40g Frag Tank Stand Build

[rededge2k1]

I recently completed a frag tank stand for fellow ARC member TChristman (Tim Christman) and I thought I would share the build process with you guys. Woodworking is another hobby of mine so it's great for me to get to mix it with my reefkeeping interests.

Tim was originally looking for a simple four-legged table type stand for simplicity reasons but we ended up going with a more traditional plywood cabinet style stand. A cool feature that I added to the stand design at Tim's request was the ability to completely hide his freshwater top-off container underneath the stand on a rolling dolly. Since the entire front panel of the cabinet is removable (it's held in place by four magnets), the ATO tank can be rolled out from underneath the stand, refilled, and rolled back underneath.

I'm not the best with words, so I'll let the pictures do most of the talking from here on out. Enjoy!

Tim's "Before" Picture -- the new frag tank will go where the green ATO container is sitting in this picture

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Tim's tank room dimensioned and modeled in SketchUp

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My proposed frag tank stand design, with the front panel attached

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The front panel removed...

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The ATO dolly rolled out for refilling...

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The structure of the stand is straightforward, it's basically a box made out of 3/4" oak plywood with some solid oak trim and a fake cabinet door for aesthetics.

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View showing the open back panel

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[rededge2k1]

The build began by laying out & cutting out the dolly. It was made by gluing two sheets of 3/4" oak plywood together and was cut into an octagon shape using a straightedge & handheld rotary saw.

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2 1/2" casters attached with 4 bolts each

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[rededge2k1]

The sides, back, and front panel layed out on the oak plywood...

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To help prevent tear-out from the saw blade, it helps to put masking tape over your cut line

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Homemade jig I threw together to make perfectly straight cuts without the need for a table saw

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The resulting clean cut

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The sides, back, front, and top pieces

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[rededge2k1]

The top, sides and back pieces are joined using dado joinery. The dados are made using a handheld router and another homemade jig. The bit used for this is a 23/32" undersized bit which fits 3/4" plywood perfectly (3/4" ply is actually only 23/32")

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The top needed a dado on all four sides

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For additional strength, pockethole screws are added to the back panel where they won't be seen. The screws will go into the side panels, and when coupled with wood glue will create a VERY strong joint.

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Before gluing up the sides, back, and top pieces, I made a template on my garage floor to hold all of the pieces square to each other.

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A test run/dry fit in the template. Works like a charm at keeping the panels square, and is free!

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[rededge2k1]

Glued, screwed, clamped and waiting to dry...

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Since the front panel of the stand is removable, it serves no structural purpose. This leaves the cabinet very week in the left-to-right plane of motion, so to stiffen up the front of the stand I added a U-shaped 1.25" tube steel brace. Scott (Son of Adam) made this for me at his shop in Austell in about an hour. That guy is a ninja with metal!

Scott welding the brace -- meanwhile I was snapping pictures on my Blackberry like the geek that I am

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The completed brace back at my garage

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It doesn't get any better than this folks, perfect 90° welds!

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Test fit in the stand -- it fit like a glove

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Closeup showing clearance for the dolly to roll in/out

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[rededge2k1]

I gave the metalwork an acetone bath and then it was time to prime it

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Getting ready to install the u-brace

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Brace complete

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[rededge2k1]

Laying out the front panel reinforcing (this will keep the plywood panel straight & true and prevent it from warping/bowing over time)

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Test fitting the front panel

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View from the back cutout

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Edge banding the front panel, to cover the cut plywood edges

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[rededge2k1]

Before I could trim the stand structure, I needed to put it on a perfectly level surface. Unfortunately my garage floor is sloped and wavy, so I made a quick "leveling jig" out of scrap plywood and four leveling screws

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Then, I placed the stand on top of this "leveling jig" to make sure the stand itself is perfectly level.

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The front panel is held in place using four cabinet door magnet catches

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The front panel being held in place with magnets -- four were more than enough.

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[rededge2k1]

The trim is solid oak, with a roundover accent added using a handheld router

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Attaching the trim pieces with glue and 1-1/8" brads. The masking tape is placed over the trim before nailing, this way when it's time to fill the nail holes with wood filler later, you don't have to worry about accidentally filling the surrounding wood grain. If this isn't done, the filled/sanded nail holes would still show up through the final coat of paint.

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The trim rises 1" above the top of the stand. This will allow for 1/2" of foam underneath the acrylic frag tank and will conceal the bottom 1/2" panel of the frag tank.

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The trim on the front panel is mitered at 45° but is not glued to the side trim. Thankfully I was able to get it tight enough so that it wasn't a visible dry joint.

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The completed cabinet (Tim is getting the cabinet door himself and will add it later)

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[rededge2k1]

Tim opted to stain the cabinet himself so he could make it match his existing display tank stand. That saved me a lot of time & work! The camera flash sort of got in the way of these pics and washed out the frag stand details, but Tim did a good job staining --

Before:

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After:

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[hackman72]

That's what I'm talking about. Picture heavy. That's a build thread.

 

[rededge2k1]

Hackman72;459895 wrote: That's what I'm talking about. Picture heavy. That's a build thread.

I'm with you. I never read build threads I just look at the pictures

Dustin

 

[corigan]

Amazing job Dustin. Looks great.

 

[rbredding]

LOL!!!!

every step was documented... GREAT!!


how much does the frag tank & water weigh? approximately..

 

[tchristman]

Could not be happier. It was great working with Dustin. He takes a lot of pride in his work. I am already thinking up another project for him.

Tim

 

[smoothie]

Thank you for posting this

 

[rededge2k1]

TChristman;459913 wrote: Could not be happier. It was great working with Dustin. He takes a lot of pride in his work. I am already thinking up another project for him.

Tim

I'm ready when you are! I love designing and building this stuff.

Dustin

 

[serpent]

This is truly amazing. I love how well it is documented and love the stand.

 

[dhoff04]

I just wanted to chime in here and say how awesome I think it is that people take the time and effort to document their various projects in such a detailed fashion. It helps all of us on a variety of levels and it's one of the things I love the most about this board!

I could (and have on occasion) spent whole days reading build threads (James S's 900G build thread come to mind) with rapt attention.

As always, Dustin has done a wonderful job and I'm not just saying that because he's building me a stand and canopy The quality of his work speaks for itself, as does his passion for woodworking and overall enthusiasm for the work.

My experience with Dustin throughout the planning/negotiating stages of of my build have been top-notch and I am very grateful that we have resources like this available to us locally.