# 65 Gal Riparium Stand-(Name Change)



## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Sometime in the next few days I will hear, from the wife, "Why are you building another aquarium stand? How many do you need?" Well, hah hah, it isn't an aquarium stand, it's a riparium stand.:biggrin: Big difference! This time I won't need all of that storage room under the tank - nothing to store, but some fish food and fertlizer, and that can go in the kitchen in a unused cabinet.










This one will be made differently, using laminated plywood to build up the thick legs and cross pieces needed. I plan to use 3/4 plywood, probably "sanded" plywood, four layers thick, to make roughly 3 inch x 3 inch legs and cross pieces. I've never tried this before, so I may regret it, but it should be fun.

This is basically a modified copy of Hydrophyte's tank stands, minus the steel parts. And, I plan to veneer it with white oak veneer, and finish it with a light stain and clear polyurethane. Details to follow:


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## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

Sweet! Another project. Man, your always up to something.
I'm interested to see how the plywood works.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

This should turn out to be a cool stand! You always have great builds.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

After consulting with my CEO, it became apparent that my original design would never get the Board of Director's approval, so I added doors, making the shelf become an enclosed cabinet. At the next Board meeting this will be offered for approval. 
EDIT: Added light fixture.


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Hoppy said:


> After consulting with my CEO, it became apparent that my original design would never get the Board of Director's approval, so I added doors, making the shelf become an enclosed cabinet. At the next Board meeting this will be offered for approval.
> EDIT: Added light fixture.


 
Isn't it easier to ask forgiveness then to ask permission? :icon_lol:

Craig


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Craigthor said:


> Isn't it easier to ask forgiveness then to ask permission? :icon_lol:
> 
> Craig


To quote the CEO's last statement on the subject, "I know you're going to do it anyway, so go ahead." Good CEO's are hard to find!


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Today I went shopping to HD - big disappointment! All of the 3/4 plywood looked very iffy for doing this, but they did have a lot of 2' x 4' "handi panels" of 3/4 MDF, which looked very good, and the panels are a bit larger than 2 x 4, plus a bit thicker than 3/4. So, that is what I bought, 4 panels for $42.50. Now for the fun part - making little boards out of big boards.

It is always much easier and more accurate to make a lot of little boards out of big boards if you use a jig of some kind to ensure that they are all the same size. Here is what I made for that:









It lets me cut the big board into a bunch of 3 1/8" wide boards with no measuring and with the Skil saw guided for a straight line. The first cut:









I should be able to get 28 little boards out of the 4 panels, not quite enough, but I can go get another panel, or use 3/4 plywood scraps I have, if I have to, to complete it.

The major disadvantage of MDF is that it weighs so much. The completed stand will weigh more than a sheet of MDF, very heavy!


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Yay for progress! :thumbsup: This is going to be a really cool build, and I'm glad that you're already starting to fabricate the stand


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Hey you beat me to the punch. This should look good with that veneer. 

I have a new plywood laminate project in mind too. I was looking at some nice oak plywood, but opted instead for the--I think it's birch--"sanded plywood" because I already had several usable scraps.

It might take a while to start shooting and posting pictures because I have such a backlog.


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## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

Hoppy,
I was wondering...
If the MDF gets wet, will it expand and warp the stand, resulting in the tank sitting at angles that may put stress on the tank? Won't compressed boards expand if wet?
I guess it would have to sit in water to really expand...just thinking...


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Coltonorr said:


> Hoppy,
> I was wondering...
> If the MDF gets wet, will it expand and warp the stand, resulting in the tank sitting at angles that may put stress on the tank? Won't compressed boards expand if wet?
> I guess it would have to sit in water to really expand...just thinking...


This has been a long standing debate, where MDF is concerned. Some people are really afraid to use the stuff. But, in reality, most of the "wood" siding you buy for the outside of a house is now made of MDF. Most wood trim for the outside of a house is MDF. A few years ago I had a small garden and needed some stakes for tomatoes or beans or something, so I used strips of 3/4 MDF left over from making some cabinets. They lasted the whole summer, going through watering every day, and even when the rains came they still lasted ok. Eventually mold took over and softened them, but that was the first sign of weakness.

Particle Board, the old stuff that most LFS stands are made of, is different. When any water gets on it it swells


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## PDX-PLT (Feb 14, 2007)

Hoppy said:


> This has been a long standing debate, where MDF is concerned. Some people are really afraid to use the stuff. But, in reality, most of the "wood" siding you buy for the outside of a house is now made of MDF. Most wood trim for the outside of a house is MDF. A few years ago I had a small garden and needed some stakes for tomatoes or beans or something, so I used strips of 3/4 MDF left over from making some cabinets. They lasted the whole summer, going through watering every day, and even when the rains came they still lasted ok. Eventually mold took over and softened them, but that was the first sign of weakness.
> 
> Particle Board, the old stuff that most LFS stands are made of, is different. When any water gets on it it swells


I dunno about that one. Muxh of the siding on today's homes is cementboard; e.g. Hardiplank. Embossed Oriented Strand Board (OSB) is also seen sometimes. OSB used to be called "waferboard".

Interior MDF trim is very common. But exterior? Never heard of it. In my Pacific NW climate, it would be growing mushrooms in a couple of years.

Lots' of commercial stands are built from plastic-covered MDF panels, including well-thought-of "Euro" stands.


BTW, I liked the original stand idea. If you use Baltic Birch plywood, the laminated legs would look great, without any venerr over them. They'd look similar to alot of Scandinavian furniture.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

PDX-PLT said:


> I dunno about that one. Muxh of the siding on today's homes is cementboard; e.g. Hardiplank. Embossed Oriented Strand Board (OSB) is also seen sometimes. OSB used to be called "waferboard".
> 
> Interior MDF trim is very common. But exterior? Never heard of it. In my Pacific NW climate, it would be growing mushrooms in a couple of years.
> 
> ...


It may be that MDF shiplap or similar siding is only sold in areas like California, where it is semi-arid. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't try it in the Pacific NW. But, for an aquarium stand, getting wet would be a rare occasion, not a continuous one like on house exteriors. For sure, ordinary particle board would be a disaster as an external siding.

I looked seriously at using Baltic Birch plywood to make this, but it wouldn't have resulted in a style that would go with the other furniture we have, so I gave it up in favor of something I could veneer. The Baltic Birch would have cost just a bit more than I will spend on the MDF plus the veneer. I hope someone tries Baltic Birch, just to see how nice it will look.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Starting the glue up. The first 4 boards.









This is clamped on a piece of plywood that I confirmed has square corners.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Gluing on the first front to back "beam" layer. So far, so good.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Starting to glue the bottom cross pieces. If I had more clamps this would go faster.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Another day, and now adding the middle layers of the lamination, at the top.


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## JDowns (Mar 6, 2008)

Looking great Hoppy. Couple tips on veenering MDF that I've picked up. Contact cement will soak in very easily resulting in multiple coats being needed. You can pretreat the MDF with a thinned down shellac. Two coats will seal it very nicely and also offer some moisture protection. Then you will only need one coat of cement. Just lightly sand prior to cement with 0000 steel wool. For the board edges prior to any sanding and shellac Water Putty rubbed in wll give you a nice smooth edge. Wood conditioner instead of shellac will also do the trick.

What are you going to veneer it with? I have some paper backed burled maple left over that I could put in a tube that just might be enough depending on dimensions. I'll measure what I have when I stop by the shop today.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Enough work for one day! It is all 3 layers thick now, and I'm starting to think that a 4th layer will add only weight and not much needed strength, but I'm tired now too. Here is the last of the 3rd layer:









JDowns, I'm thinking about veneering with the same yellow glue I'm assembling this with. It is much more forgiving and, while it isn't recommended for that, I don't see why it wouldn't work. I know MDF is kind of sponge-like, when it comes to anything with a solvent in it. But, I did my light fixtures with siingle coats of contact cement, and it worked well enough for that. Much smaller though. I am planning to use white oak veneer from the Woodcraft store near me, http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2005170/4098/Oak--Flaky--12-Sq-Ft-Veneer-Pack.aspx to match the existing light fixtures. I can get quarter sawn "flaky" oak for the same price as plain sawed veneer, so I will probably use that. I need about 3 foot long pieces, about 24 square foot, give or take a little. Thank you for the maple veneer offer though - I appreciate it.


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## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

nice work hoppy. that thing looks indestructible!


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

oldpunk78 said:


> nice work hoppy. that thing looks indestructible!


Yes it does! You should be proud. :icon_mrgr


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## VisionQuest28 (Apr 18, 2007)

Veneering is something i would really like to learn to do. There are some amazingly beautiful veneers available, and i spent some real time researching them and the how to part of it. I was looking to do a custom stand and canopy, but decided it was beyond my skill level. I still plan on doing SOME kind of veneer work though, even if its just a test run to try it out.

Anyway, good looking as always Hoppy!


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

I can always use this as a stand to prop up my car for maintenance - all I need is a pair of ramps. It must surely be strong enough without the 4th layer of MDF, but I now think I will add that layer just around the top, to reduce or stop any creeping of the MDF under load. That layer goes on the inside, invisible, so it won't change the appearance, and the proportions now look just right to me.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

So this stand is 36 inches long, right? I wish that my stand for my 40 breeder looked that sweet but I don't have the tools to make cuts like that.
I'm jealous :biggrin:


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## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

I am looking forward to seeing this thing veneered.
That stand is going to be indestructable!


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

clwatkins10 said:


> So this stand is 36 inches long, right? I wish that my stand for my 40 breeder looked that sweet but I don't have the tools to make cuts like that.
> I'm jealous :biggrin:


Yes, the stand is 36 1/2 inches long by 18 1/2 inches wide. I'm working in my garage, using a Skilsaw, a power miter saw, which is just a convenience, a hand jig saw, also for convenience, clamps, glue, square, pencil, and tape measure. Years ago I made a sofa and matching coffee table from laminated birch boards, with only a hand jig saw as a power tool. All it takes is some care, a willingness to do sanding, and, in the case of the sofa and coffee table, some boards of the right width and thickness. This tank stand is not, by any means, a precision piece of woodworking.

I do need to point out something I quickly re-discovered while doing this: MDF forms a fine powder as "saw dust", which blows everywhere, and is a bit irritating. Some people are allergic to it. Plywood would be a better choice considering that.


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## VisionQuest28 (Apr 18, 2007)

Hoppy, im not sure if i missed it or not... But is there a reason that you went with this method instead of the more typical 2x4 (or whatever) frame and ply skin? Was it a purely visual decision, or was it something else?


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

I don't want to speak for anyone, but I know that my reason would be that it is much easier to keep things straight and accurate in MDF than it is with 2x4's.

Looks like a cool build hoppy. I wish my CEO would be so understanding of these situations


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Regloh said:


> I don't want to speak for anyone, but I know that my reason would be that it is much easier to keep things straight and accurate in MDF than it is with 2x4's.
> 
> Looks like a cool build hoppy. I wish my CEO would be so understanding of these situations


You are right to some extent. The MDF is super consistent, straight and flat, making everything else much easier. But, I got to this point by first greatly admiring Hydrophyte's stand, using 2 x 4's and steel construction parts. When I showed photos of those to the CEO I didn't get a positive reaction, and that is an understatement! But, I still liked it. So, I figured out why I like it so well, and concluded that the proportions are a big reason. So, I started trying to see how I could make one like those, but without the steel parts. That meant making big mortice and tenon joints in legs, and cross pieces. But, I'm not equipped or interested in doing that. So, I remembered my experience making a sofa and table by laminating birch boards to form the joints. I was heading in that direction when I got cold feet thinking about the problems I would have with the heavy load and differential expansion of the wood pieces possibly breaking the joints. That led me to using plywood. But, Home Depot's plywood selection was depressing. But, I saw they had good quality MDF panels, of a size that would let me fit them into my car without having the clerk there cut a 4 x 8 sheet for me. And, that got me to where I am now.

Today I used my small portable belt sander to clean up all of the outside surfaces. Lots of dust! Next, will be doing the same on the harder to reach inside surfaces.


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## PDX-PLT (Feb 14, 2007)

FWIW, you can certainly use yellow glue with veneer, especially with the flexible paper-backed it sounds like you plan to use (that's what I used on the panels on my stand). However, the trick with using yellow glue is getting sufficient, uniform clamping pressure. You end up using lots of clamps; the guys that do it alot have vaccum press setups that are pretty neat. In contrast, with contact cement you don't need any clamps.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

PDX-PLT said:


> FWIW, you can certainly use yellow glue with veneer, especially with the flexible paper-backed it sounds like you plan to use (that's what I used on the panels on my stand). However, the trick with using yellow glue is getting sufficient, uniform clamping pressure. You end up using lots of clamps; the guys that do it alot have vaccum press setups that are pretty neat. In contrast, with contact cement you don't need any clamps.


Have you ever tried the technique where you use yellow glue as a thermosetting cement? As I recall, you just let the glue dry on both pieces, then apply them with heat from an ordinary iron to soften the glue and get it to set again as it cools. I just hate contact cement because it is totally unforgiving of any mistakes.


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## airborne_r6 (May 2, 2008)

Hoppy said:


> Have you ever tried the technique where you use yellow glue as a thermosetting cement? As I recall, you just let the glue dry on both pieces, then apply them with heat from an ordinary iron to soften the glue and get it to set again as it cools. I just hate contact cement because it is totally unforgiving of any mistakes.


The trick to using contact cement is laying a bunch of thin straight wires on the wood after the glue is dry, then laying the veneer on top of the wires. This allows you to position the veneer exactly where you want it and then you pull the wires out one at a time slowly sticking the veneer in place. As long as the wires are clean and the glue is dry when you put them down they only stick a little when pulled out. You can also use dowels or thin pieces of wood but they tend to stick more.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

airborne_r6 said:


> The trick to using contact cement is laying a bunch of thin straight wires on the wood after the glue is dry, then laying the veneer on top of the wires. This allows you to position the veneer exactly where you want it and then you pull the wires out one at a time slowly sticking the veneer in place. As long as the wires are clean and the glue is dry when you put them down they only stick a little when pulled out. You can also use dowels or thin pieces of wood but they tend to stick more.


I have used dowels, pencils, scraps of wood, etc., but inevitably the veneer slips a bit when I pull out the first piece and the veneer is permanently stuck in the wrong place. But, I may still use it for this, and try the wires instead. Attempting to get even clamping force over a large area is daunting prospect. And, you only have a minute or so with yellow glue before it starts to set up and you still don't have the parts in contact. 

Another thing, when I coat the veneer with contact cement it usually tries to curl up into a tube. That hasn't yet given me a major headache, but I can see one coming!


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## airborne_r6 (May 2, 2008)

The wire that works the best is the heavy guage wire they use to hang suspended ceiling grids.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

All of the edges of the laminations now sanded, with a small belt sander and a random orbit sander. Both are hand tools, well worth their cost. It took about 2 hours, where it would have taken a week if I did it by hand sanding.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

That looks cool. I bet that was a lot of dust.

Do you know what you will do for the side panels and doors? Will those veneered too?


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

hydrophyte said:


> That looks cool. I bet that was a lot of dust.
> 
> Do you know what you will do for the side panels and doors? Will those veneered too?


The two ends of the tank will have 1/4" thick, probably hardboard panels, veneered with the same veneer, and probably just screwed to the insides of the legs. The back will be open. The front will be frame and panel doors, with the jury still out on whether to make them from MDF, veneered, or solid red oak from Home Depot, and the panels from 1/4" hardboard veneered with the same veneer. I plan to join the stiles and rails of the doors using biscuits (I think I still have some), route out a recess on the back side for the panels, and just glue them in place after veneering them. I will use hinges like http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2001644/2946/1-x-2-12--Silver-(2).aspx to avoid having to buy a fixture to drill the doors for Euro hinges. 

Still lots to do on this!


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Two pieces of veneer glued on, one still clamped. I gave up on using contact cement because of the impossibility, for me, of doing it with 4 pieces per side, and making the joints between ends of veneer be neat. This is normally done by cutting the pieces of veneer to size, using paper tape to hold them together, then gluing the assembly to the base wood. That is like saying all it takes to get from an airplane at 10,000 feet and the ground is to jump!

So, I'm using yellow glue, applied first by squeezing it out approximately even on the MDF surface, then using a 1" brush to brush it out thin and even. Then quickly get the veneer piece in place trimmed to length accurately (for the joint at each end), but oversize on width. Then a scrap piece of MDF and a bunch of clamps clamp it down to dry. Twenty minutes later, do the next piece.


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## PDX-PLT (Feb 14, 2007)

Hoppy said:


> Have you ever tried the technique where you use yellow glue as a thermosetting cement? As I recall, you just let the glue dry on both pieces, then apply them with heat from an ordinary iron to soften the glue and get it to set again as it cools. I just hate contact cement because it is totally unforgiving of any mistakes.


I've nver done it myself, but that is a technique some people use.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

All of the outside faces, except the back, now have veneer, but only roughly trimmed. That's 12 pieces of veneer glued on, and about 16 to go! Tedious, but not terribly difficult. The pieces of veneer are 6 3/4 inches wide, and about 48 inches long, so I first cut them in half lengthwise, with a utility knife. Then cut the pieces a little long, glue them in place, and use the utility knife to roughly trim them to size. The final trimming before adding a piece at right angles, on the legs, for example, is easy with the utility knife too. I won't win any prizes for fine woodworking on this, but the appearance should be very nice.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

The stand looks very nice! I like the openness of it! Are you still going to have to add doors?


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

clwatkins10 said:


> The stand looks very nice! I like the openness of it! Are you still going to have to add doors?


I like the proportions of it this way too, but my CEO wants the bottom part enclosed with doors, and I learned many years ago not to disagree too much with the CEO. But, I do like the appearance of it with doors too, based on my sketch.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Hoppy said:


> I like the proportions of it this way too, but my CEO wants the bottom part enclosed with doors, and I learned many years ago not to disagree too much with the CEO. But, I do like the appearance of it with doors too, based on my sketch.


Ahh, that's good. Better to learn than to be sorry


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## accordztech (Dec 6, 2004)

nice job, seems like we are doing the same project lol.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

A milestone today! I spent my 100th dollar on this project, buying 2-6 foot lengths of oak 1 x 2's at Home Depot. As usual with a wood project, things go much slower as you get closer to the finished product. Today I got the two end panels attached, and I'm ready to tackle the doors - 1 x 2 rails and stiles and 1/4 inch veneered panels in the middle. All with a minimum of tools, too.

The end panels are 1/4 inch hardboard veneered with the same oak veneer. I glued it on with yellow glue - bad idea! The veneer buckled a bit in the middle from the moisture in the glue. So, I tried the technique where you use a hot clothes iron to melt the yellow glue and make it stick again. That worked pretty well, but the final result still isn't as good a a contact cemented job. Veneering small areas is very easy, but the difficulty goes up with the square of the size of the piece of veneer. I'm still wondering if I can control the curling of the veneer from contact cement, well enough to make that work at all. One technique I read on the internet is to dampen the good face of the veneer before applying the cement to the back face. That should work since I'm using water based contact cement. Any other suggestions?


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

Hoppy said:


> As usual with a wood project, things go much slower as you get closer to the finished product.


You're funny. Most people, besides me finish their projects A LOT faster than anything I do, including you


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Regloh said:


> You're funny. Most people, besides me finish their projects A LOT faster than anything I do, including you


I always get impatient and rush through the final finishing operations faster than I should. I envy those with the patience to do 6 coats of finish, with careful sanding between them.


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## mountaindew (Dec 10, 2008)

Finishing fine woodwork is an art all by itself! I grew up in a custom cabinet shop and designed millworks for a couple other shops over the years with decent finishing booths and good tech and people! All said the finish was by far the hardest most critical part of the process. It was easy to turn a 10k$ set of entry doors into something you put in the showroom or in your own home after the owner rejected it!

The only process I have found more difficult is FINE acrylic fabrication. Not much on the finish end but the glue up can be technical, an art, a science and down right luck as to how well it turns out! Plus it has to hold under a fair amount of stress. Skip one step, failure to grade / check all surfaces and 1k$ or more of plastic is scrap that you use on another project.

md


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

The door frames got glued together yesterday, using 00 bisquits to reinforce the joints. The bisquits are a bit too big for that size wood, but I can cut the excess off, and that part of the door only shows if the doors are open. Today I hope to get the recess routed out for the panels to be glued in.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Today I cut the panels for the doors from scrap 1/4 inch plywood, and used contact cement to veneer them with my white oak veneer. The contact cement makes a much better looking job than the yellow glue did, and was very easy, because I used a box of common yellow pencils for dowels to separate the veneer sheet from the panel before removing a pencil at a time to lower the veneer onto the panel. I also sponged some water on the good side of the veneer before coating with the contact cement. That worked, but not perfectly. The veneer still curled a bit, making it harder to handle.










Now I need to trim the outer edges of the doors a bit to fit them to the opening in the stand.


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## essabee (Oct 7, 2006)

Hoppy said:


> I always get impatient and rush through the final finishing operations faster than I should. I envy those with the patience to do 6 coats of finish, with careful sanding between them.


My maternal grandfather used to tell me to think like a hired person under time contract payment (payment by work hours) when constructing anything. That way I would never get impatient to finish the job. :icon_mrgr


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

essabee said:


> My maternal grandfather used to tell me to think like a hired person under time contract payment (payment by work hours) when constructing anything. That way I would never get impatient to finish the job. :icon_mrgr


I probably do think like a hired person, but one on a fixed price contract - finish that job, pick up the check and move on!

My dad was a woodworker all his 90+ years of life, but back when he was doing it the only DIY glue was casein glue powder, mixed with water to make a very strong, but very brittle glue, and his finish was limited to natural varnish, which took several days between coats. He would carefully sand between coats, use 3-4 coats, and still end up with a not-so-good finish. I just use acrylic water based finishes, 2-3 coats, and get slightly better finishes than he did. Only once in my life did I do a long careful job finishing - on a hope chest for my daughter, and it came out with a perfectly beautiful finish. So, I've been there, done that, and now I just pick up the check and move on!


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Finishing done! All that is left is to buy the hing


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## accordztech (Dec 6, 2004)

hehe how many trips did you take to go to the store for supplies lol.

ill tell you right now, lowes has **** for hindges, ho depot and OSH on laguna is probably the best and most organized. If ur buying just a knob home depo beats osh by 2 dollars....lol i went back and forth for days.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

accordztech said:


> hehe how many trips did you take to go to the store for supplies lol.
> 
> ill tell you right now, lowes has **** for hindges, ho depot and OSH on laguna is probably the best and most organized. If ur buying just a knob home depo beats osh by 2 dollars....lol i went back and forth for days.


I'm lucky because my local HD is about a mile from me, so it is a quick trip. And, yes, I did make a lot of trips. My total cost is going to be about $120, and most of that went to HD, a little at a time.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Doors installed, but still need a bit of trimming and adjusting before they will open and close easily. I plan to wait to move this to the "final resting place" until I remove my existing tank/stand/plumbing, probably a week or so, maybe longer.


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

That looks really nice Hoppy! 
Handles will come last I assume  They always do...

Boy, I wish I had the time and energy to do such a project...


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## CAM6467 (Feb 11, 2009)

Turned out real nice Hoppy. You should be proud of yourself. I really like the non-traditional approach that you took by laminating several smaller boards together to make your legs, rails, and styles. This is a good show of craftsmanship. 

Regards,

Charlie


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Thanks, guys! And, yes, the handles come last, after the CEO makes the choice or delegates it to me. I have some left over handles from my kitchen cabinets, so I suspect those will be the choice.

I ended up using this type of hinge, from HD http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hard...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053 These are pretty easy to install, are totally hidden, work well, and don't cost too much. But they also don't give much adjustment range, so care in installing them is necessary.


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## JDowns (Mar 6, 2008)

Turned out really nice Hoppy.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Very good job! I want one


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## accordztech (Dec 6, 2004)

Hoppy said:


> I'm lucky because my local HD is about a mile from me, so it is a quick trip. And, yes, I did make a lot of trips. My total cost is going to be about $120, and most of that went to HD, a little at a time.


yea lowes is about 1 mile from me, however i like how home depot in your area closes at 10...makes good for late night things. If you need any tools let me know


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

That sure is a very nice looking stand.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Left C said:


> That sure is a very nice looking stand.


Thank you! The stand does look exactly like I wanted it to, except for my somewhat sloppy woodworking in some areas. Eventually someone will point and say "why is it like that?". And I will say "I'm an artist, it looks like that to make you think."


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## mountaindew (Dec 10, 2008)

My favorite line is "The flaw is there to let the spirit out"
Then comes the funny look.


Navajo Indians always weave a flawed stitch into there rugs to let the spirit out.
great thread, good reading!
md


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

mountaindew said:


> My favorite line is "The flaw is there to let the spirit out"
> Then comes the funny look.
> 
> 
> ...


Great line! I will remember that one.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

That veneer turned out great. 

I can't wait to see this with tank on top.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

One last photo, with the stand completed, installed in the living area, with the light fixture hanging over it. Now, if I could just get my 57 gallon tank delivered to the LFS.


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## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

that is a very attractive stand. i love the proportions. great work!


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## mountaindew (Dec 10, 2008)

Hoppy,
Very nice finished project. Your mdf bd construction method with vaneer was fun to follow. 
I find the pvc pipe light hanger distracting from the quality of your build. With the overall look of the stand and canopy a nice matching wood light hanger would complete the project with style and flair.
just my 2 cents 
md!


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

mountaindew said:


> Hoppy,
> Very nice finished project. Your mdf bd construction method with vaneer was fun to follow.
> I find the pvc pipe light hanger distracting from the quality of your build. With the overall look of the stand and canopy a nice matching wood light hanger would complete the project with style and flair.
> just my 2 cents
> md!


It is always a trade-off when you hang the light fixture. My previous mounting for this light was a cantilever arrangement, that allowed some limited height adjustment, but not enough for what I want now, and the cantilevered design proved to be not quite strong enough to suit me. But, it was largely invisible from the front.

The conduits, being white, similar to the wall, shouldn't be very visible, with the tank on the stand. So, that was my compromise. A wood hanging mounting would have drawn attention to itself, in my opinion, so I rejected that idea. I liked the idea of the single conduit bracket, from the side, but that didn't prove out either. (And, my wife disliked it.)


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## essabee (Oct 7, 2006)

The quite corner when finally set up. All that it would need now is a comfortable chair.


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## redman88 (Dec 12, 2008)

well i am not married and have yet to find the one. but i know that when the wife doesn't like it it ain't going to fly.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

I agree those white pipes look good against the white background. PVC probably would have looked cheap and would have been too flimsy, but I understood that those are steel conduit painted white, which will have a different look.


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## mountaindew (Dec 10, 2008)

I was thinking some wood "L" brackets attached to wall, similar in size and finish to the legs of your base cabinet would tie it all together. Another option would be a trellis over tank again made with similar dimensions to your cabinet legs all finished to match.
As you stated the ceo has to approve and thats what counts! 
Looking forward to the display tank install to further compliment this nice clean setup! 
md


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## AccidentProne001 (Nov 19, 2011)

I can admire that stand. Very nice work, Hoppy.

My dad would always laminate small pieces into larger works _just because_ small bits were basically free all over the place everywhere, what with construction going on big time. He'd be annoyed at us cutting up a big piece of good wood if it wasn't necessary. The laminations were even in 3-D like a puzzle.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Laminating real wood can be tricky. My dad was a woodworker, with a very small budget. When I was a kid we heated our house with wood stoves, so buying firewood was an annual event. One year we got lots of walnut firewood, so my dad "swiped" some of it and cut it with a band saw into boards, which he then laminated to make a nice living room table. But, over the years the pieces of wood swelled and shrank until eventually lots of cracks showed up. With MDF, that isn't a problem. That's where cheap is better.


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## AccidentProne001 (Nov 19, 2011)

Hahah ! My dad made a little shop, metal lathe and drill press and band saw mainly made out of wood...which he used to then make hand tools...screwdriver and chisel handles, clamps, and so on. Flintstone style. I have one of his store-bought hand tools which I'm using on these stands I'm re-doing now. It's a _Trollhattan No. 227_ handsaw from Sweden. The only other tools I have are disposable _Ryobi_ drill and saw and so on.

I think I've developed a nice way to assemble the 2x4 stands; assemble the posts and screw-on dummy posts into 4 block type units - and drop them between top and bottom frames - then secure the screw-on dummy posts to the frames.


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## demonr6 (Mar 14, 2011)

Making this would have resulted in multiple trips to the Centra Care clinic up the road, countless dollars spent at Lowe's because of wrong cuts or blood stains all over the wood, not to mention burning down the house somehow. Yeah, after the last DIY stand attempt I decided to spend the $500 on the prebuilt stand vs. the other route. How much do you think it weighs now? Looks as stiff as a brick sh1thouse.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

I haven't weighed it, but my guess is that it weighs around 75-100 pounds. I was picking it up in my garage as I worked on it, but it wasn't easy for me to do so. Remember, all it is is "wood" and glue, except for the veneer covering. And, the wood strips are all the same width, straight rectangles. You could buy 3/4 inch thick wood boards, birch or poplar, for example, and almost all of the cuts would just be cutting pieces to length. Then when you glued it up, the amount of sanding you would need to do would depend on how much care you took doing the glueing. Many years ago I made a coffee table and a sofa frame using this same technique and birch wood. My only power tool at that time was a jigsaw, and not a very good one. I did all of the sanding that time using a wood sanding block and sheets of sandpaper. Those two pieces of furniture were in use by me for at least 15 years, with no problems, and are now in use by someone else.


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## demonr6 (Mar 14, 2011)

Did I mention the trip to the Centra Care and the burning down of my house?


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## AccidentProne001 (Nov 19, 2011)

-I used some of these designs...with the good angles created, it's very comfortable with even minimal padding. Just plywood with some 45 degree cuts made at the store and then glued. 


http://www.amazon.com/How-make-furniture-without-tools/dp/0394730631
The book "_How to make furniture without tools_" comes with it's own paper ruler to measure with. Because that it is all you need. The pieces can be a bit heavy.


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## AccidentProne001 (Nov 19, 2011)

Hoppy, do you ever use MDF ? I've never used it...I was really put off by finding out how much it weighs.

I consider the plywood furniture kind of permanent, or at least can be made into scrap bits of nice painted plywood - but the MDF is outrageous from what the spec sheets say !

Item Weight	91.552 Lbs.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

I have used a lot of MDF for various things, from cabinets to a work bench top, to this stand. It is heavy, no question, but it is also very uniform in thickness, very flat, and easy to work with, even though the dust is hazardous. It is one of my favorite materials.


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## demonr6 (Mar 14, 2011)

Crap.. the dust is hazardous?!


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## AccidentProne001 (Nov 19, 2011)

demonr6 said:


> Crap.. the dust is hazardous?!


In The State of California. They should just label what isn't. I try not to breathe dusts and I hate wearing the masks ( which don't seem to ever seal properly ), so that's it for MDF. I'm starting to get paranoid of breathing in dust from the dog food ( even though the brand is made from human food grade stuff.) I think they'd laugh if I put on a mask in order to feed the dog


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

MDF is made with a glue that contains lots of urea formaldehyde-based resin to hold it all together, and formaldehyde is considered to be carcinogenic. You can get MDF that is formaldehyde free, but it is more expensive and hard to find. But, lots of hardwoods produce hazardous dust, too, so the goal is to use a dust mask when creating any kind of wood product dust.


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## cblwry (Sep 15, 2010)

I just saw this today when I was looking for Riparium stands. Good job Hoppy!! Heavy or not it looks great!! (and I agree with the CEO....it looks better with doors.) :biggrin:


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## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

Very Nice! As a fellow DIYer I appreciate the effort.

Hoppy how many hours do you think you have in the build in actual labor, design & supply accusation?

The reason I ask is for the people that don't understand why custom stands cost what they do. I think this will be the thread I'll refer those folks to in the future.


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## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

Hoppy: paint the cord with white fusion paint. That'll help the look. And pay no attention to the conduit-opposers. Once the tank is there you'll never notice it. Nice work.


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## scapegoat (Jun 3, 2010)

is it possible to get some close up pictures of the build process? i'm interesting in seeing how you cut and placed the mdf pieces. I'd love to make a stand for my 90 in this style and the thought of using 4x4's and getting a straight product is terrifying. MDF seems like the way to go


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