# Wood choice for DIY stand build?



## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

Building a 2x4 frame is easy. Making it look good... not so much.

I've researched all available local wood, even went to a local lumber yard to see better grades of wood. Choosing wood seems to be what I'm caught up on, because I am already thinking ahead about how I want it finished... and I would prefer it to be stained.

Stand design will be simple, along the lines of..

http://www.fishtanksdirect.com/imag...ardStandand12InchCanopyFinishedinColonia1.JPG

This will need both ply sheets for large surfaces, and boards that do not show ply ends for detail spots.

Ive been reading/watching many things about staining/dying, etc, etc, etc woods... What I've discovered is that there is no "trifecta" choice for wood to use in a project.

Pine - Many different sizes and qualities of pine boards. Have not found and FPS plywood boards that are even worth finishing. The better pieces have ugly grain and even some filler and cracks. However, there are lots of pine moldings that could be used. Remember, staining requires same wood types. Pine is difficult to stain.

Blondewood/Whitewood - These ply boards are finish/capable, possibly some variant of FPS, but its unknown if they will take stain same as the boards. They have absolutely no grain, so why bother with stain?

Oak - Limited sizes of oak boards. Larger ones (10" for canopy header) are prohibitively expensive ($100+ for 1x10x8'). Some decent sheets of oak veneer ply, but again do not seem to match closely oak boards. Very few oak moldings that are not pre stained.

Maple - Some finish worthy maple sheets with nice grain, limited sizes of maple boards. Notoriously difficult to stain.

MDF- My feeling is that if the project will be painted, why use anything other than MDF? It doesnt warp, is strong, smooth, can be bought primed, many sizes/shapes, cost effective.



I'm drifting towards maple ply and maple boards. Because its difficult to stain, I might just use a clear finish, although I wanted espresso.

Any suggestions for wood type to use that stains well, and is available in good range of sizes and affordable?


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## mbkemp (Dec 15, 2016)

Affordable is an issue. If I was building and wanted stain I would use red oak. The veneer won’t match perfectly but nothing else will either. 


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## Maryland Guppy (Dec 6, 2014)

2x4 etc, stand construction is easy.
You could clad this whole project with birch plywood (most affordable) and trim.
Birch stains fairly well.

Oak ply cladding is another option and moldings are available if you don't mill your own.
If milling your own oak stock a shaper with high end cutters are needed.

Veneer is another art form of it's own.
It is cheap but the art is in the application.

MDF will accept veneer well but it still requires a special touch.

I resorted to pine grade #2 canopies due to the lack of #1 pine being available.
I use shellac on everything, but that is another sour subject from previous postings.

Luck!!!


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

I realize not everybody has the same tools or skill levels, but here is an example of something I did using pine 2x4's, some birch 1/4" plywood and no nails or screws - only glue.

















I will agree staining pine and trying to make it perfect is no easy task. Much happier staining oak (done a lot of oak projects).


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## mbkemp (Dec 15, 2016)

Very nice


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## lbacha (Apr 13, 2011)

Edge joined aspen boards are easy to work with, finish well and don't warp. I've built 2 cabinets with them and have loved working with the wood. I use clear pine for the support structure and the aspen on the outside. My stands have no outside hardware so I can get away with a clean look.



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## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

Immortal1 said:


> I realize not everybody has the same tools or skill levels, but here is an example of something I did using pine 2x4's, some birch 1/4" plywood and no nails or screws - only glue.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I dont have a woodshop and few tools. I have a jig set up to make straight cuts with a circular saw.

I have wanted to get a router, and it would bring a wide range of cabinet doors and trim into reach.

Shellac wo wax, followed by multiple passes of gel stain is one way. A better way seems to be spray on dye, but that is a chemistry lesson and lots of experimentation. Would be good excuse to get spray gun.

Because i cant do much detail carpentry, i will focus on a quality finish and minimalist design.


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## GraphicGr8s (Apr 4, 2011)

Plywood, even the better grades like oak has different grades. The look of the grain depends on how it is cut from the log. Most of what you find, the "cheap" stuff is a simple rotary cut. The log is rotated against a knife. That gives you the cathedral grain. You can get sliced cut veneer also but it is more expensive. There you can get the quarter sawn and book matched panels just like a solid wood.

If you're not finding quality plywood are you looking at the cabinet grade? In Cabinet Grade there are no voids nor any fillers. But again it is generally a rotary cut veneer so a cathedral grain pattern.

That cabinet you want does not require any 2x wood. Built correctly a plywood or solid wood cabinet will be as strong and a lot lighter. And it can all be done with a circ saw, a long straight edge and a router. Hell I've built high end wall units with little more than that. Well that and some clamps.

You talk about the price of the wider solid boards. Glue up your own. In fact if you decided to go with a solid wood instead of plywood you could glue up the panels yourself. It's a simple edge grain joint. And that joint is mighty strong enough. No biscuits required. 

I like pine. I love the home depot 1x4 super strips for great knotty pine. Made an entire set of kitchen cabinets out of them and the woman that bought my house said that is the thing that sold her on the house. I built them in my garage on an extension cord.

If you do get a router also get, or build, a router table. The one I use the most is simply a laminated plywood with a cutout for the router plate. I attach it to a fish tank stand with clamps and use a simple fence I built.
You can make quite a few different moldings with a router. A shaper isn't needed.

Finishing pine is not that hard. The key is to use a sealer aka wood conditioner to avoid blotches. Thing is while pine is a softwood and gets blotchy on finishing cherry is a hardwood and has the same problem. Gel stains make finishing them both a bit easier. Even in stains there are a myriad of choices if you stay away from the low end stuff like minwax although I do use it a lot. 

BTW if you look at woods like oak if you want that super smooth finish you are going to use a filler before you stain it.

If you do decide to do a cope and stick door, or anything that has rails and stiles the stiles, that part where you attach the hinge, runs full length from top to bottom. The rails are in between the stiles. Running the rails over the stiles is the wrong way to do it. BTW you can build a simple panel door with nothing more than a router, table, and a slot cutting bit.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

When first learning a new art, I never favor going for the tough projects first. It is a learning thing and starting tough is a sure way to fail so go simple and then after doing a few and acquiring tools, take the next step higher. For your tools and experience, a 2X4 frame and then clad with whatever plywood you favor will be difficult enough to challenge you. End cuts that show? That is where the experienced folks know to use trim. 
If it turns out right but not what you want, you can likely sell it easy enough and go for doing a second , tougher stand to keep. But if the first is not right, at least you will have less loss if you have to put it in the fireplace?


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## lbacha (Apr 13, 2011)

I hear people mentioning 2x4's I would recommend you use 1x4's or even 1x3's as it will make the stand a lot lighter and not sacrifice strength as you are going to add plywood or panels to the outside of it


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## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

lbacha said:


> I hear people mentioning 2x4's I would recommend you use 1x4's or even 1x3's as it will make the stand a lot lighter and not sacrifice strength as you are going to add plywood or panels to the outside of it
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I started with the utilitarian 2x4 design and it creates more problems than it solves.


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## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

GraphicGr8s said:


> Plywood, even the better grades like oak has different grades. The look of the grain depends on how it is cut from the log. Most of what you find, the "cheap" stuff is a simple rotary cut. The log is rotated against a knife. That gives you the cathedral grain. You can get sliced cut veneer also but it is more expensive. There you can get the quarter sawn and book matched panels just like a solid wood.
> 
> If you're not finding quality plywood are you looking at the cabinet grade? In Cabinet Grade there are no voids nor any fillers. But again it is generally a rotary cut veneer so a cathedral grain pattern.
> 
> ...


This is exactly where my thinking has been trending.

Router and router table - On my list. I am getting my mind around building my own table, *but I have a bit of a fish emergency that needs the 75g to be up and running soon*, so I have been pondering simpler designs. I think I will build the stand, and leave the doors, routing etc til after the tank is up... although having the router to shape the "fender" trim would be nice. 

Re: joining pine into boards.. I realized that is the way pine builders create large surfaces. But I would need a table and frame to clamp the pieces together while the glue dries. Videos show specialized metal desk tool for this. *Inexpensive way to do this?
*

Building with ply.. The problem is that the ends are unsightly. (*Are there sheets where the ends can be finished? How?*) I realize that 90% of furniture design is based on working around the shortcoming of available materials. 

Aside, does it appear that the guy who built this stand used plywood with ends showing? He said he used maple plywood, but the ends look like wood. How do you do this kind of construction without ugly ends?











(It appears that he cut end caps from wood.. ???)


Cabinet grade plywood? Ends would still be visible so it would just buy me better appearance, not simplified construction. I went to a local lumber yard, they had a selection of "select" and COB wood (pine, red oak, and I think poplar.) But no cabinet grade ply. *Where to get?
*

I am generally frustrated because building the stand is delayed by having to locate attractive ply with matching boards, trim, and researching how to stain so I don't make a big mistake later on.


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## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

Found this.. Screen moldings? This opens up some interesting possibilities.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

You can buy iron on wood edging. or attach solid wood strips to the ends (common)..like you see..
Kreg Newsletter


pipe clamps...pipes are more expensive than the clamps..
assembling panels is "not" for the squeamish..
Used to build bar tops w/ 21/2" sq oak strips..After gluing (carefully. trick is not to squeeze out ALL the glue) then down to an industrial planer to finish.. well main pre-finish..

as to doors many big box hardware stores have "buy and finish" door panels.. 
Using plain plywood panels is fine for these smaller doors though (w edging ) though if you look around at old kitchens you'll find they often skipped it and just rounded the edges..

Generally the most expensive part is a forstner bit and template (usually metric) to attach the euro hardware

not sure of your local supplies but birch panels and aspen/basswood mouldings are certainly common where I live.
also oak/oak.. Actually red oak moulding is a lot cheaper than clear pine..

aspen plywood cabinet grade is relatively cheap..


Luan works well too. bit soft but it has nice grain (phillipine mahogany) and molding to match is pretty easy to find..
Can be hind of slivery..


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

You don't need 3/4 panels to skin a 2x4 frame for the main panels..










When all else fails..



> Go to a local cabinet shop (small shop). They can skin it fast and inexpensive. I did


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## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

jeffkrol said:


> You don't need 3/4 panels to skin a 2x4 frame for the main panels..



I've been moving towards 1/4" veneer ply, with solid wood rails. 

Then the question becomes door construction, because only way to use that thin ply for a door would be for a center in a hand built door. And the frame then dictates the door attachment points. .. 

So for the doors, I either need to commit to:

A) Building door panels from wood boards (not for faint of heart as you mention) and not look I am going for.

B) Solid ply panels, but they would need the edges treated, either with that end tape (stain won't match) or small cuts from a matching wood board.

C) DIY Cabinet doors (needs router)

My original plan actually called for two recessed ply doors, which would hide end grain when closed, but would require special hinges and other construction gotchas.


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## Oughtsix (Apr 8, 2011)

I have used 2x4 and 2x6 fir in a lot of projects including aquarium stands. In my opinion you really need a jointer and planer to mill building lumber into lumber suitable for building furniture. The 2x4's you get from any store will be all over the map for dimensions even if you are able to find boards that are relatively straight. If you start your project by jointing the 2x4 flat then bringing them all the the same dimensions on the planer you can make some pretty decent frames that can be encased by sheet goods pretty easily. Without decent piece to piece dimensions to start with trying to make anything that looks decent if very frustrating. I realize that not everyone has access to a jointer and a planer... but if you can find access (woodworking class at the local community college is what I did way back before I could afford to purchase used machines of my own) you will probably end up with a much better piece.

I am a maple fan! I gave up trying to stain maple many years ago. If you want to use maple I recommend learning to like blond furniture. On maple an oil based finish (polyurethane) will turn it quite yellow. A water based poly or lacquer will give you a much whiter finish with hardly any yellow. If you must try staining maple I would recommend spraying on the stain instead of trying to wipe it on... especially with hard maple. After you spray the stain you let it dry to a uniform color and you do not wipe the stain off after letting it sit for a while.

If I want a darker piece I will usually pony up for walnut sheet goods. Walnut really comes alive with an oil based finish (1/3 spar varnish, 1/3 boiled linseed oil, and 1/3 turpentine is an excellent finish for walnut). Cherry is another beautiful wood that works great with an oil based finish. Cherry starts out a little pinkish but ages to a gorgeous mid tone brown color in a year or so.

I am not a fan of oak... but many people will fume oak with household ammonia (ala Arts and crafts furniture) for a beautiful light brown color.

Bump:


ChrisX said:


> I've been moving towards 1/4" veneer ply, with solid wood rails.
> 
> Then the question becomes door construction, because only way to use that thin ply for a door would be for a center in a hand built door. And the frame then dictates the door attachment points. ..
> 
> ...


There is a building supply outlet an hour or so away from me (In Salem Oregon) that has tons of framed panel doors of all sizes. If you can find such a place locally I recommend starting with a nice set of doors then designing the cabinet to accept them.

Rail and style doors can be done with a heavy duty (3hp or so) router in a solid router table but you are really much better off using a shaper. Just the shaper cutters (or router bits) for rail and style doors is a considerable investment. This is where you might want to look for a wood working class at the local community college.

Another thing you might want to consider is applying a layer of fiberglass to the inside bottom of your stand. This will make it pretty impermeable to the inevitable spills and is really pretty easy to do!


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## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

Oughtsix said:


> There is a building supply outlet an hour or so away from me (In Salem Oregon) that has tons of framed panel doors of all sizes. If you can find such a place locally I recommend starting with a nice set of doors then designing the cabinet to accept them.
> 
> Rail and style doors can be done with a heavy duty (3hp or so) router in a solid router table but you are really much better off using a shaper. Just the shaper cutters (or router bits) for rail and style doors is a considerable investment. This is where you might want to look for a wood working class at the local community college.
> 
> Another thing you might want to consider is applying a layer of fiberglass to the inside bottom of your stand. This will make it pretty impermeable to the inevitable spills and is really pretty easy to do!



I like the light maple look. Nice to know it comes from a water based poly. That might be what I do if I can find nice maple ply and doors. 

I have been watching videos on dying and spraying dyes seems to be the way to go. I could get an inexpensive air gun that works from the compressor in my garage (I think.) I would definitely make good use of an air gun on future projects.

Designing the cabinet around the doors...great idea! The only issue I see is that a set of large doors probably costs what a router does. The shaper bits indeed are expensive, but amazon has some relatively inexpensive import versions. Teach a man to fish...

Fibreglass on bottom, another great Idea. I have had the pleasure to work with this stuff a couple times. . . . If you are referring about the surface under the tank, my only concern is that fibres not lay flat and it creates an uneven surface. Or maybe you mean to just use the resin?

Thanks!


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## Oughtsix (Apr 8, 2011)

I was actually referring to the inside bottom of the stand... where you keep your canister filter that always dribbles a bit when you remove the hoses. I agree with you, I would not fiberglass the top of the stand where the aquarium sits because it would no longer be flat and it might tweak the aquarium. I fiber-glassed the inside bottom of the stand I built for my little sister... she loves the protection it provides and not having to worry about little (or even medium) spills inside the cabinet. It also added a considerable amount of unneeded strength. For her stand I found a nice Corian remnant which machines easily with wood working tools and glues up easy with epoxy for making a lip around the bottom edge.

I have an expensive 3M spray gun and a few HarborFreight cheapies. For woodworking the HarborFreight cheapy guns work just fine. I use my gravity fed HF spray gun the most because it is very convenient and does a very nice job. You can run a HVLP spray gun on a pretty modest compressor and get excellent results.









For only $16 dollars I have gotten great results with this HF spray gun.


Oil based polyurethanes make the grain of darker wood "POP"... but make blond wood very yellow. Water based polyurethane isn't nearly as yellow (not really yellow at all) but can make the grain look a little flat (opposite of popping). Water based poly is very very durable. Lacquer does not yellow and gives a bit more depth to the grain. Lacquer dries very quick (15 minutes) and I would highly recommend spraying Lacquer from a gun or rattle can. Lacquer is not as tough of a finish as oil or water based poly but it is still quite durable.


I think you are on the right track with spraying dyes instead of trying to wipe on stains. I gave up on coloring wood with stains and dyes long ago and have come to appreciate the natural character of the wood (This is just my opinion though and I am in the small minority... many people get excellent results with stains and dyes... don't let me talk you out of using them!).

I purchase my router bits and shaper cutters from Grizzly tools and I am VERY pleased with their quality. You will need a ~3hp variable speed router in a sturdy table for a large bit like a rail and stile bit. When you add up the price of the router, table, a decent fence and a good rail/style set you might find that you are close to the price of a used shaper. I paid $100 for a 2hp 40 year old 3 phase shaper from craigslist then spent another $150 on a VFD to run it on single phase 240v (typical house service) current. It works beautifully and gives much smoother results than my 3hp PorterCable router in a heavy stand.

Unfinished maple cabinet doors at my local builders outlet are $5 - $10 each depending on size. They also have a lot of oak and MDF. There are also companies that specialize in cabinet doors and that is all they do. They have pretty elaborate CNC machines that will spit out a cabinet door of any size with very minimal labor involved. I know some professional woodworkers will custom build cabinet carcasses and order the matching doors... they often find they custom door shops are cheaper than what they can make a cabinet door for... just another thought for cabinet doors.


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## [email protected] (Jan 14, 2009)

Birch ply, edge banding. It's worked for me for 40 years it so.

Jeff

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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

ChrisX i've been following this thread and just thought I would throw my 2 cents in for you.

I am no expert woodworker, and but have built several nice pieces of furniture, including my current stand.

Here's a quick explanation of what I did. Not the cheapest way to go, but you end up with a high quality furniture grade piece. 

I built mine using all dimensional oak lumber, no 2x4's or ply. For me, stained ply looks just like what it is, stained ply. I built it basically with a Kreg pocket hole jig and glue. It's a bit more work, but seemed like a more elegant solution. 

For the doors I ordered unfinished custom ones on line. I couldn't justify the cost of the tools I would need to do it properly, and it saved a lot of time. And there are plenty of choices of unfinished oak trim pieces available to finish it up properly.

Now this is isn't for everyone, but it is another option. The entire build cost me about $700.00 (stand is for 5' 120G tank) in materials, but to have someone build it in this fashion would have cost many times that.

I have a video on the first page of my journal (linked below) that shows the unit going together. Again, just another option, but any way you go I am looking forward to seeing what you come up with.


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## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

Greggz said:


> I have a video on the first page of my journal (linked below) that shows the unit going together. Again, just another option, but any way you go I am looking forward to seeing what you come up with.


Now that I know about edge banding, my design has formalized and I know what I'm going to build. 

Without edge banding, all my designs were based on clever and attractive ways to hide the plywood ends, which involved hardwood boards and molding. Mixing wood types then creates issues when finishing.

I've learned a ton about woodworking and furniture construction techniques these past couple of weeks. 

This is a low cost plywood build. I'm not ready to invest (and ruin) expensive wood on a trial build. I still have hopes to dye the wood in an attractive way.

This video inspired my plywood/edge tape design.


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

ChrisX said:


> This is a low cost plywood build. I'm not ready to invest (and ruin) expensive wood on a trial build. I still have hopes to dye the wood in an attractive way.


Perfectly understandable, I get that and the type of build I did is not for everyone. The funny part is when you added the part about "ruin" to your post. It brought to mind a thought I had when the stand was finished. Looking back, there were about a million things that could have gone wrong. I don't know if it was extensive planning, or sometime dumb luck, but somehow it all worked out. 

Good luck on yours. Much like me, it looks like you are going to spend far more many hours planning and researching than actual building.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

One of the best things about DIy on stands is that we can each choose how to go about it, even though that is also one of the hard points. Deciding which fit us best gets into lots of decisions that are personal. For me, there are different needs/wants than for the next guy.
Some mention the weight as a reason for not using 2X but I find them necessary to get done what I like. I move my stands at times when I find I need them somewhere else, either to redo the floor or simply to get better use out of the room. So that leaves me wanting a stand that I can pry up and put rollers under to move it around. This can be done with a 2X base which could not with a 3/4 ply edge. 
Also I find good reasons to use the 2X on other points. Weight of the stand matters little to me so I go for the other points. 
One is the wider wood at corners gives me far more solid contact between the frame and skin, making glue without nailing much better and far less likely to allow "drumming" when I use thinner skins. I hate noise and vibrations can be a real killer when using thin ply that is not well supported. I do not do time consuming cuts on frames and the wider wood allows for better corners and the wood is also much cheaper. It does take some looking to find the truly straight lumber but there are tricks to getting that done. When choosing lumber, I find one that appears to be straight and lay it down parallel to another. If I can turn each over several times and the edges meet on each side, they are straight. Forget the old guys that try to look down the length to get it right! Look at the ends for crowning but it is not the easy way to judge straight.


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## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

Greggz said:


> Perfectly understandable, I get that and the type of build I did is not for everyone. The funny part is when you added the part about "ruin" to your post. It brought to mind a thought I had when the stand was finished. Looking back, there were about a million things that could have gone wrong. I don't know if it was extensive planning, or sometime dumb luck, but somehow it all worked out.
> 
> Good luck on yours. Much like me, it looks like you are going to spend far more many hours planning and researching than actual building.


Originally I was going to hack up and reuse an old MDF desk. The desk was hacked up, but mostly it was used for practice with the circular saw. I realized it just wouldn't do. This led to a storm of research, planning, and design.

The stand is based on the ADA design, except that it also has a matching canopy. Ideally I would like it to have the modern light maple look, but I may go with birch and a darker stain. 

I have figured out a way to make all the exterior cuts with a single sheet of plywood.


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## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

PlantedRich said:


> One of the best things about DIy on stands is that we can each choose how to go about it, even though that is also one of the hard points. Deciding which fit us best gets into lots of decisions that are personal*. For me, there are different needs/wants than for the next guy.
> Some mention the weight as a reason for not using 2X but I find them necessary to get done what I like.* I move my stands at times when I find I need them somewhere else, either to redo the floor or simply to get better use out of the room. So that leaves me wanting a stand that I can pry up and put rollers under to move it around. This can be done with a 2X base which could not with a 3/4 ply edge.
> Also I find good reasons to use the 2X on other points. Weight of the stand matters little to me so I go for the other points.
> *One is the wider wood at corners gives me far more solid contact between the frame and skin, making glue without nailing much better and far less likely to allow "drumming" when I use thinner skins.* I hate noise and vibrations can be a real killer when using thin ply that is not well supported. I do not do time consuming cuts on frames and the wider wood allows for better corners and the wood is also much cheaper. It does take some looking to find the truly straight lumber but there are tricks to getting that done. When choosing lumber, I find one that appears to be straight and lay it down parallel to another. If I can turn each over several times and the edges meet on each side, they are straight. Forget the old guys that try to look down the length to get it right! Look at the ends for crowning but it is not the easy way to judge straight.


The stand was started with 2x4 build. I rebuilt the stand with much more accuracy so that would translate to better skinning.

I also have realized that with thicker wood, you can use construction screws to attach the skin to the wood frame. If things are nailed, glued, I am not as confident that the skin can be manhandled during transport.

Another advantage of the 2x frame construction is that it is (usually) dimensionally the same as the tank. Plywood stands, the exterior surfaces sit within the plane of the tank, which influences the overall design.

Bump:


Oughtsix said:


> I was actually referring to the inside bottom of the stand... where you keep your canister filter that always dribbles a bit when you remove the hoses. I agree with you, I would not fiberglass the top of the stand where the aquarium sits because it would no longer be flat and it might tweak the aquarium.
> . . .


Like x1000


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

FYI.. 
https://www.familyhandyman.com/wood...out-getting-blotches-and-dark-spots/view-all/


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## lbacha (Apr 13, 2011)

Here are some shots of my edge joined aspen stands (the aspen comes in 4' lengths in different widths between 18" and 30"). 

The aquarium stand had a hinged door on the front, the hardware is completely hidden so it has nice and clean lines.

The terrarium stand has removable panels. I did this because I couldn't easily hinge the doors to open past 90 degrees and I thought that would make it a lot more difficult to work under the cabinet. They just slide out and when in place make the front look like one solid panel which is the look I was going for.

The terrarium stand was much easier to construct due to the removable doors so that is an option for you. You could easily skin a 2x4 or 1x4 stand with hardwood veneered plywood the same way and just glue a 1/8" x 3/4" wood cap to the edges of the plywood. I would recommend looking into the aspen as it is easy to work with and a lot lighter than plywood, I got mine at lowes, but if you can't find it plywood would work.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

aliphatic wood glues are quite strong.. Stronger than screws..
Actually most of the laminate cabinets (Melamine boards) I built used silicone and screws,..Screws were basically to hold it together till the "glue" dried..  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_glue


hmmm... seems PVA glues are finally up to speed..
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...TB.sflb.ashx&usg=AOvVaw3vFPvD41DnDG4lngHpaW0r


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## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

lbacha said:


> The terrarium stand was much easier to construct due to the removable doors so that is an option for you. You could easily skin a 2x4 or 1x4 stand with hardwood veneered plywood the same way and just glue a 1/8" x 3/4" wood cap to the edges of the plywood. I would recommend looking into the aspen as it is easy to work with and a lot lighter than plywood, I got mine at lowes, but if you can't find it plywood would work.


I haven't found any aspen locally. It's probably a western variety.


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## lbacha (Apr 13, 2011)

I live in Cleveland Ohio and found it here was a few years ago now


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## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

Had a chance to look at the wood stock at HD today...

The only ply with acceptable grain for finish was 3/4" 4x8' Birch. Mostly whitish and uniform grain pattern. The thinner plys have ugly "wild" grains with joins.

I realized my current design is contingent upon getting a good finish (prestain, dye, water poly) with lots of sanding, using edge veneer, wood filling defects, etc.. The devil is in the detail.

I wanted this kind of look (how hard can it be, right!?):









Moving the plywood boards, I also realized 3/4" birch ply is too heavy for a large canopy. Using that heavy ply for a skin is redundant and would triple the weight.

I'm going back to a previous design that may not be great, but that will get built (and one that I won't be cursing myself for the time wasted.) 

Pine it is! Thin veneer ply! (The wood doesn't have to match) Paint! Yay!


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## Maryland Guppy (Dec 6, 2014)

Made it through all of the tough decisions!:grin2:


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