Diy Stand Project

[GCTS]

Hello!

I've started my own stand project. It may last a long time, but in the end, i wanna have something good, with quality. Since it's my first time, i have some questions, specially about the structural issues.

If you can, please lend me a hand in those questions:

1) The four main legs have 5cm x 5cm x 80cm. Are they thick enough?
2) Wich wood shoud i use? (i live in Brazil, i've got a considerable variety of woods)
3) The tank size is 100cm x 40cm x 60cm(high). Total of 240 liters (63.4 gallons). So, i expect at least 300kg, including the glass. Is the stand safe?

Felipe

 

[IT-FishGuy]

Hello!

I've started my own stand project. It may last a long time, but in the end, i wanna have something good, with quality. Since it's my first time, i have some questions, specially about the structural issues.

If you can, please lend me a hand in those questions:

1) The four main legs have 5cm x 5cm x 80cm. Are they thick enough?
2) Wich wood shoud i use? (i live in Brazil, i've got a considerable variety of woods)
3) The tank size is 100cm x 40cm x 60cm(high). Total of 240 liters (63.4 gallons). So, i expect at least 300kg, including the glass. Is the stand safe?

Felipe

You can find a good article on how to build a rock solid stand by running a Google search. I found one months back and followed the instructions and it turned out very well and it is solid. As far as wood goes I used Plywood and 2X4s, it was cheap for me. Here are some links, but it's a matter of personal choice.

http/www.google.com/images?client=opera&rls=en&q=DIY+fish+tank+stand&oe=utf-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=z5jXS5OiM8P88AbJjvnIBQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CBsQsAQwAw

The link below is the guide I used.

http/www.aquariumlife.net/projects/diy-aquarium-stand/56.asp

 

[IAmATeaf]

Never was any good with woodwork but to my untrained eyes with the legs being splayed out at that angle wouldn't the weight of the tank and water be a problem and cause them to spread and would therefore be a weakness?

 

[chrisbassist]

If you could add a panel at the bottom , underneath the legs, so they all com down onto it, it would help spread the weight of the tank, rather than it just being focused on 4 points.

Also it would turn the bottom bit into a triangle, and we all know how strong they are... Don't we?

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum GCTS.
The stand that you show in the picture has a very nice design. By slanting the supports, it incorporates several, triangles which will strengthen almost any design. A 5 cm square board is large enough to be very strong in compression but will not withstand much bending force. I use boards somewhat less than that as the main supporting members in most of my stands. Your stand design will be very strong and will easily support your tank if you can build it with no loose joints anywhere in the short support pieces. I find that accurate cuts of such supports, to obtain a perfect fit, are difficult to make. There are many considerations involved in building a strong stand that I tried to enumerate in my own stand build thread. I ja=have a link to it in my signature area called "My Stand Thread". My attempt is not nearly as artistic as the stand that you are contemplating.

 

[GCTS]

Hello and thank you all!


IT-FishGuy,
Ty, those article you sent me will be very usefull. I've tryed a couple of tutorials, but most of them are about standards stands, the retangular ones. I am having some difficulties in using a new shape... one example is in the picture i'm attaching here.

IAmATeaf,
That's why making this project for real will be a rewarding challenge. All i want is breaking with the retangular stardard and by that, motivating others to do so. But in order to do that i'll need all hands avaible. I'm not at all a experienced carpented, just a motivated dreamer.

chrisbassist,
The panel you refer is a "sandwich" of wood boards? Have any tips to me on buildind that?

OldMan47,
TY too! I was thinking about using glue and screws or nails in the small parts(in the picture i called 'em of A):

My stand design had some inspiration in the roman archs, in this case, the friction was enought to hold togheter the bricks without concrete. But in my stand, they are not binden togheter, it's different... i'm thinking about holding the sticks with glue and distributing the weigth along the main leg with a screw/nail. Having a precise cut will be hard to me, since i'm not a good carpenter. If i could just slide the "A" sticks along the "B" till they feel tight and glue/fixate them would be lot easier... but maybe not safer. What do you tell me?

Many thanks!

 

[Christoff]

Hi GCTS.

I'm currently building my own stand based on Boost and Oldman47's efforts (thanks for sharing guys!) and the guide in the faq. Your stand is a good looking design. Have to say though as a DIY novice I'm finding it hard enough to cut square ends and butt joint them together, let alone cut the angled supports that your piece calls for. As oldman47 says the tricky bit will be cutting the exact correct angles at either end of the supports. If the cut at either end of pieces A is not exactly the correct angle I think you'll have difficulty sliding it up or down piece B as it won't fit snug when you try to glue and screw it. Also even if the angles are correct you'll need exactly the right lengths or (and I'm no expert) it won't be structurally sound as it won't be supported regularly across the length of the top piece. Besides, aesthetically it will look odd if there are random gaps between your supports.

But definitely go for it! Recommend knocking together a model in softwood first if you were thinking of doing it all in hardwood (which can be expensive, at least in the UK). Let us know how you get on. Plan to start a blog of my efforts soon!

 

[OldMan47]

It is a bit risky going on to rely on screws for your support. If you could dowel those pieces on each end or even use a mortise and tenon joint it would prevent any slipping and be much stringer than a screw in the same location.