# DIY ADA-style stand: 60p tank



## Clinton Parsons (Apr 11, 2016)

I'm sure it will turn out great! I have the ADA stand. Peace of crap with cheaply done paint job.


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## jumpzakjump (Jun 15, 2015)

Here are the pieces just resting together. No glue/biscuits in place yet. Here you can see the door, it will sit about 1/2" off the ground when in place. The front panel and top panel aren't shown here. Updates to come! Hopefully I'll get to gluing tomorrow and have this finished by next weekend. I am itching to get my tank set up, but I enjoy the building process xD


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## Ilikefish (Aug 25, 2016)

wish I have the tools to cut plywood

Bump: wish I have the tools to cut plywood

Bump: wish I have the tools to cut plywood


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## jumpzakjump (Jun 15, 2015)

Ilikefish said:


> wish I have the tools to cut plywood
> 
> Bump: wish I have the tools to cut plywood
> 
> Bump: wish I have the tools to cut plywood


All you really NEED is a hand saw...if you're adventurous enough..and have lots of time


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## GraphicGr8s (Apr 4, 2011)

jumpzakjump said:


> All you really NEED is a hand saw...if you're adventurous enough..and have lots of time


Love that grain and color.

While I have my shop setup with a radial arm in my bench what I use for busting sheet goods is a circ saw with a good blade and straight edge clamps. My blade cost me more than my saw. But it's going strong even after making miles of cuts.

Hope you're not counting on the biscuits for any strength. I'd look at glue, biscuits for alignment and pocket screws.


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## redavalanche (Dec 7, 2014)

Looking good. The grain is awesome.

As for tools you can do a good job with a standard circular saw. The key IMO is to replace the blade with a better quality one with a few more teeth.
Make one of these to get straight cuts. How to Make Straight Circular Saw Cuts | Woodworking Jigs


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## GraphicGr8s (Apr 4, 2011)

redavalanche said:


> Looking good. The grain is awesome.
> 
> As for tools you can do a good job with a standard circular saw. The key IMO is to replace the blade with a better quality one with a few more teeth.
> Make one of these to get straight cuts. How to Make Straight Circular Saw Cuts | Woodworking Jigs


Good link. One thing though you can use the factory edge of plywood for your straight edge. In reality you could cut the other end of that at an angle or an ogee shape and it doesn't matter. You are guiding your saw with the factory straight edge.

Bump: To the OP:
How are you going to hide the plywood edges?


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## jumpzakjump (Jun 15, 2015)

GraphicGr8s said:


> Good link. One thing though you can use the factory edge of plywood for your straight edge. In reality you could cut the other end of that at an angle or an ogee shape and it doesn't matter. You are guiding your saw with the factory straight edge.
> 
> Bump: To the OP:
> How are you going to hide the plywood edges?


I haven't determined that yet, looking around for maybe some type of laminate that might match, or just go with black. We'll see. As far as tools go, I used a table saw, mitre saw and track saw for most of these cuts (have a pretty extensive workshop). And no the biscuits and glue are just for holding pieces together. The strength will come from braces inside the cabinet. Also the side pieces extend the full length from the tank to the floor, they will bear most of the weight!


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## GraphicGr8s (Apr 4, 2011)

jumpzakjump said:


> I haven't determined that yet, looking around for maybe some type of laminate that might match, or just go with black. We'll see. As far as tools go, I used a table saw, mitre saw and track saw for most of these cuts (have a pretty extensive workshop). And no the biscuits and glue are just for holding pieces together. The strength will come from braces inside the cabinet. Also the side pieces extend the full length from the tank to the floor, they will bear most of the weight!


Same here on the workshop. I'm one of those that would rather move to another router table than switch bits during certain phases of things. Like rail and stile doors.

Can't afford a track saw so I use the straight edge clamps. Just got tired of hefty plywood on the table saw or the radial arm. 

To hide the edges you could use solid wood and a v cut with tongue and groove. Leave just a hint of wood on the face yet covers the edges nicely.


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## jumpzakjump (Jun 15, 2015)

GraphicGr8s said:


> Same here on the workshop. I'm one of those that would rather move to another router table than switch bits during certain phases of things. Like rail and stile doors.
> 
> Can't afford a track saw so I use the straight edge clamps. Just got tired of hefty plywood on the table saw or the radial arm.
> 
> To hide the edges you could use solid wood and a v cut with tongue and groove. Leave just a hint of wood on the face yet covers the edges nicely.


Yeah I was thinking solid wood for the edges also, the only places it will really need it are the two sides of the door, and the two sides of the front panel, so that won't be too much extra wood (trying to make this with all leftovers!) Thanks for the input everyone!


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## GraphicGr8s (Apr 4, 2011)

jumpzakjump said:


> Yeah I was thinking solid wood for the edges also, the only places it will really need it are the two sides of the door, and the two sides of the front panel, so that won't be too much extra wood (trying to make this with all leftovers!) Thanks for the input everyone!


Wouldn't the door be all four sides?

For the joinery I was talking look at the edge V-groove on this page

Plywood Edging Bits

On one project I just cut 1/4" strips of hardwood and ran them around the edges. I did rout a bead on it and mitered the corners. Made the strips a bit thicker than the plywood so after I was happy with the bead position I used a flush trim bit on the back side of the doors.


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## jumpzakjump (Jun 15, 2015)

GraphicGr8s said:


> Wouldn't the door be all four sides?
> 
> For the joinery I was talking look at the edge V-groove on this page
> 
> ...


Nice link, thanks! And it would be all four sides, but the bottom and top of the door won't be visible unless I open it which won't bother me at all xD. But for the edges, that v-groove looks perfect, thanks!


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## GraphicGr8s (Apr 4, 2011)

jumpzakjump said:


> Nice link, thanks! And it would be all four sides, *but the bottom and top of the door won't be visible unless I open it* which won't bother me at all xD. But for the edges, that v-groove looks perfect, thanks!


That would annoy the tar out of me. You'll see a bit of the solid wood on the sides when looking straight on but nothing top and bottom. I like symmetry in my cabinetry.


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## jumpzakjump (Jun 15, 2015)

GraphicGr8s said:


> That would annoy the tar out of me. You'll see a bit of the solid wood on the sides when looking straight on but nothing top and bottom. I like symmetry in my cabinetry.


Bleh..I'm torn. I do love the grain, but at the same time it's only ply so I am contemplating painting it all a solid color and maybe the front panel a different color to give it some pop. I don't want the stand to take away from the 'scape. I really like the simplicity of a solid-painted stand. Ideas?? Also this will eliminate the need to add the solid wood edges..even though it's not much more work I don't have a ton of time and no good wood scraps to use ):

What do you guys think?


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## GraphicGr8s (Apr 4, 2011)

jumpzakjump said:


> Bleh..I'm torn. I do love the grain, but at the same time it's only ply so I am contemplating painting it all a solid color and maybe the front panel a different color to give it some pop. I don't want the stand to take away from the 'scape. I really like the simplicity of a solid-painted stand. Ideas?? Also this will eliminate the need to add the solid wood edges..even though it's not much more work I don't have a ton of time and no good wood scraps to use ):
> 
> What do you guys think?


For the edging I would just buy one strip of solid wood and rip it down. 
I think a light color stain and some satin poly would enhance your tank and scape.

Shouldn't be all that much sanding. Can't sand the plywood too much lest you go through the veneer and the solid wood isn't all that much. Be a shame to hide that nice grain under paint.

The plywood will be a tad thinner so I generally center the edging then hit it with a flush trim bit to get it perfect.

Just thinking about that it's about what we do in printing when a client wants a bleed. (Ink off the edges of paper) We run larger paper and print the ink over onto the margins of the larger paper then trim it out. Only way to do it the right way.


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## jumpzakjump (Jun 15, 2015)

Just some more updates..sides, back, top, bottom and front panel glued and clamped! Waiting on special hinges for the door. Also got some three-way braces for every connection for extra strength!



















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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

OK, assuming the photos are the correct perspective.. Why have the top/bottom inside the sides..
Granted most tanks have floating bottoms so all the weight is really carried by the sides so you do get 
solid weight transfer from top to bottom but....???


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## jumpzakjump (Jun 15, 2015)

jeffkrol said:


> Granted most tanks have floating bottoms so all the weight is really carried by the sides so you do get
> solid weight transfer from top to bottom but....???


This is exactly the reason. I would much rather have most of the weight transferred completely from the tank all the way to the floor with 0 connections to worry about twisting or snapping. Also looks the cleanest from a side perspective...I would much rather see one solid piece instead of a top piece, a large side panel and a bottom piece, especially since this is only plywood..that would mean more ply edges exposed and more work ;p


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## jumpzakjump (Jun 15, 2015)

Just some more updates. Tank fits beautifully..flush with every edge. Picked out a nice stain to go with..it's honey maple gel stain..nice and light but really brings out the character of the wood. I'll probably do about 3-4 coats depending on how dark I want it and finish with poly.
I tried out some edge tape and different banding ideas to hide the ply, but I actually like the way the ply edges look stained..I know it's a sin to woodworkers around the globe but I think it looks interesting and homemade which is what I'm going for anyway.

Here is a test piece stained with only one coat..like I said it's light and subtle but brings out the darker grains nicely!









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## jumpzakjump (Jun 15, 2015)

The hinges finally arrived so I attached the door! They are hidden blum hinges with a soft auto-closing feature which is nice. Also drilled two holes in the sides for tubing to run through and one hole in the back for power cords. Ready for pre-stain and 1 or 2 coats of gel stain tomorrow...I'll probably do 3 total! Coming along nicely:grin2:


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## jumpzakjump (Jun 15, 2015)

More updates:

Applied first coat of stain tonight. Since it's maple I used minwax wood conditioner as a pre-stain. The stain I used is Minwax Honey Maple gel stain. Gives the wood a nice honey tone and brings out the darker grains nicely. 

Here are some before and after pics:

*Front view before stain*









*Front view after stain*









*Side view before stain*









*Side view after stain*









Next steps:

2 more coats of stain
Finish with a coat of satin poly
Install brackets on the inside for extra support
Enjoy it!


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## jumpzakjump (Jun 15, 2015)

Well I guess this is the final update! The stand is stained and poly'd. I went with a satin finish to give it a little shine. Here is the final product!










If you're interested in the rest of this tank's journal follow along here
Thanks!


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## monkeyruler90 (Apr 13, 2008)

amazing looking stand! I love the grain


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## jumpzakjump (Jun 15, 2015)

monkeyruler90 said:


> amazing looking stand! I love the grain


Thanks! Usually people don't use the grain side on maple ply, but I couldn't pass it up here...it jumps out so nicely!


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