guide to Building a 125 gallon stand

jlem

jlem

Active Member
The stand will be made out of shop grade 3/4 inch birch and 10 inch wide 3/4 inch Idaho pine. I use a nail gun, lots of screws and lots of wood glue. I use a Table saw, cordless drill, router with round over bit, and a sliding compound miter saw.
If you have a router, circular saw, a drill and a screw driver you can build this.
First thing I did was cut my top out of birch which is 72 5/8 inches by 18 1/2 inches. I then cut my side which are 29 inches by 17 inches and my front, back and middle pieces which are 29 inches long and 7 inches wide. I glued the side, front nad back together all at once and held tight with clamps. Then I shot some 2 1/4 inch finishing nails along the top and sides so I could use the clamps on the other side. I chose to do this upside down since I have a nail gun, but it will be easier if you do not have a nail gun to do it right side up so the weight of the top will create a good seal for the wood glue between the sides and the top.
 
jlem

jlem

Active Member
I flipped the stand over and ran screws along the top to really get a tight seal between all of the pieces of wood. Next I cut a 3 inch wide 71 inch long piece of birch and glued it along the inside top of the stand on the front and back. I used clamps to hold it snup against the front and back while I ran screws along the top for these braces to pull the brace up snug with the top and get a nice flat surface. You can see where the brace screws are slightly more towards the middle.
If you did not attach the sides upside down then you would simply use glue, line the sides up with the front and back and screw them in as the glue was setting
 
jlem

jlem

Active Member
I used my nail gun and shot some nails to hold the brace snug against the front and back. You can also use screws just make sure not to strip them or screw out the other side.
 
jlem

jlem

Active Member
I cut two lenths of birch 2 inches wide on my table saw and made a frame for the bottum of the stand. I used my nail gun for this but screws would work just as good since the trim will cover them up.
I cut two lenths of idaho pine 2 inches wide on my table saw and used a round over bit to router the edge for trim. I only routered one side for the bottum trim and both top and bottum edge for the top. I attached these with my nail gun. you can use regular finishing nail for this as well. Just as a reminder, I use wood glue for every piece of wood that comes in contact with another piece of wood.
 
jlem

jlem

Active Member
I made some thin lenths of pine to cover the ends of the Birch Plywood. I will sand these down really smooth and round then off which will look really nice. you can see the top trim and you can notice that I cut pieces of birch to cover up the inner brace from the outside.
 
jlem

jlem

Active Member
This much took me about 4 hours today. That includes setting up all my tools and cutting everything out.
 
robchuck

robchuck

Active Member
Excellent work jlem! It's nice to see a stand made of 3/4" lumber that will hold a tank just fine instead of the way overbuilt ones using 4x4's that don't leave any room under the stand.
One question though, do you plan to add a floor or any cross bracing to the bottom of this stand?
 
C

cowpoke

Guest
Jlem
It may not not be the New Yankee Workshop, but it sure looks like a great job!
Nice work!!
 
jlem

jlem

Active Member
I cut 4 12 inch wide doors out of birch. I routered lenths of pine and then cut strips of pine 3/4 inch wide for the door trim. i attached the trim with glue and finishing nails.
 
jlem

jlem

Active Member
I made top and bottum door trim the same way that I made the side trim. I will run a router around the corners and then sand flush whaen I sand the stand down.
 
jlem

jlem

Active Member
I installed the bottum braces. I did have to take one out to fit the bottum in. I replaced the brace after the bottum was in. I could have just made the bottum out of 2 pieces of wood to avoid removing the brace but I wanted the bottum in one piece.
 
jlem

jlem

Active Member
This is a picture of what it will look like once the doors are attached. It will look alot better once it is all sanded smooth. I will install corner braces made out of 3/4 inch birch to help reinforce the corners. The reinforcment is not needed but I figure that it gives me more piece of mind.
 
jlem

jlem

Active Member
here is what the stand and canopy together look like. I used pine trim on the stand to help the stand match the canopy.
Keep in mind that the pictures don't really show the rounder edges very well and they both need some sanding done. I will put more pictures of the inner braces and door hinges once I do them tommorow.
 
robchuck

robchuck

Active Member
Very nice work and this is a very informative thread that you've got going.
What would you estimate the lumber and supplies for both the stand and canopy would cost for the average person?
 
jlem

jlem

Active Member
Supplies cost me $150.00 total.
Here is the finished product minus the inner corner supports. The corner supports are just 2 1X4's in each corner and a 1X4 in the front and back middle. I will post a picture of the corner support later on since I still have to put them in.
 
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