Any Civil, Structural, Stress Engineers?

jjboods

jjboods

Member
I am planning a 48"x18"x36" stand for a 75 gallon tank. I would like the front of the tank to have one large opening when the doors open...no front center support.
How can this be accomplished and still support the weight of the tank?
My thought was gluing up 4-5 pieces of 3/4" plywood for a beam.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
melbournefl

melbournefl

Member
LOL oh come on Broomer, anyone who can equate flow rates to pizza must have a comment about stress and load factors :rolleyes:
Later,
Paul
 
jjboods

jjboods

Member
Spoke to my cousin...he is a builder. A general rule of thumb is 1 inch per foot. So a 4 foot span should use a 2x4. A six foot should use a 2x6, etc. And...(4) 4 inch x 4 foot pieces of 3/4" plywood glued together will be stronger than a 2x4. So...I think I will glue up plywood for 4 sides of a top frame. 6 inches wide...ending up with 3x6 plywood beams/crossmembers. Maybe one down the middle too. Set that on top of (5) 4x4's. A sheet of plywood on top of that...one sheet under it...and case it in cabinent grade plywood.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to this and my other post.
 
G

glazer

Guest
I would use exterior grade OSB (waterproof glue used) to make your "beam". Seal it well, the whole ******** of stand for that matter and should not ever be a problem for you. Depending on the height of your beam 4-5 pieces might be overkill indeed... but then the vast majority of people I see building their own stands overkill da heck outta it!...lol
 
jjboods

jjboods

Member
I am thinking that the back and sides will be made up of (3) 6" pieces of 3/4" each. Giving me 2.25"x6" beams. The front will be (4) 6" pieces, giving me a 3x6 beam. The back will have a center support.
Glazer, what do you think?
 
broomer5

broomer5

Active Member
LOL Paul !!
Oh yeah - I can comment on it :)
But I'd hate for someone to take my comment as some type of advise - as if I knew what I was talking about LOL !
I know my 75's p.o.c. All-Glass oak stained pine stand is a pretty scary sight :eek:
It works - but it sure looks like it was built by a "low-bid-got-the-job" contract.
Quite seriously - if I was going to build a stand - I would do some research here and online to make sure I was getting information from people that have done - and not from people that have just thought about doing.
That's my comment on this ;) fair enough ?
 
jjboods

jjboods

Member
The reality is that 2x4's and all the wood we might use is MUCH stronger than we think. But...and justifiably so...we are all overly cautious with our "babies". I guess I started this to find out just how cautious and how much overkill I should use.
A quote from my cousin when he said that the plywood theory was overkill...by alot...and I asked about it again...
"Are you a rock head or what?"
Subtle..isn't he?
 
jester

jester

Member
I WAS talking about using the 4x4's for the cross members.
I think that would be much stronger than glueing plywood together.
 
marc42fe

marc42fe

Member
inch and a quarter sub floor with two 2x4s front and back. secure the sub floor to the 2x4s with 3" wood screws 9"s apart. Pre drill the sub floor and about 1" into the 2x4s with a 1/8" dril bit. use liquid nails or some other construction adheasive too. this is not my advise, this is what I would do if I were doing it.
 
newfishliny

newfishliny

Member

Originally posted by jjboods
I am planning a 48"x18"x36" stand for a 75 gallon tank. I would like the front of the tank to have one large opening when the doors open...no front center support.
How can this be accomplished and still support the weight of the tank?
My thought was gluing up 4-5 pieces of 3/4" plywood for a beam.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
all the suggestions are fine but it is all over kill: if you use 2x4's for the frame work and 3/4 ply (FINISHED OR BIRCH) you will be more than fine, if you build a floor in the cabinet: let me explain:
I see most of the stands built with an open bottom or just the bottom with a plywood floor. My stand floor is built with 3/4 ply nailed and glued to the 2x4 frameing around the 4 walls( that way then it sits aprox 3 inches off the floor( your home floor).
this ties in the walls all four of them. then when you nail /glue the top piece on, this makes it like one whole unit. The frameing is just 2x4' all four corners, top is framed out all four sides, and bottom all four sides.
YOUR OPENING NEEDS NO CENTER SUPPORT OR ANY OTHER AREA OF THE STAND. If you want double up on the walls ( so that will be 1 1/2 inch wall, your better than good).
***** GLUE ALL JOINTS AND SCREW***** THIS WILL MAKE IT TWICE AS STRONG . USE GORILLA GLUE ONLY THE BEST ON THE MARKET TODAY. IF YOU CAN CLAMP THE STAND WHEN GLUEING IT WILL SET UP BETTER:
ALL THIS IS PAST EXPERIENCE AND 25 YEARS IN OUR HARDWARE STORE BUSINESS, WE ARE ALL HANDS ON IN MY STORE.
MEASURE TWICE CUT ONCE!
GOOD LUCK
Don LI/NY
 
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