Post pics of your DIY stands

[Regloh]

Yeah I didn't really mean to call it lopsided... it's not what I meant. I think the asymmetry it is a nice departure from what people traditionally use for steel stands. You don't see a lot of asymmetrical stands.
I also like the light behind the frosted glass door.

[Hoppy]

Very beautiful stands and tanks, too, Kim. I often wish I had welding and metal working skills to go with my woodworking ones. It just opens up so many other design possibilities. Your laminate faced cabinet is subtle. The design details, like the recesses for door opening are extremely nice. Is that solid birch plywood, like Baltic Birch? Exposed plywood edges can look very good when the plywood is very good quality, but finding that isn't easy anymore.

[Sven]

I like your style Kim, nice stands and beautiful tanks!

[kimcadmus]

Hoppy - yes it is solid birch ply of good quality very few if any voids so almost no filling was necessary.

Thanks for all the comments.

[CAM6467]

Recently finished stand for my 29 gallon cichlid aquarium. It's framed out of 2x4s, skinned with 1/4" birch plywood, and trimmed out with custom made trim pieces crafted in my wood shop. Raised panel doors give this a nice touch, IMO.

Please forgive the canopy. I haven't finished staining it, so it doesn't really look like it matches well with the stand itself.







Close up of the trim:



One of the doors:



Fully wired (Oops! Boxes wound up on the wrong side....I must have gotten in a hurry!):



Door Detail:





During construction:



Hard at work:



Tools of the trade:




Well, that's my project. I've been making these things for a while now, but I've only made a few for myself. I think that this one turned out pretty well. Tell me what you think...

[Regloh]

Hey Charlie,
I didn't know you had other tanks...
Very nice job on the stand. With every post here I am regretting my decision to buy one off the shelf... It was reasonably expensive and actually not very well made... You live and learn...

[Sven]

That´s some nice craftsmanship CAM!!

[Hoppy]

Very nice stand, and the proportions of the stand, tank, and hood, are just about perfect to my eyes. I put the electric outlets in the back of my stand, facing forward. That makes it easy to plug in stuff, but as more stuff gets put in there it gets hard to reach in and blindly poke the plug in. With yours, the reach in stuff is eliminated, but not being able to see the sockets would drive me batty. Some of the stands here have those outlets on the side, which seems like a good compromise.

[CAM6467]

Originally Posted by Regloh

Hey Charlie,

Originally Posted by Regloh

I didn't know you had other tanks...
Very nice job on the stand. With every post here I am regretting my decision to buy one off the shelf... It was reasonably expensive and actually not very well made... You live and learn...

Thanks Regloh. I used to have three 10s, one 29, one 55, and one 75. Lets just say that in the time it took for my wife and I to go from dating, to serious, to engaged, to married I lost most of my tanks. Realistically though, it would be a bit ridiculous to have that many tanks in a one bedroom apartment these days. I'm sorry that you went out and bought one. You can't imagine the joy and fulfillment of day-dreaming up your stand while at work, drawing it out, then finally constructing it yourself. It really says a lot about a person that is willing to tackle a project by him/herself. I have no doubt that you've purchased your last stand. I'll be waiting on your DIY stand project on this site buddy!

Originally Posted by Sven

That´s some nice craftsmanship CAM!!

Thanks Sven! The pictures really don't do it justice, IMO. I build these for people, so I thought that it was about time to put one of my stands under my new 29 gallon. I was just glad that it passed my wife's inspection.

Originally Posted by Hoppy

Very nice stand, and the proportions of the stand, tank, and hood, are just about perfect to my eyes. I put the electric outlets in the back of my stand, facing forward. That makes it easy to plug in stuff, but as more stuff gets put in there it gets hard to reach in and blindly poke the plug in. With yours, the reach in stuff is eliminated, but not being able to see the sockets would drive me batty. Some of the stands here have those outlets on the side, which seems like a good compromise.

Hoppy, if you could only get up close and personal to this thing. It's definitely not perfect by any means. I somehow got my measurements off and wound up with 3/4" of added space between the lower trim of the aquarium and the trim of the stand. I wish that I had made it more perfectly, but such is life. I actually meant to have the electrical boxes in the back of the stand, but I messed up when I was skinning the frame with the 1/4" birch plywood. Those plugs should be in the back, right hand side of the stand. I'll move them one of these days, but I haven't found the time to work on the thing in the past few days. I've actually been busy building a stand for a customer recently, so I've been neglecting my own things. I guess that's just how things go though. My new design will have the plugs on the side, like you had mentioned. I see what you're saying about having to reach way back into the stand to plug/unplug things. I'll have to post pictures of my work so you guys can critique it and spark ideas for me.

Thank you all,

Charlie Mims

[smoq]

Very nice stand Charlie. I like the doors especially, great craftsmanship. And hey, you look just like that guy Brian Austin Green who played in the Terminator TV series

[CAM6467]

Originally Posted by smoq

Very nice stand Charlie. I like the doors especially, great craftsmanship. And hey, you look just like that guy Brian Austin Green who played in the Terminator TV series

That poor guy. I had no idea more than one person could be this ugly! Ha ha. Thanks for the stand compliment smoq. I was so happy that those doors turned out well. I just got a new router before making this one. My old 1/2" collet router busted prior to this build and all I could afford at the time was a 1/4" collet Ryobi router. I bought a set of raised panel bits to make the doors and it worked just fine. My props to Ryobi, never would have guessed that it would do such a fine job! It's a bit underpowered for this type of project, but it did well.

[smoq]

Originally Posted by CAM6467

That poor guy. I had no idea more than one person could be this ugly! Ha ha. Thanks for the stand compliment smoq. I was so happy that those doors turned out well. I just got a new router before making this one. My old 1/2" collet router busted prior to this build and all I could afford at the time was a 1/4" collet Ryobi router. I bought a set of raised panel bits to make the doors and it worked just fine. My props to Ryobi, never would have guessed that it would do such a fine job! It's a bit underpowered for this type of project, but it did well.

My girlfriend would eat you alive if you really look like him And yes, ryobi worked for me as well. I remember when I bought their cordless drill and impact few yeras ago and I've seen so many dewalts dying on the job while mine little drill that everybody laugh on is working fine till this day. I am not using it at work anymore, but still...

[Hoppy]

I just spent some time trying to find this thread again. Read the whole thing again. I still think this should be a sticky, since it is a valuable stand design resource that will never be old.

I'm thinking hard about setting up a different tank soon, and looking for a stand design that will please both the wife and I. That can be a challenge.

[Wasserpest]

If you insist...

I am going to un-sticky the other DIY stand build thread, but add a link to it in the OP.

[Hoppy]

Originally Posted by Wasserpest

If you insist...

I am going to un-sticky the other DIY stand build thread, but add a link to it in the OP.

Hip, hip hurray!! Your check is in the mail.