10 ft. Long Stand, Double Tank Advice

[intermediate_noob]

Originally Posted by imeridian

That looks great.

Have you considered using the standard euro hinges with the cup? Those you've linked to look kind of bulky and lacking in adjustment, not to mention shockingly expensive compared to the ones I picked up at Lowes for $4, heh.

They are six-way adjustable, and yes they are REALLY expensive but I am wanting the doors to be able to open almost 180 degrees. Now because of the way the two tanks will be situated, I may only have these on two of the doors and normal hinges on the other (the far left and right doors could only open maybe 100 degrees). I am really undecided, and quite honestly, would like to see these in action before I make any direct purchases. Thanks for the input!

[Sponsors]

[intermediate_noob]

So here is the concept for the double stand, with siding attached. I added doors and the center drawers so you could see what I mean. A couple of views to make it easier to see.

Doors and drawers open:


Full frontal view:


The door pattern and all are not 100%, just something to throw out there. I want to go a little lighter on the color, and just have a basic oak finish to it because this is going to match the canopy I have on my 135 already.

Thoughts? Thanks again for looking.

[BiscuitSlayer]

My thoughts are that I like it a lot!

I like the idea of having the drawers in addition to the cabinets on the 135 section.

I do have one concern though. You said you already have a canopy for the 135. Your drawing shows the two tanks butted up against each other pretty tight, and I thought your original goal was to pretty much do that. Are you going to have two seprate canopies and how are you going to allow for them to sit on each tank? I would imagine that would push each tank at least 2 to 3 inches away from each other. Or am I missing the point entirely?

[intermediate_noob]

Originally Posted by BiscuitSlayer

IN -

Your stand looks fantastic! I love the way everything came up square and true. Planing all of that wood looks like it paid off big time. Skinning the stand and doing the finishing work should be a snap since you have a great base to work from.

Dang, sorry I did not see your post on my refresh and would have responded sooner. Thanks so much for your words of encouragement. I think the finishing is going to be really easy, but then again never have done it before so we will see how much wood I screw up!

Originally Posted by BiscuitSlayer

Are you kidding me? LOL All of the defending of the screw strips we have done and you wind up not using them. Oh man, how are we ever going to live this one down. LMAO . I wonder why you ran into this issue. Did you possibly try to attach both outer legs to the screw strip prior to letting the upper and lower frames sit on them? I'm just trying to figure out why they presented the problem that they did. Obviously they aren't needed for the construction and you did a great job getting everything level and square. It just bothers me that it actually hindered the assembly for you.

I know, I felt very let down when they started causing all the issues. Now maybe I was just not using them correctly. I put a scrap piece of 2x4 down and rested the "floaters" on them and them clamped them to the bottom frame. Then added the legs and clamped them in place, and then added the top frame to see how everything looked (should have take a picture with all 12 clamps on there!) and that is when we saw how off kilter it all was. More than likely it was that the scraps were not square or something else was throwing those off, so we decided to simply drive a single screw into each leg and alternate (like tightening lug nuts on a car) and go around until the bottom was down. Then, added the top and used face-clamps to line it up and did the same tightening process once screw at a time. What did I do wrong with the floaters? Who knows, we may use them as legs for the other stand.

Originally Posted by BiscuitSlayer

As far as getting the two stands together, what is the end goal here? Do you want to get them attached to each other prior to doing the final finishing work? I would probably sit them in their final resting spot prior to doing anything else and get them level before doing anything else. Once you do that, just drive some screws from one frame into the other. If nothing else, that will give you a refrence point for the final attachment. I probably wouldn't do anything hard core because you wouldn't want one stand to mess with the integrity of the other stand. That might be catostrophic. My first thought was carriage bolts, but then I was thinking about the integrity factor and kind of leaned away from it. I would rather have a simple break point that allowed simple failure but also keeps each stands integrity good. Maybe even using a simple trim piece to cover up the difference between the two stands to give it the appearance that it is one stand.

Keep the updates coming man! Your frame looks awesome. I hope my frame is as square as yours.

Thanks again, I will keep updating as I come up with new SketchUp ideas and my plumbing and electrical decisions.

As far as joining the two stands, I am not going to fasten them. I am simply going to butt them up against one another, and like you said, use a piece of trim to cover any inconsistencies. In my Sketchup Drawing it does not show the gap that will be there between the tanks (the plastic tank trim makes it where the tank glass will not sit flush). I will have to use trim or something to cover the gap or ruin the sense of a single tank. I also share your worry about one tank causing an integrity failure or something in the other if they were connected. Lastly, if I ever want to move the thing, it would be best if they were separate.

So hopefully more to come soon. My next drawing will have the canopies and trim on the tanks to get a better "real" world look.

Thanks again for all the encouragement!

[BiscuitSlayer]

What would be cool is to get a trim piece that is wide enough so that you can tack into it from the inside of the stand(s) with a few screws. That way, you could finish that piece of wood the same as the rest of the stand and then merely attach it when you put the stands next to each other. No nail holes, extra sanding, finishing, etc. Also would allow for ease of disassembly.

[intermediate_noob]

Originally Posted by BiscuitSlayer

I do have one concern though. You said you already have a canopy for the 135. Your drawing shows the two tanks butted up against each other pretty tight, and I thought your original goal was to pretty much do that. Are you going to have two seprate canopies and how are you going to allow for them to sit on each tank? I would imagine that would push each tank at least 2 to 3 inches away from each other. Or am I missing the point entirely?

You are not missing the point at all, they will be butted up against one another. The existing canopy will be modified to butt up against the new one and then use trim to cover up any inconsistencies. My current canopy is nothing special like yours and is only around 6" high.

So here is what I have:

Corner - Closed



Corner-Open
As you can see the supports are there to keep it on the tank. The Actual canopy extends further down. This piece would just be modified to sit on the top of the 90 gallon. instead of going down the side of the 135. The top would have its trim removed around the edge so it would sit flush as well, it is just a piece of molding. (Hate the paint, previous owner did that. Don't you love the plants that my fish ripped out just for this picture! )


Full shot-closed
This is just a shot of it closed.


Full Shot-open
And one of the whole thing opened

[Bodo]

What CAD software are you using for those plans?

[intermediate_noob]

It's is called SketchUp and is free here: http://sketchup.google.com/

Hope that helps.

[Bodo]

awesome, thanks!

[BiscuitSlayer]

intermediate_noob -

Any updates man?

I am working on a totally unrelated project now, but it is somewhat related. I am building something out of red oak and the goal is to finish it the same way I finish the stand. It is basically going to be my "dry run".

[intermediate_noob]

Sorry man, but no updates. I too am working on an unrelated project that involves ripping out my entire backyard (which was a scientific experiment to see just how much dog poop and weeds a particular yard could hold). My weekends have been filled with that and a little looking here and there for wood to finish the stand.

Long story short, we have a bunch of people coming over next weekend so we are having to get the house all situated and that is taking all my time. After next weekend I am hoping things start winding down and I can finish up the one side of the stand and start the frame for the 135.

I have been hand drawing out the electrical and filtration system so I might be able to post some of that stuff, but not much more. Stay tuned, it shall be complete soon!