ifirefights stand finally FINISHED!!!! *PICS*

ifirefight

ifirefight

Active Member
Well I finally finished the lower portion of my stand. The weather down here in Florida has cooled down enough that I have actually been able to work in the garage...without spontaneous human combustion-ing myself..
I just finished staining and clearing the other day, and today I installed it....so it will look nice when the family is over for Thanksgiving. So here are some before and after pics..
 
ameno

ameno

Active Member
nice job,
like the side door, good idea, the finish looks great, Mine will be finished this weekend, thought I'd get done before thanksgiving but had to finish the trim in are room first, make the wife happy
 
ifirefight

ifirefight

Active Member
Originally Posted by GRabbitt
Gorgeous stand.
A job well done

How long did that take you?
How long did it take???? Thats a good question. If I would have to estimate....I think about 40 -50 total "working hours".
 
trippkid

trippkid

Active Member
Very nice, great job. I just built a small stand and canopy for a 29, still needs painted. I like the side mount doors.

Matt
 
T

tmy880

Guest
Nice job.....good craftsmanship...........
Did u just build a "skin" around the old framework?
My stand is black right now (made out of MDF) and I want it to be made out of mahogany or oak stained dark.
Just curious.
 
mjessu

mjessu

New Member
Originally Posted by tmy880
Nice job.....good craftsmanship...........
Did u just build a "skin" around the old framework?
My stand is black right now (made out of MDF) and I want it to be made out of mahogany or oak stained dark.
Just curious.
Ditto...Looks like you used a laminate...do tell.
 
ifirefight

ifirefight

Active Member
Originally Posted by mjessu
Ditto...Looks like you used a laminate...do tell.
It is a "skin"...The whole lower unit can be slid forward and completely removed if needed. Then all that is left is the 2x4 stand. The lower section (skin) is 3/4 inch cabinet grade ply..
 
T

tmy880

Guest
Awesome Idea.
That is what I will do to mine then.
I assume u did have doors on the old setup and just attached the new doors to the face frame on the new skin using european hinges?
Looks outstanding, and probably pretty cheap to do. Probably the easiest thing to do than to rebuild a stand, break down the tank, move onto new stand and set back up.
Hope u dont mind if I steal your idea.
Thanks
 
T

tmy880

Guest
Originally Posted by ifirefight
It is a "skin"...The whole lower unit can be slid forward and completely removed if needed. Then all that is left is the 2x4 stand. The lower section (skin) is 3/4 inch cabinet grade ply..

I sent u a PM about your frame.
 
ifirefight

ifirefight

Active Member
Originally Posted by tmy880
I assume u did have doors on the old setup and just attached the new doors to the face frame on the new skin using european hinges?
Thanks
No...I built the 2x4 stand,and the complete lower skin including doors,frames etc... The only thing that came with the set-up I bought was the tank,rocks and the old canopy in the prior picture.
 
chilwil84

chilwil84

Active Member
sweet work on the skin, my thought is about the legs of the stand not running to the bottom of the top of the stand leaving the nails or screws being what holds the tank not the 2X4 legs until the nails sag a little putting pressure on the glass rather than the frame of the tank. did you put plywood on the top of the stand?
 
ifirefight

ifirefight

Active Member
Originally Posted by chilwil84
my thought is about the legs of the stand not running to the bottom of the top of the stand leaving the nails or screws being what holds the tank not the 2X4 legs until the nails sag a little putting pressure on the glass rather than the frame of the tank. did you put plywood on the top of the stand?
I understand your concern...actually I was waiting for somebody to chime in on that exact thing. Soooo let me say this...... I have been doing woodworking for almost 20 years....I do understand the theory behind what you are saying....but if you look at it from a woodworking pespective...the stand is ALREADY OVER BUILT. People tend to under estimate the power of wood glue also. I could probably remove the screws ,,,and the stand will remain in one piece. Remember..the weight is distributed over the entire area of the stand..... Let me ask you a question...... Have you seen how the "factory" stands that come with a large tank are built???? 3/4" MDF or worse...STAPLED together...I wonder if its even glued.......... and they put hugh tanks on top of those POS stands...BTW....I have never heard of one of those crappy stands failing.......let alone my redundtant,overbuilt,reinforced,2x4 stand......but thanks for the concern.
 
chilwil84

chilwil84

Active Member
yes but the are still put on the end of the mdf or pine boards so the weight is sat on the ends of the board and distributed through it and it is than made into a corner to control bowing of the boards on end. i am a carpenter my self doing framing through trim work on lbi in nj so i have to deal with it all the time. i used ripped down microlams across the top of my stand to reduce the amount of verticle supports needed but my reason for worry comes through the creation of pressure points in small locations causing failure of the joints.
 
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