# Garage Time



## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Have been wanting to put one of these threads together for awhile and I guess now is as good of a time as any. 
The current Garage Time project is building a stand for the 40g breeder tank which will house Harry http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/12-tank-journals/1072682-his-name-harry.html
To make this project a bit more interesting, I chose to build this stand (almost) entirely out of general construction grade 2x4's. Now this does not sound too hard, except my intent is to not use *any* screws or nails - only wood glue. Also, no store bought trim. everything has to be made out of the 2x4's using only my table saw and router. The pics below are from the start thru last nite. Will be adding more pics as I go - enjoy! And if anybody has any questions or comments - please ask 


























































































And yes, I cheated a bit using the 1/2" plywood for the floor and front filler. Oh well.


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## quiquik (Dec 13, 2013)

Nice work Immortal 1 I wish I had a place to work with wood but sadly My wife and I rent for now and dream of having a wood shop or even a garage and a craft area for my wife. Have been a carpenter for a long time and love working with wood. I'll be watching.


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## Waters (Oct 15, 2012)

Impressive....I wish I had your skills. How come you didn't want to use screws? I assume it is because you are that good and wanted to make it more challenging for you to only use glue


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Waters said:


> Impressive....I wish I had your skills. How come you didn't want to use screws? I assume it is because you are that good and wanted to make it more challenging for you to only use glue


 Something like that, and thank you. Basically I wanted to learn "what is a doves tail joint" and how do you make it? Have had the router for almost 2 years and barely used it. Now I am finding all kinds of new uses for it.


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## Maryland Guppy (Dec 6, 2014)

@Immortal1 Awesome Job!

I am into re-purposing lumber myself.

Maybe an update pic on Harry?


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Thank-you @Maryland Guppy. And as for pics - I love posting pics 









Was told how dull their color gets just before they shed - just was a bit surprised how much it was. Also, he is now 110 grams (was 17 grams when we got him).


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Small update - got the 2 drawers installed in the bottom section.


























Routered edge around the drawer openings / drawer face were intended to look like the routered portion on the front (more or less).


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

I'm glad to see a guy that takes the time to do things fully. I'm afraid that is not part of my wood working gene. wood is fun for me but it has to be quick! 
Nice touch with the small blocks around the top. And it looks like the router is getting a good run. I used mine for a while and never got much good results so swapped it off for a nailer. 
Drawer on the end rather than the front due to where the tank will be?


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

PlantedRich said:


> I'm glad to see a guy that takes the time to do things fully. I'm afraid that is not part of my wood working gene. wood is fun for me but it has to be quick!
> Nice touch with the small blocks around the top. And it looks like the router is getting a good run. I used mine for a while and never got much good results so swapped it off for a nailer.
> Drawer on the end rather than the front due to where the tank will be?


Thank-you for the compliments - I enjoy my garage time when time is available.
Drawer on end - yes. The tank will be going between the love seat and the outside wall (so I'm told). So basically the front of the stand will be more or less covered up. Oh well.


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

Immortal1 I love projects like this. I really like the way you have gone old school with it. Very nice design and craftsmanship. Something to be proud of.

How do you plan to finish it? I assume you will paint? Not stain?

And are you a bit Amish?:grin2::grin2:


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Thank you @Greggz. As for finish, it will be stained. This is a stand done by someone else that I have been getting some inspiration from. For his finish he used 3 different stains to get the effect. I will be using atleast 2 different stains but you never know, I might get a bit more creative. Working on lighting setup today. Same old problem, need specific types and amounts of light but don't want it to get in the way of feeding and handling (kinda sounds like planted tank issues to me, lol).


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

very nice. How heavy is that top canopy?


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

mistergreen said:


> very nice. How heavy is that top canopy?


I would imagine it is pretty heavy (I did not build it). But, I do know the entire front of it is hinged to allow it to open up fully.


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## Maryland Guppy (Dec 6, 2014)

Similar canopy for your design?


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Sorry Maryland, no canopy on this one. 
On another note - I got in almost 6 hours of garage time today  yeah!
Anyway, final started working on the part of the project I usually dread - the doors. For some reason these always give me fits. Instead of doing the 45 degree picture frame style I decided to go the easy route (did not want to spend $100 on the fancy router bits made for doing doors). I will admit though, using the regular router bits does make things a bit easier.



















The other thing I came to realize as Harry gets older and bigger - those little claws of his seem to stick a lot to the green repti carpet that we have. After much research I learned what things I should not use and what things seem to work better. In the end, I decided to go with tile. But of course, I can't just throw in some squares and call it good - oh no LOL. At this point, everything is set in construction adhesive - waiting to harden. Next time I get some garage time I will add the tan grout to finish it out. Also thinking about making some kind of a back wall cause I really hate the see thru appearance - just don't have any idea what specifically to do yet.


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## Maryland Guppy (Dec 6, 2014)

Stile & rail cutters, at least good one's don't come cheap!

I used sand when I raised them, bowls for worms and veggies.
When feeding shake and bake crickets I just let them go.
Never had any issues with sand impacted dragons either.
Litter scoop made it easy to clean except for structure.


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## GraphicGr8s (Apr 4, 2011)

Immortal1 said:


> Sorry Maryland, no canopy on this one.
> On another note - I got in almost 6 hours of garage time today  yeah!
> Anyway, final started working on the part of the project I usually dread - the doors. For some reason these always give me fits. Instead of doing the 45 degree picture frame style I decided to go the easy route (did not want to spend $100 on the fancy router bits made for doing doors). I will admit though, using the regular router bits does make things a bit easier.


You could have done a Shaker style door and just used the tongue and dado.
I've done a beaded door where you cut a portion of the bead away and you have a stub tenon and grove that mates up flat yet yields a 45 degree on the bead portion only. It does require a bit of patience to do however. Some folks do it on the table saw but since I hate mine I bought a 90 degree router bit and did it that way.

To eliminate the round corners from the router you could also have put in cove corner molding, 45ed that and glued it in . That way you wouldn't have the rounded corners on the door.


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

I do like how that looks! Might have to do some experimenting with that style.
Thank-you for posting that.


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

Immortal1, you are a better man than I. 

When I built my stand and canopy, I did everything completely from scratch EXCEPT for the doors. After researching everything, and pricing out the equipment I would need to do it right, I decided it was just easier and cheaper to buy them. 

That being said, I do feel like I cheated a little bit, and appreciate someone like you who takes the extra effort to do it all.

Good luck and looking forward to seeing the updates.


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## GraphicGr8s (Apr 4, 2011)

Immortal1 said:


> I do like how that looks! Might have to do some experimenting with that style.
> Thank-you for posting that.


I did that for my library system. First cabinet I did just adding a strip of bead and 45ing it. The rest I did with the table say and a 90 degree router bit. Time consuming but well worth it in the end.
I generally like a face frame cabinet. One thing I've learned to do over the years is to make my face frames and doors first then fit the cabinet to them. 
Question for you. You made your top and bottom rails first then attached the uprights to that. All with dovetails. Why not let your uprights go from top to bottom and dovetail the frame into the edge and back face of the uprights? It would have yielded a stronger joint.

And an observation. On your front face, the money side, how come you have edge grain showing? Common practice is to put the edge grain joints on the sides of a cabinet.


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

GraphicGr8s said:


> I did that for my library system. First cabinet I did just adding a strip of bead and 45ing it. The rest I did with the table say and a 90 degree router bit. Time consuming but well worth it in the end.
> I generally like a face frame cabinet. One thing I've learned to do over the years is to make my face frames and doors first then fit the cabinet to them.
> Question for you. You made your top and bottom rails first then attached the uprights to that. All with dovetails. Why not let your uprights go from top to bottom and dovetail the frame into the edge and back face of the uprights? It would have yielded a stronger joint.
> 
> And an observation. On your front face, the money side, how come you have edge grain showing? Common practice is to put the edge grain joints on the sides of a cabinet.


With regards to cabinets, I can understand what you are saying. Build face frames / doors, then add the rest of the cabinet behind it.
As for the top rail (was not originally planning on a bottom rail - more later) being built first, then adding the legs - not sure why I did it that way. Just seemed to me it would be easier that way. Now that I think about what you proposed, that likely would be stronger. Part of my logic on the legs was to span the front part of the leg over the top rail joint to add strength (assumed?) See pic below.









When I decided to do things this way, I had already assumed I would be adding cover plates so that you could not see the dove tails or the cross cut edges. I suppose I really should do some studying on various construction techniques before I start a project. Unfortunately I seem to figure that out when I am 3/4 thru the project 

Also, I suppose I should add - the original stand was supposed to be 18" tall. Then, the location for the stand changed and I realized I needed to raise the existing stand construction another 8". So, I created the base unit with the drawers in it. Now, oddly enough, I can use the 8" tall stand or the 18" tall stand or the 26" tall combination stand to support the tank. More than likely the 26" tall version will be used for the next few years.

Anyway, thank-you GraphicGr8s for your comments - I am always interested in learning!


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Yeah - basic fabrication is now complete. With any luck I will have sanding done by this weekend and then it's on to staining.



















And this is what the floor of the tank now looks like.


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## GraphicGr8s (Apr 4, 2011)

Immortal1 said:


> With regards to cabinets, I can understand what you are saying. Build face frames / doors, then add the rest of the cabinet behind it.
> As for the top rail (was not originally planning on a bottom rail - more later) being built first, then adding the legs - not sure why I did it that way. Just seemed to me it would be easier that way. Now that I think about what you proposed, that likely would be stronger. Part of my logic on the legs was to span the front part of the leg over the top rail joint to add strength (assumed?) See pic below.
> 
> When I decided to do things this way, I had already assumed I would be adding cover plates so that you could not see the dove tails or the cross cut edges. I suppose I really should do some studying on various construction techniques before I start a project. *Unfortunately I seem to figure that out when I am 3/4 thru the project *
> ...


So in other words you're just like the rest of us. I'm smart enough to see a project through to the end even though the plans are only in my head. Still not smart enough to actually draw up plans and follow them however. (At least when something goes awry I can always say it was always part of the plan) Thing is most cabinet construction is pretty basic. I do best when I don't use any tape measure. I am a firm believer in story sticks. 

One other thing I see is on your doors. The stiles should run full length from top to bottom. Rails go in between.

Don't misconstrue what I am saying though. Your overall concept is very sound and looks good. It's the details that need a bit of work.

Next time, instead of covering the dovetails make them a feature. Use joints like a half lap dovetail in addition to the sliding dovetails you currently have. You've got the eye for design.


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## IntotheWRX (May 13, 2016)

Immortal1 said:


> Yeah - basic fabrication is now complete. With any luck I will have sanding done by this weekend and then it's on to staining.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


wow, very crafty. nice job. the size looks perfect for the tank.


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

Immortal1 that is a pretty swanky floor you made there. Between that and the stand you should be charging that critter rent! Those are some nice digs!


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

It's amazing how heavy a diy stand is. I had to use a dolly since I moved it myself.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


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## Maryland Guppy (Dec 6, 2014)

@Immortal1 are we going to see some finish going on this weekend?

My only thoughts with the tile job.
Did you ensure you could remove if the tank was ever deserving of water?


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

@Maryland Guppy - finished photos will be up tomorrow. And yes, the panel with the tile on it is very removable for "when" I get to put fish in it


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

GraphicGr8s said:


> So in other words you're just like the rest of us. I'm smart enough to see a project through to the end even though the plans are only in my head. Still not smart enough to actually draw up plans and follow them however. (At least when something goes awry I can always say it was always part of the plan) Thing is most cabinet construction is pretty basic. I do best when I don't use any tape measure. I am a firm believer in story sticks.
> 
> One other thing I see is on your doors. The stiles should run full length from top to bottom. Rails go in between.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the compliments! As for the stiles and rails - I now know what you mean. The side doors were done correctly, front doors not so much. Oh well, part of the reason behind this project was to learn 

For my next project I think I will leave the dove tails exposed - where possible. Saw a bunch of pictures on inlay dovetail joints - seriously cool stuff! Now I just need to figure out how to do it.









Really like this (mostly because I can understand how to do it, lol)










Bump: As promised, here are some final pics!













































@Greggz - I really should charge him rent! Unfortunately I would likely on get left over cricket parts for payment :-(


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## GraphicGr8s (Apr 4, 2011)

Don't bother with the inlaid dovetail joints. Not worth the trouble at all. Years ago I bought an Incra jig to do them. They're not cheap. Still have mine in the original box.

You didn't use a conditioner when you stained that wood. Most softwoods and some hardwoods like cherry are notorious for blotching. Conditioner helps alleviate it to an extent. Putting a thinned coat of shellac or poly also does wonders to alleviate that.


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## vanish (Apr 21, 2014)

I can appreciate what you've done here.


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

GraphicGr8s said:


> Don't bother with the inlaid dovetail joints. Not worth the trouble at all. Years ago I bought an Incra jig to do them. They're not cheap. Still have mine in the original box.
> 
> You didn't use a conditioner when you stained that wood. Most softwoods and some hardwoods like cherry are notorious for blotching. Conditioner helps alleviate it to an extent. Putting a thinned coat of shellac or poly also does wonders to alleviate that.


Yeah, those inlay dovetails look like a real PITA. As for the conditioner, I remembered that about halfway thru staining the right door :-( Again, another learning lesson for this thread!


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## Leeatl (Aug 8, 2015)

Don't be hard on yourself.....it looks great .


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## GraphicGr8s (Apr 4, 2011)

Immortal1 said:


> Yeah, those inlay dovetails look like a real PITA. As for the conditioner, I remembered that about halfway thru staining the right door :-( Again, another learning lesson for this thread!


This is what I am probably going to get

https://www.leighjigs.com/d4_overview.php

I saw this at a show a few years ago and have been pining for it since. Adjustable dovetails. You can fit the dovetail to the wood instead of the other way around like with other jigs.


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## someoldguy (Feb 26, 2014)

Been watching this build since day one ..... Nice job!! 





GraphicGr8s said:


> This is what I am probably going to get
> 
> https://www.leighjigs.com/d4_overview.php
> 
> I saw this at a show a few years ago and have been pining for it since. Adjustable dovetails. You can fit the dovetail to the wood instead of the other way around like with other jigs.


Many years ago ( like in the '80's ) I bought one of the original Leigh dovetailers . Expensive as anything ( they still are ) , but are pretty much the gold standard of dovetail jigs . Used it to make a ton of furniture for a new house I was building . Can't say anything bad about them . Just make sure your router has enough power .


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## GraphicGr8s (Apr 4, 2011)

someoldguy said:


> Been watching this build since day one ..... Nice job!!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I've got 2 PC 690s and a PC 7538 plunge. The 7538 is 3.25 horsepower. But I think the 690 will also work. I use them with panel raising bits.

Expensive? $600. Not cheap


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## someoldguy (Feb 26, 2014)

GraphicGr8s said:


> I've got 2 PC 690s and a PC 7538 plunge. The 7538 is 3.25 horsepower. But I think the 690 will also work. I use them with panel raising bits.
> 
> Expensive? $600. Not cheap


690 is what I used . Didn't want to see you get the jig and try to use a crap machine with it .


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Well, guess its time to add an update to this thread. Oldest daughter has been commenting on how her Bearded Dragon has outgrown its 20g long enclosure (always knew this would be temporary). Unfortunately not much I could do until /I finished with my chemo treatments. Now that I am done with that crap and feeling like I actually have some energy I figured it was time to get to work 

She drew up what she thought she would like. After a few "dad" revisions to allow for actually fitting it thru the door way and accommodating the cold air return among other items we finally decided on a design.
The overall length ended up being 48" with an interior width at the big end of 28.5" which allowed for an outside width of 30" (front door has a maximum opening of 32"). The smaller end has an interior width of 14".
Figured this would give more than enough space for a full grown dragon. So, enough with the boring typing, on to the pics...

So, this was the basic start of the base unit (will be 2 separate units to allow for moving)









Added some additional wood to allow for drawer slides...









Added the floor of the top section to the bottom section so that I could line everything up









As I stated before, this will be sitting directly over her cold air return (old house which used to have a gravity furnace)









Now it was onto the top section. This was built out of melamine board to allow for easy cleanup of the cage.









And now the top is basically compete









Added finishing oak trim and 1/4" birch plywood to the basic frame









Added electrical items, drawers, and various handles. All that is left to build is the glass doors for the top section (maybe tomorrow), then it is onto staining 









Hopefully I will be able to add more to this tomorrow. For now it's time to relax a bit, LOL


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## thedood (May 30, 2015)

Looks great. @Immortal1has mad skills.


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

I really like the way you just whipped that up!! Looks great, and it should make for a very nice home for the dragon.


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## GraphicGr8s (Apr 4, 2011)

Glad you're done with the chemo. And that you are feeling better. Let's hope for no recurrence.

Nice to see the stiles go the right way on your doors. Overall a truly nice design.
Are you going to put a sheet of insulation on the bottom to keep the temperature a bit more even in that bottom section since you are over an air vent?

On the drawers. If you swap the right top drawer and the bottom right drawer it might look a bit better matched if you are going to stain it. Actually might be better to do that with the left side instead. Then you have the lighter wood all on top and it's a bit more consistent.
If it's painted then of course it won't matter. When I do a drawer setup like that I look for a piece longer than I need, and try to match the wood as best I can then glue it up and cut the fronts so they appear to all come from one board. depending how much time I want to spend at the lumber yard determines how well it actually comes to fruition.

Damn that is a really nice piece.


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Thankyou @GraphicGr8s for the various comments! Will give the drawer swap a shot after dinner tonite. Daughter is here tonite so we are hoping to begin staining tonite (Cabernet). Also finished the upper doors yesterday. Hopefully will be able to add post staining pics tomorrow. For now here is a cluttered pic with the upper doors installed.


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

As promised, or maybe inferred... staining has been completed. Tomorrow nite it is onto polyurethane top coat 
(note, really wish I knew how to adjust the colors of my cell phone to match what my eyes see in person. Oh well)


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

Oh man I am glad I stumbled upon this. You my friend have some skillz. That is going to be one lucky Godzilla


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## GraphicGr8s (Apr 4, 2011)

Looks great. Nice job with the staining. 3 coats of poly should do you nice. Don't sand the first coat. That is more of a seal coat. Sand/level the second and the third should be a breeze.

One thing I did notice but didn't think to comment on before. Your base. You may find that as you walk up to work on the inside with the critter in there that your feet will constantly hit the bottom. Might have taken a lesson from cabinets and made a toe kick there instead of the flat surface you now have. I should have put one in on my library.


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

GraphicGr8s said:


> Looks great. Nice job with the staining. 3 coats of poly should do you nice. Don't sand the first coat. That is more of a seal coat. Sand/level the second and the third should be a breeze.
> 
> One thing I did notice but didn't think to comment on before. Your base. You may find that as you walk up to work on the inside with the critter in there that your feet will constantly hit the bottom. Might have taken a lesson from cabinets and made a toe kick there instead of the flat surface you now have. I should have put one in on my library.


Thank-you for the comments! Hoping to get the 1st coat of poly on tonite. Never really thought about the toe kick, but given how this is built, I could add one at a later date if it becomes an issue - just need to move the vents back a few inches on the front 2 sides (left side will likely have furniture near it).


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## GraphicGr8s (Apr 4, 2011)

Immortal1 said:


> Thank-you for the comments! Hoping to get the 1st coat of poly on tonite. Never really thought about the toe kick, but given how this is built, I could add one at a later date if it becomes an issue - just need to move the vents back a few inches on the front 2 sides (left side will likely have furniture near it).


You are not the only one that doesn't think about toe kicks. Until you hit your bare toe on the base.

Listen, you did a really good job on this. I don't compliment things just to compliment. That serves little purpose. I like to tell you (editorial "you) what is right about a project and things you might want to consider that could be a problem. I wish some of my friends would criticize some of my stuff as I am building instead of the oohs and ahhs. I rarely build from plans that are printed. They are in my head and generally they turn out great. 

Every once in a while however........


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Well, I finally was able to get the monstrosity relocated to the daughters house. Getting it thru the front door was a bit interesting (30.25" wide object, 30.00" opening) but we managed without any damage. Anyway, new enclosure on the right, old 20g tank on the left









I believe she is planning on doing a bunch of different ideas on the inside but for now we just moved various pieces over to the new enclosure. Would seem the "king" approves


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## BeeBop (Nov 4, 2017)

This has been a great project to watch. You are quite skilled.


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## jclee (Jul 15, 2009)

MikeHickey said:


> This has been a great project to watch. You are quite skilled.


Ditto. This is phenomenal work.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

Man that is awesome and surely the king approves. He is loving it.


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Well, time for another Garage Time update. This time I am working on something I have NEVER done before - concrete covered tank / enclosure decoration for the daughters new bearded dragon enclosure. Did a bunch of research and figured it was something I should be able to handle. Figured if this works out, I might be able to do something for the fish tank - you never know. Anyway, enough of me babbling, time for some pics 

So, from what I have learned, you cut out styrofoam pieces and glue them together...









First piece turned out ok, so I built a second piece









After I basically got the second piece cut out, I realized it might be a good thing to see if it actually FIT thru the opening. Fortunately it did.









So, time for some grout (concrete for ceramic flooring) - this is the first coat of three









Ok, not as hard as I thought it would be. This is all three coats, before a little air brushing and some sealer









Well, it would seem my beardie likes it 









Did not realize they stick like velcro LOL









Thanks for looking - will try to get a few pics of the setup installed in the enclosure.


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Well, did something a little different tonite. My good friend Scott brought over some of his sons high end BMX parts from here for a little powder coating. The parts had been stripped bare and delivered to the local plater of a good coating of copper plating. The copper was then polished before being brought over for some crystal clear powder. 

End results turned out pretty nice. Assuming the clear powder will hold up better than just clear Krylon 

Fresh out of the oven









After about 15 minutes of cooling


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Browsing thru various pics on the computer and ran across this one. Scotts son Brady is 15 now. When he was 7 this was his race bike that Scott and I put together.
Custom sized Standard frame with carbon fiber forks. Most of the various bike parts were nickle plated, then Scott used his gold plater to apply the 22 karat gold plate. I did all the clearcoat and layed out all the various stickers. Was definitely a sight on the track!

Ok, back to the fish tank


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

In anticipation for the new Reverse Osmosis system, I figured I had better figure out where to put it. And then figure out what I will need to do to put it there....
Needless to say it has been a bit of a long weekend spent re-arranging and creating water plumbing. Water heater had to be moved to the left and back to give enough room for the 55g food grade drum. The drum will be used to collect and store the RO water. And now for a few pics of yesterdays progress.


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## Maryland Guppy (Dec 6, 2014)

The things we all do to accommodate the hobby! >>>


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

A few more progress pics. RO unit and TDS meter arrived today. Figured I would add a little bling to the RO unit with some copper lines as opposed to the colored plastic lines. Still a bit more work before I can actually fire it up.


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## Maryland Guppy (Dec 6, 2014)

OOhh copper, bling similar to gold plate! :surprise::surprise::surprise:


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