415 Gallon Plywood Tank Build

acrylic51

Active Member
Sorry for no updates.... Work schedule, extra hours, training a guy for his cdl test....Getting ready to send the oldest daughter off to school!!!!! Not much free time at the moment.
The box does serve a purpose. The box does make it cleaner than seeing anything in the tank, but there is a video on Utube and it's obvious the affect the box does have on the tunze as far as wave production. When you see the video it is quite obvious. I'm opting for an external wavebox since I'm after a very clean look inside the tank.
 

acrylic51

Active Member
Been super busy at work and very little time spent on the build lately......Trying to figure out how to post pics without them being huge so anyone with some helpful advise please chime in!!!!!!!
Still working out ideas around the speaker area on the canopy. I have gotten a couple good ideas and have been playing around and will have to post some pics of what I have on that issue in a bit, but here is the slow progress I've made so far!!!!!!!
 
You can see in the pic that I have already cut the opening for the front access panel, and I also mitered the cutout to make the front panel somewhat seamless.
 
Kind of hard to get a full shot, but in this pic you can see all the bottom trim work is done and in place and that the top crown molding is going into place. I chose something simple and clean for the crown molding.
 
In this pic you can see the corner cap that sticks out in the room a bit, but it wraps around the corners, and you can see the cutout is done for the speaker that is already in place
 

acrylic51

Active Member
Here are some pics of it in the garage during the touch up and rough sanding....Hopefully the process will go rather quickly, but this is probably one of the most critical parts, because without proper prep work the finish is worthless. Also you'll see that the canopy is totally removable including the crown molding as well.
 

 

 

In this pic you can see the cutout for the speaker. Still working out ideas, but the worse part is over IMHO....You can also see all the
molding wraps completely round somewhat seamless, and it will be carried to the end of the piece as well!!!!
 

In this pic it shows the 45 miter I cut to allow the front panel to sit perfectly flush and hopefully it will prevent any light spillage from the
room behind the tank. That's probably 1 of my biggest pet peeves is light creeping through distracting me!!!!!
 

Excuse the messy garage....Not the neatest worker and have a bad habit of not putting things away when I'm done!!!!! LOL...I might
need them again quickly.
 

The front door panel of the canopy....Just showing the 45 miter cut on the door panel.
 

Just the front door panel propped into place. Not sure if I'm going to use a piano hinge or European style hinges in conjunction with
the adjustable dampers I had mentioned previously.
 

Alot of cutting, sanding and frustration at times, but so far very pleased, but the speaker area could lead to more cigarette butts on
the floor!!!!!!
 

2quills

Well-Known Member
lol...that looks pretty slick, man.
 
Have you been clamping and glueing the boards together to get the wider pieces or have you been purchasing them that way?
 
I like the idea for the shocks but how are you going to keep the panel closed, would you install a latch on it?
 

acrylic51

Active Member
Quote:Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///forum/thread/376802/415-gallon-plywood-tank-build/280#post_3302297
lol...that looks pretty slick, man.
 
Have you been clamping and glueing the boards together to get the wider pieces or have you been purchasing them that way?
 
I like the idea for the shocks but how are you going to keep the panel closed, would you install a latch on it?
Thanks Corey!!!! On some pieces I have been gluing and clamping and the ripping to size. I've actually on had to do that on a couple pieces. Actually I have a dowel jig, but hate doweling and gluing, but prefer to glue and use the pocket hole setup and glue. You know your not pulling it apart after that. Every last piece including the trim is dry fitted numerous times and then I wet bot gluing surfaces down and then attach them together.
As far as the front lid, I don't see any real reason to put a latch in place. With the use of the dual action dampers, it should hold it firmly in place, but how things should work, and do work are 2 different stories. If it does need a latch I will go with somethin hidden like a friction/adjustable tension ball catch.
 

al&burke

Active Member
handles for your canopy - I think it might look great with no handles, use those latches when you push they open, (not great with remembering names of things) Just my $0.02
 

2quills

Well-Known Member
The right kind of handles could be a nice touch. Not sure if I'll put any on mine or not since I don't think I'd ever actually use them to open the doors.
 
Yeah I was wondering about the boards because I essentially did the same thing on the front of my stand to get the width on each end. Used pocket holes and glue...the clamps just held the boards in place untill the screws were in. Wasn't sure if you had found somewhere to purchase the boards already done that way. I know you can find pine like that at lowes but not the poplar.
 

acrylic51

Active Member
Quote:Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///forum/thread/376802/415-gallon-plywood-tank-build/280#post_3302383
The right kind of handles could be a nice touch. Not sure if I'll put any on mine or not since I don't think I'd ever actually use them to open the doors.
 
Yeah I was wondering about the boards because I essentially did the same thing on the front of my stand to get the width on each end. Used pocket holes and glue...the clamps just held the boards in place untill the screws were in. Wasn't sure if you had found somewhere to purchase the boards already done that way. I know you can find pine like that at lowes but not the poplar.
I do have a good source local for wide pieces.... An actually lumber yard, but the pricing can get outrageous at times.....I was tossing the handle idea around, don't have a clue what I would want/like. Something simple with clean lines if I would do it. I question it myself since most if not all work would be done from the filter room. The only panel that would/might get used frequently is the front canopy???? Still questionable about that though. Just would want to drill and prefit everything before final sanding and staining is done!!!!! I think I'm going to practice with som sanding sealer as well to see if it's worth the extra step??
 

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///forum/thread/376802/415-gallon-plywood-tank-build/280#post_3302403
I do have a good source local for wide pieces.... An actually lumber yard, but the pricing can get outrageous at times.....I was tossing the handle idea around, don't have a clue what I would want/like. Something simple with clean lines if I would do it. I question it myself since most if not all work would be done from the filter room. The only panel that would/might get used frequently is the front canopy???? Still questionable about that though. Just would want to drill and prefit everything before final sanding and staining is done!!!!! I think I'm going to practice with som sanding sealer as well to see if it's worth the extra step??
Make that, extra STEPS! lol
 
At least it has been for me in the past. Typically whenever I've used it on Pine, I had to do 3-4 coats of stain to get the rich color I was after. On smaller jobs it was worth it in order to get a nice even color without blotching. But if you do happend to use it then you probably won't see the color really "pop" untill you hit your 3rd or 4th coat of stain. I'm going to try a couple samples with it before I decide if it's worth it to use on the Poplar as well. So far I just did the samples without it and have been fairly happy. But I'll try both to be sure.
 

acrylic51

Active Member
Ahhhh your referring to the pretreat. When I mentioned sanding sealer I was referring to raising the grain of the wood a bit and getting a good even sanding. I might be slightly off/ confused!!!
 

acrylic51

Active Member
Very true !!!!!!! Never thought about that you are correct. The only area I worry a bit of stain absorption is the trim area. The Poplar in th past for me hasn't needed it.
 
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