though... at least if you are a novice, that's for sure!




BiscuitSlayer said:


> butacska -
> 
> Your stand looks great! I think your choice of stain was a good one. The stain is definately not over powering at all.
> 
> ...


Now the stain is a little more definite, but I like the darker color. It is so warm.

Actally I haven't thought of using a top coat of any other then the stain. As I sanded it with 320 then 600, it is so smooth and shiny... Should I use something? I do not want the "wet" shiny look as on some old furniture. A nice soft shine would be great...





gmccreedy said:


> Very nice stand. Any holes for filter tubing? Why didn't you wait to do the staining until you have the doors prepped?


hi, thanks 
No holes for filter tubing as i have a hang-on filter.

Because I couldn't wait  I was too excited to start my first staining :icon_mrgr


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

butacska said:


> Now the stain is a little more definite, but I like the darker color. It is so warm.
> 
> Actally I haven't thought of using a top coat of any other then the stain. As I sanded it with 320 then 600, it is so smooth and shiny... Should I use something? I do not want the "wet" shiny look as on some old furniture. A nice soft shine would be great...


You can get polyurethane in a number of different types of finishes. I am not sure if you can get it in flat, but I know they have it in a satin which I really like. Here is a link to a project where I finished something with satin poly:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/d...-gallon-stand-canopy-build-10.html#post605257

Some of the pictures seem to have a pretty strong glare or reflection from the flash of the camera, but you have to remember that I was taking picures point blank of the project. A top coat is going to give the project a little bit of a sheen. There is a very large difference between a sheen (satin) and a mirror like reflection (gloss or semigloss).

The reason for using poly or some other type of top coat for a project like this is kind of important. Remember that your stand is going to be subjected to occasional splashes of water. If the wood gets wet and there isn't a top coat then the wood will absorb the water into itself and then you will have a blotch or water stain.

I am not sure about birch and water, but I know for a fact that red oak and water do not mix at all. Water stains on oak tend to turn black or gray from the minerals in the water. I would imagine that at the very least the birch will stain and show obvious signs of water exposure.

There are a large number of top coats out there that you could use. If it were my project, I would definately use something. There is nothing like investing the time and money into a project like this only to have it get damaged by normal use in the future.

Edit: One thing to add is that the top coat will generally add a richness to the color of the project. Whatever you use, try it on a test piece with the stain that you used. Try to keep dust levels down while applying a top coat and apply 3 to 4 coats. If you do happen to use polyurethane, you might want to get some extrafine steel wool for gently knocking down any bumps from dust particles or bubbles. Also, gently stir the poly before using it. You don't want too many bubles in the can and you want to use a natural brush to apply it. I bought some realitively cheap natural chip brushes. They work great and you throw them out after you are done.


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## youareafever (Mar 18, 2008)

very nice stand. and i have to agree with biscuit, and watch out for bubbles!! i had to learn the hard way.


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## butacska (Mar 21, 2008)

Finally we finished it.:bounce:

We put on the doors, now you can tell how beginners we are...  But it's OKEY. 









Took it into the house. Its going to be in the family room.

















The inspector:









I got a little bonus at my job so I ordered two bags of eco complete from DR FnS, that was the cheapest I could find... even cheaper than my LFS which was $29.99 + tax a bag... a got them for $53 with shipping and everything.:biggrin:roud: Some place wanted $30-40 for just shipping...









I started to put the tank together with self-collected lava rocks:








The lights are still on the 55G as I have plants in that one.
I collected a little mulm from the 55G,
I used a sponge and "seeded" (?) the filter with bacteria... obviously too much because my tank looks like there was a dust storm in it. Everything is covered with something that is similar to mulm... probably dead bacteria, but look like very fine dust... 
I pulled out dwarf sag and planted it in the new tank, and fished out 9 baby guppies and about 30 RCS to the new tank. To help cycling.
Next week I will receive plants what I'm getting for the shrimps that I sent to 5 people:bounce: trade is fun And I sill have way too many shrimps.... 









In the meantime, while the stand was delayed I quit smoking.:bounce:roud::biggrin:.. cold turkey... 3 weeks ago:biggrin:...
so I bought a little 5G tank into my kitchen, I couldn't handle the waiting for my 29 gallon I needed to put a tank together... so I can look at it instead of going outside to have a cig. 









Thanks everybody for the comments and help!


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## John_Auberry (Nov 2, 2008)

LOOKS GREAT!!!!!! wheres the canopy


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## butacska (Mar 21, 2008)

John_Auberry said:


> LOOKS GREAT!!!!!! wheres the canopy


 Thanks... No canopy, at least for a while


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

That's a great stand! Congrats on quitting smoking!


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## Veloth (Jun 25, 2008)

Great looking standroud:


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

That is a beautiful stand! And congratulations on quiting smoking!:icon_mrgr


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## bluelobster (Mar 8, 2008)

if you wake up and hear water pouring on the floor and see someone with a dolly carrying your stand away, it wasn't me...... that is a very nice stand, very detailed pictures make it easy to understand, i may just have to build myself one so i can get my 75 gallon off of my dresser..

thanks for the post,
Blake


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## airborne_r6 (May 2, 2008)

That is a really great stand. I applaud you for your hard work and wonderful outcome.


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## butacska (Mar 21, 2008)

Thank you guys, I really appriciate all your nice comments, it makes me feel so proud


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## youareafever (Mar 18, 2008)

your stand came out great! good job.


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## Wingsdlc (Dec 9, 2005)

Very nice looking stand. I have built a a frame much the same way for my 20G long. The only major difference was that I only used a single 2x4 for the legs and notched them. I have not closed mine off yet though as I wasn't exactly sure how to do it. Whenever I get around to doing something to it again I will use your 1/4 round for the corner as that looks pretty sweet! 

Wonderful log of events too!


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## butacska (Mar 21, 2008)

Wingsdlc said:


> Very nice looking stand. I have built a a frame much the same way for my 20G long. The only major difference was that I only used a single 2x4 for the legs and notched them. I have not closed mine off yet though as I wasn't exactly sure how to do it. Whenever I get around to doing something to it again I will use your 1/4 round for the corner as that looks pretty sweet!
> 
> Wonderful log of events too!


Thank you! And godd luck finishing the stand It feels really good when you can put the tank on it  :thumbsup:


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

I just want to say that this is probably the best _documentation_ of a good DIY stand that I've ever come across. It is very inspiring. Well done!


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## butacska (Mar 21, 2008)

Church said:


> I just want to say that this is probably the best _documentation_ of a good DIY stand that I've ever come across. It is very inspiring. Well done!


Thank you


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## malaybiswas (Nov 2, 2008)

That is one beautiful stand. I am planning to make a couple of stands myself and I am not good with wood crafts or power tools. This was a good inspiration for me.


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## butacska (Mar 21, 2008)

malaybiswas said:


> That is one beautiful stand. I am planning to make a couple of stands myself and I am not good with wood crafts or power tools. This was a good inspiration for me.


I hope you will succeed  Take your time, measure everything several times before you cut, and you'll be all right  Good luck!


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## erinrobinjade (Nov 20, 2008)

HOLY COW! LET me say that I luv your stand! To do so well frist time.. I'm planning a DIY stand for my 20 gallon. I might take some of you ideas like the doors but I'll be doing mine in black gloss plaint ( I like everything to match... I'm a nut that way) Good job!


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

cool stand.. did the hardware store cut the plywood panels for you?


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## butacska (Mar 21, 2008)

mistergreen said:


> cool stand.. did the hardware store cut the plywood panels for you?


Yes, as we don't have a table saw we thought it would be much easier. Drew a scaled drawing of the board, cut the panel pieces out of a piece of paper and tried to figure out how it would be the most efficient.
AND I had to make sure the grain goes in the right direction. 
You can see my drawing here. 
(My husband just told me this is more like a sketch then a drawing... )









I marked the cutting lines with arrows. Then I made an order for the cuttings, so when we were at Home Depot, I just told the associate what to do, which direction the next cut is, what the measurement is, and he cut it for me. It came out excellent. I had 14 cuts.
The front panel cuts: we cut those to size (lenght) at home with the circular saw (it fit just right) Cuts between cut# 10 and 11 helped us to make sure the doors will fit into the openings as the height of the doors were the same as the middle panels.

(I edited the picture in photobucket, but it is a pain, every time I put a text bubble on, I had to make 10 different changes, so I gave up and just used the pencil, sorry, it came out ugly but you guys got the idea


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## butacska (Mar 21, 2008)

erinrobinjade said:


> HOLY COW! LET me say that I luv your stand! To do so well first time.. I'm planning a DIY stand for my 20 gallon. I might take some of you ideas like the doors but I'll be doing mine in black gloss plaint ( I like everything to match... I'm a nut that way) Good job!


Thank you Good luck with yours. If you'll be using a gloss finish, just make sure, your sanding is perfect. Things to make EXTRA attention:
- do not scratch the wood/board during construction.
- never-ever sand in the wrong direction, (it makes deep scratches into the material that will never come out), always sand in the same direction the grains go.
- use the sandpapers with smaller steps up (I went all the way up to 1200, the whole stand is so smooth, a fly couldn't land on it without slipping )

Enjoy the construction, I found it to be really fun


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

butacska said:


> Yes, as we don't have a table saw we thought it would be much easier. Drew a scaled drawing of the board, cut the panel pieces out of a piece of paper and tried to figure out how it would be the most efficient.
> AND I had to make sure the grain goes in the right direction.
> You can see my drawing here.
> (My husband just told me this is more like a sketch then a drawing... )
> ...


That is a great idea, one I have never tried. I have used HD's cutting service only to reduce a big sheet of plywood to smaller pieces so they fit my car better, but I have never made a cutting layout like that and had them follow it. I will file this idea away in my mental file cabinet for a future project some day.


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## butacska (Mar 21, 2008)

Hoppy said:


> That is a great idea, one I have never tried. I have used HD's cutting service only to reduce a big sheet of plywood to smaller pieces so they fit my car better, but I have never made a cutting layout like that and had them follow it. I will file this idea away in my mental file cabinet for a future project some day.


Thanks Yeah, it made it soo easy... and their saw is pretty good (in accuracy). I just had to give it a little sanding (rough edges), and it was ready to nail on


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

cool. I'm thinking buying a table saw at HD.. It's only $200-$300.


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## butacska (Mar 21, 2008)

Here is the tank on the stand:
the pics are not the best...









































And the shrimps in the tank:

















Everybody have a good weekend


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## smoq (Feb 19, 2008)

If I can add something, since I am a young/with some experience carpenter, if you want to cut plywood yourself and don't have a tablesaw, take a long (48'' or longer) level, hold it with two clamps on edges, and cut with skilsaw (remeber to use a fine, 48 tooth blade, I reccomend diablo or new irwin blades). With level, you are creating a simple edge guide for the saw and I guarantee that you will cut as straight as with tablesaw. I did it many times and this method always worked.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

marcinsmok said:


> If I can add something, since I am a young/with some experience carpenter, if you want to cut plywood yourself and don't have a tablesaw, take a long (48'' or longer) level, hold it with two clamps on edges, and cut with skilsaw (remeber to use a fine, 48 tooth blade, I reccomend diablo or new irwin blades). With level, you are creating a simple edge guide for the saw and I guarantee that you will cut as straight as with tablesaw. I did it many times and this method always worked.


This is the only way to do without a table saw and make good straight accurate cuts. Now that I am limited to doing everything in my condo garage this is how I do it too. I have one of the special bar clamps that is made to be used mostly as a guide for a skilsaw or router, and I use it all of the time. http://woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FULLP...1&search=Clamps And Vises - Bar & Pipe Clamps The downside is that you work pretty slowly compared to using a table saw.


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## smoq (Feb 19, 2008)

Just to add- if you have any questions or need reccomendations for power or hand tools brands, go ahead and pm me, I have some experience working with different tools.


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## butacska (Mar 21, 2008)

marcinsmok said:


> If I can add something, since I am a young/with some experience carpenter, if you want to cut plywood yourself and don't have a tablesaw, take a long (48'' or longer) level, hold it with two clamps on edges, and cut with skilsaw (remeber to use a fine, 48 tooth blade, I reccomend diablo or new irwin blades). With level, you are creating a simple edge guide for the saw and I guarantee that you will cut as straight as with tablesaw. I did it many times and this method always worked.


thank you, yeah, we used this method for making smaller cuts, on the 2x4-s when we cut the legs... well it wasn't exactly clamped as the 2x4 didn't have any free space to clamp something on, so we just "built" a guide from a 2x4 and a 1/16th metal piece, so we got the exact size...


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## smoq (Feb 19, 2008)

I saw in Home Depot that they have a 2x4' sheets of plywood. I would like to build a stand for 36" tank. Do you think that I could build one with those sheets without cutting them. The stand will be 48" so the tank will sit in the center of it. What do you think?


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## butacska (Mar 21, 2008)

marcinsmok said:


> I saw in Home Depot that they have a 2x4' sheets of plywood. I would like to build a stand for 36" tank. Do you think that I could build one with those sheets without cutting them. The stand will be 48" so the tank will sit in the center of it. What do you think?


To tell you the truth, I don't think it would be a good idea. But as I said earlier, they will cut the sheet of plywood for you, that is what we had done. We had probably 15 cuts, and we did not have to worry about the pieces at all. 
The longer stand wouldn't be a problem, but you need to do a different style probably one with a flat top. The raised molding wouldn't look nice on a much bigger tank (I think), and it would be way too wide as well.

If you are thinking about building one, don't hesitate to have a hardware store cut the pieces for you, it makes it so much easier.

Good luck to your project


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## smoq (Feb 19, 2008)

Did you have to pay extra to get the plywood cut? If you say that's the best idea, I'll build one exactly 36" so do you mind if I use your dimmensions to cut the plywood. I think the only thing that will change is length, correct?


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## rwong2k (Dec 24, 2004)

I love seeing these DIY projects for cabinets, I've built many cabinets for fun (pretty ugly) but I'm buying a new place soon and planning on building a new cabinet for my fish tank, thanks for the ideas, yours looks pretty sturdy


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## butacska (Mar 21, 2008)

marcinsmok said:


> Did you have to pay extra to get the plywood cut? If you say that's the best idea, I'll build one exactly 36" so do you mind if I use your dimmensions to cut the plywood. I think the only thing that will change is length, correct?


The first 2 cuts are free, then every additional cut is 25cents, so 14 cuts cost 3.50, not too bad.

Be careful with the dimensions, of course you can use them, but please note, that our stand is for a 30 inches long tank (not 36), and the plywood was just enough for that. I wouldn't want to buy extra plywood, as that is the most expensive part of the cabinet. (40some dollars). So be extremly careful with the calculating, and please also note that they use a 1/4 inch sawblade so you gonna need to count with that too.


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## butacska (Mar 21, 2008)

rwong2k said:


> I love seeing these DIY projects for cabinets, I've built many cabinets for fun (pretty ugly) but I'm buying a new place soon and planning on building a new cabinet for my fish tank, thanks for the ideas, yours looks pretty sturdy


 Thank you and good luck to you. I am not a pro but if you have any question I'll try to answer


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## smoq (Feb 19, 2008)

If I have to use more than one sheet I'll buy the small sheet. I would like to use your measurements as a guide, but I can't see the numbers on your blueprint How do you like the height of your stand?


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## butacska (Mar 21, 2008)

marcinsmok said:


> If I have to use more than one sheet I'll buy the small sheet. I would like to use your measurements as a guide, but I can't see the numbers on your blueprint How do you like the height of your stand?


I like the height. It is perfect if i want to take a chair next to it and just watch the tank
I'll look for the "blueprint" for you.


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## butacska (Mar 21, 2008)

Here it is. Hopefully you can read this. But before you go and have it cut, please draw your own "blueprint" and double check on the measurement.


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## fshfanatic (Apr 20, 2006)

Absolutely incredible work and documentation! Great Job! The stand looks better than a lot of the ones for sale out there and I am sure it is much, much stronger!

Good Job!


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## smoq (Feb 19, 2008)

Thank you very much for the blueprint. Do you know what size are the standard unfinished door for a cabinet like this, cause I don't know if I have time to built the door for mine?


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## butacska (Mar 21, 2008)

You are welcome.
The door was a pain in the neck. Unfortunatelly the size is really far from standerd. You could make the opening a little bigger by reducing the size of the front panels. You can order doors online as well, but they are a lttle costy, I think we would have come out at $65 for the 2 doors. So we went with the moulding way.


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## smoq (Feb 19, 2008)

Finally I made the stand frame. It is not ideal, I mean somehow one leg is about 1/8 shorter Is it a big thing? Do you think I can put some shingles under the top plywood to correct that? And one last thing- did you use 3/4 or 1/2 plywood and what kind of wood would you reccomend. Thank you.


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## butacska (Mar 21, 2008)

marcinsmok said:


> Finally I made the stand frame. It is not ideal, I mean somehow one leg is about 1/8 shorter Is it a big thing? Do you think I can put some shingles under the top plywood to correct that? And one last thing- did you use 3/4 or 1/2 plywood and what kind of wood would you reccomend. Thank you.



U can always correct it with shingles either from underneath or at the top. Our wasn't exactly even whet we put the top plywood on. I already stained it when we noticed it, so we took the top plywood down and filled the difference out with the little 2x4 slices from the previous cuttings, then put the top back on. It's been holding the tank for 4 months now... I guess. 
We used 1/2" ply. We used maple but only because I don't like oak and maple was the only other option. U can research on the internet about wood types, ease of staining etc.


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