# 90 Gal. Arts & Crafts style DIY stand (warning: mucho pics!)



## PDX-PLT (Feb 14, 2007)

I finally got this done. What with interruptions for Xmas presents and other smaller projects and my business travel (94,000 frequent flyer miles last year on one airline alone); it took way too long. But it’s done now, which actually feels kinda -- weird.

My son and I had convinced LOML to go along with having a BIG aquarium in the living room. So this was going to be a showpiece, not a backroom “fishroom” tank. 

I wanted the stand to look like a piece of furniture. Most commercial stands sit flat on the floor, and have doors that are wider than they are tall, both of which are cues that scream “fish tank stand”. So after verifying that the floor at the intended location could handle the point loads, I came up with a design that stood on 4 legs instead. Also, the front consists of 4 narrow doors, rather than 2 wide ones. With no center rail, when the doors are removed from their hinges there is a single wide opening available, which eases installation of filtering and other equipment.

I did the design initially as a Stickley-type Arts & Crafts piece, using Quarter Sawn White Oak (QSWO). But rather than using something like ebony or walnut for the plugs and inlays, which one would do for “serious” funrniture, I decided to use something more, uh, “whimsical”. Hey, it’s an aquarium stand, right? So I used bloodwood. Not only is it very colorful, as a South American wood it’s very appropriate for this stand, as the tank is intended for Discus and other South American species of fish.

The stand has the same dimensions as the tank, 48½” wide by 18½” deep. the tank sits on a piece of 12mm Baltic Birch plywood that forms the top of the stand. I had originally planned a somewhat lame, mitered piece of trim that would wrap around the plastic bottom frame of the tank to hide it, and also extend down to cover up the edge of the plywood top. I wasn’t wild about the idea, but it seemed the obvious thing to do. But I came upon a good book about Greene and Greene furniture, and decided to add elements from that style instead. The corners became interlocking fingers with plugs, with a lower extended piece to give the illusion that the tank is sitting on a table top. In inner edge is dadoed to wrap around the tank frame, in order to hide it as much has possible without adding undue thickness. The 4 “straps” are a Greene and Greene feature. I like the feeling they give that the tank is “strapped down”.

As I mentioned, the rails and stiles are ¾” WSQO. Panels on the sides and doors are 6 mm Baltic Birch plywood, veneered with QSWO veneer on the front, and rift sawn WO veneer on the inside. Top, back and bottom are 12mm Baltic Birch ply panels. The front top rail is reinforced with a 4” wide by ¼” thick steel bar mounted behind it, to ensure it doesn’t sag across the span due to the weight of the tank. At each of the corners, the bottom few inches are built up to give the illusion of 2¾” thick legs. The bottom of these legs are bored out to make room for stainless steel adjustable feet I got from McMaster-Carr, that have a rating of 700 lbs. each. And all the plugs and inlays are bloodwood, as are the door stops. Knife hinges and bullet catches are from Brusso, and the door pulls are from Lee Valley. The plugs on the doors are purely decorative, but the plugs on the frame hide dowels that reinforce the Mortise & tenon joints. I use aluminum rod as they are much better controlled in size than wood dowels, yet are still easily machined.

The finish is real simple: some Watco Medium Walnut Danish Oil, with a couple of thick coats of gloss polyurethane varnish, with a final coat of satin poly. It’s thicker than I normally would like, but I figured in this application a bit more protection was warranted. 










































































Door stops and bullet catches. In the background it can be seen that the top few inches of the plywood back is doubled up, to provide a better bearing surface for the top, and as a reminder not to drill any holes in that area:










Inside back corner. Plastic plugs cover holes that allow the leveling feet to be adjusted with a screwdriver:










I took a bunch of pictures during the construction. Here are the clickable thumbnails for your enjoyment:

When you don’t have a vacuum press but you have lots of clamps, this is how you can veneer the panels:  

Dry-fitting the side rails and stiles:  Bottom leveling feet:  

Side panel glue-up: 

Side panels and front rails. Steel reinforcing bar in back of top rail shown:   

Front glue-up:  

Bottom panel glue-up. Screws driven up through cleats into panel, so no clamps were needed: 

Back glue-up; my boy supervising. Back sits in rabbet in sides, and glued to bottom using biscuits for alignment: 

Top glue-up. Biscuits used for alignment. The interesting thing here is that the four clamps in the corners put as much load on the stand as the full aquarium will: 

Aluminum dowel pegs the M&T joint. It’s epoxyed in place, and trimmed with a router: 

Trimming the plugs:   Door rails and stiles: 

Rails and stiles dry-fitted, and slot routed for panels. 9/32” Whiteside slot cutter is perfect size for veneered 6 mm BB ply: 

I “hid” rare-earth magnets in the top rail, in case I later wished to add reed switches to turn on lights when doors are opened: 

Trimming door pegs:   

Inset doors need custom-fitting. 0.030” plastic strips from hobby shop match Brusso hinge spacing: 

All doors fitted!: 

In order: to align the bullet catch holes perfectly, drill a pilot hole through the rail and into the door simultaneously: 

Blanks for the straps. I made lots as I may use them in the canopy later. The hard part radiussing the inside corners: 

One of the router jigs to machine the straps:


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## metageologist (Jan 10, 2008)

incredible job absolutely love the stand are the darker pieces of wood Cherry


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## daFrimpster (Mar 7, 2005)

I have clamp envy!!!
You can never have too many clamps!!
But you are getting close!


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Wow, something tells me this isn't your first woodworking project. Absolutely beautiful, and very good engineering behind it too. What type of light fixture will you be using over the tank?


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## Tex Gal (Mar 28, 2008)

Man your stand is gorgeous. It will compete with your tank! Sure wish I could hire you!


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## smoq (Feb 19, 2008)

Your stand is amazing. I wish I could have all the tools you had for the job. Beautiful piece of furniture, really.


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## eric_c (Sep 25, 2008)

That's an amazing stand! I love the quarter sawn oak and all of the craftsman details.


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## roybot73 (Dec 15, 2007)

Fantastic! I'm a _huge_ fan of the Arts and Crafts style and build furniture myself!

Excellent job! Nice Greene and Greene accents in the exposed splines and peg details.

5 stars!


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

That is gorgeous! Can't wait now to see the rest of the setup inside the tank all come together!


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## airborne_r6 (May 2, 2008)

For some reason I cant see the pictures.


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

Damn, that's a nice stand...absolutely beautiful! You can't say it any other way!


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## airborne_r6 (May 2, 2008)

Cool I can see the pictures now. I hate my computer.

I love your stand. I am not much of a fan of Greene & Greene normally I always felt like they were too over the top with the excess length of the finger joints and the high plugs but I really like how you subtly incorporated their influence into your stand.


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## marrow (Feb 4, 2007)

beautiful job, what are you going to do for the canopy/lights?


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## moogoo (Dec 7, 2007)

beautiful stand and handy work. i wish i had the work area and tools to stretch my creative woodworking muscles!

great job! with attention to detail like this on your stand, i look forward to seeing your tank!


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## PDX-PLT (Feb 14, 2007)

Thanks to all for the comments.

You're right Hoppy. My "main" hobby is woodworking.

I haven't worked out a canopy design that I'm really happy with, so I'm putting it off for later. I want to get the tank and that automatic water change system set up. I've already run the plumbing from the laundry room to the living room, and have most of the system ready to go. 'just need to get the plumbing in the laundry room done.


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## intermediate_noob (Jan 23, 2007)

Wow, you are a true artist. This is an amazing piece.


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

Beautiful, you're going to enjoy it so much. I did a similar project and the thank has been up and running (with automatic water changes) for one year on April 1st. I appreciate the setup every time I look at it!

I really like it when an aquarium cabinet is the nicest piece of furniture in the house!


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## tzen (Dec 31, 2008)

I was feeling pretty good with the maple stand that I am just about finshed with...

This is the nicest looking stand I have ever seen. (Of course, that I go for arts and crafts style helps.) Great work.


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## kid creole (Dec 25, 2008)

This is the nicest stand I have ever seen. I asked my fiance (32 more days) to come look at it, just because it was so nice. I assume that is your son in the picture, what a lucky kid to get to learn from such a skilled craftsman and to be a part of a project like this.

Enjoy the tank. 

How many hours of your time go into something like this?


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## jim lockhart (Apr 26, 2007)

I've seen a many tanks here that I would consider works of art. But this is the 1st stand that is a work of art ! Awesome Job.

I like the clamps too.


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## PDX-PLT (Feb 14, 2007)

kid creole said:


> How many hours of your time go into something like this?


I was afraid someone was going to aks that. 

I'm guessing somewhere around 200 hours (a very rough guess).


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

PDX-PLT -

Gorgeous! Absolutely gorgeous build! Your craftmanship is awe inspiring!

The only thing that I wished you had done was to lay out the project in more detail for newbs like me.


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

Mine nowhere near this complex but is still the same basic structural design, I built the cabinet in under 45 hours...finishing it took forever because I used Cherry. The time was mainly due to doing sample boards and needing to do coat after coat of shellac and a couple of dye followed by zillions of wipe on poly. The curved canopy on the other hand was about the same amount of time (40 hrs or so) for a far smaller project.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/g...d-photos-before-after-replant.html#post590593

If you'd like to have a look.


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

I'm curious, what equipment do you have in your shop? Other than the standard drills, sander and a tablesaw...


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## PDX-PLT (Feb 14, 2007)

That's a good looking stand. Like I said, I think ones that sit on legs look better.

The time estimate on mine included finishing BTW (which takes forever).

As for shop equipment I have, it includes:

Delta Unisaw cabinet saw
Makita 20212NB 12" planer
Grizzly G9860ZX 12" jointer
Grizzly 20" drill press
Grizzly 16" bandsaw
Delta spindle sander
Grizzly 6" belt / 12" disc sander
Delta scroll saw
Grizzly 2 HP dust collector
Router table w. 3 HP Milwaukee router
Dewalt 618 handheld router

I think that's it.


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## lumpyfunk (Dec 22, 2004)

daFrimpster said:


> I have clamp envy!!!
> You can never have too many clamps!!
> But you are getting close!




LOL I couldn't agree more!

Beautiful stand!


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

Expected to see a mortiser in there, how'd you do the square cutouts for the accent wood?


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## PDX-PLT (Feb 14, 2007)

Oh yea, forgot the Jet desktop mortiser. I used it for the joinery tenons. For the square plugs, they were done by hand - the mortiser doesn't leave holes with edges that are crisp and clean enough.


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## houstonhobby (Dec 12, 2008)

This post is a real public service, even for those of us without the patience to do this kind of work. You might consider submitting the pics to Fine Woodworking's Current Work gallery.


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## yikesjason (Jul 2, 2008)

I love reading these DIY journals, but it is even better when it is done in my home town. One of the other great builds I have read is by MyEdsul from Salem. 

You seem to be a very busy person, so I imagine it will be a while still before we see a canopy and then later the tank in use. But, have you made any progress in that direction?

Once you do get finished and are planting the tank, keep and eye on the Oregon Plant Enthusiast group page. We get together for plant swaps ever few months and there are always extra plants.


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## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

Wow...your stand is incredible...I don't know what I'd look at first the tank or the stand!


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## PDX-PLT (Feb 14, 2007)

yikesjason said:


> I imagine it will be a while still before we see a canopy and then later the tank in use. But, have you made any progress in that direction?


The tank will get up up before the canopy's done. 

The tank's been sitting filled with water with the filter running for several weeks. The stand didn't collapse when I added the water. :icon_wink

I need to get the Auto WC system done before setting up the tank. The plumbing that goes in the stand is done, as is the piping and wring running from living room (where the tank will go) to the laundry room (where the water and drain connections are). I just need to finish up the part that's going in the laundry room, and test the whole system.


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## xGROMx (Sep 2, 2008)

*wow!*


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## CaliEAB (Aug 17, 2009)

*Wow! Double-wow!*

That is some really beautiful work. The joinery is both functional and elegant. I think that you've really hit the nail on the head (so to speak) in saying that too much of the fish furniture looks too rough. I think more tanks would be in the front room if the stands looked as nice as yours. Really nicely done.

CaliEAB


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