Two-Tier Aquarium Stand Build (with storage!)

[Eric R]

On 4/21/2021 at 2:08 PM, Hobbit said:

Ooo good idea. Come to think of it, I may not even glue it in place so we can remove it for future moving. We’re also planning to attach the top piece in an easy to remove manner (no glue) so we can move that separately too.

@Hobbit I've seen people use magnets to make easy to remove panels on aquarium stands. 

[Eric R]

5 hours ago, Hobbit said:

I also decided not to attach the outer joists yet (the ones that abut the end of the frame) because I need to leave room to screw the legs on from the inside. I’m honestly not sure the outer joists are necessary at all. It would be nice to save some weight—I can barely lift this thing already and it’s not even 1/3 built!

Someone else can chime in if they disagree with me, but after looking at your drawings, I don't personally think you need those doubled outer joists on either the top or bottom. People (myself included) tend to really overbuild DIY stands.

[Isaac M]

@Hobbit About the double outer joists, I would personally keep them just because they will distribute the load nicely over the supporting column. If you only used one, you will reduce your bearing area on the column creating eccentricity (a condition where the load is not centered on the supporting member). But at the same time, I have no idea if you are adding a acrylic tank or glass tank with rim on this and I do not know where it will sit exactly. I am just going with the safe answer here haha

Same with the joists in-between, I would personally put them somewhere around 16” on center. 
 

But @ererer is right, most stands are overkill for the aquarium load. But it is difficult not to have overkill when typically available materials are 2x (1.5” thick). 

Anyways, it is looking great! Thank you for the update! 

[Hobbit]

4 hours ago, Isaac M said:

they will distribute the load nicely over the supporting column.

Yeah this is why I originally thought to add them... it just didn’t seem right to have a load-bearing leg unevenly supported. But it’s *almost* fully supported as is... it’s just one corner of the leg that isn’t directly above the frame.

Ooo I know! I can just add a small block to each corner instead of a full joist. That should work, right?

The footprint of the top of the stand will be 53x24”, which means the largest standard size tank I could put up there would be 90 gallons. Right now I only have a 55 though, but if I make a second stand to mirror this one, I’d probably be looking for a 75 gallon for it. Basically I want to keep my options open.

@Nephro you sound like you’ve got some experience under your belt! Please feel free to make suggestions and recommendations about anything. I’d love the feedback!

About the wood—the good news is this lumber has been sitting in our shed for about six months so it’s drier than what you’d get out of a lumber yard. Not that the shed is climate controlled or anything, but it’s something.

[Eric R]

37 minutes ago, Hobbit said:

Yeah this is why I originally thought to add them... it just didn’t seem right to have a load-bearing leg unevenly supported. But it’s *almost* fully supported as is... it’s just one corner of the leg that isn’t directly above the frame.

Sorry, I can't tell well from your pictures, but it looks like the legs (green) bear fully on the fuschia colored 2x4s, and not on any of the brown 2x4s? It sounded to me like you were talking about reducing the number of brown 2x4s while keeping all of the original fuschia ones.

Edited April 29, 2021 by ererer

[Nephro]

I agree that you would be fine to leave the outer support boards off. Like ererer said most stands are way over built. What size tank are you planning on top of this? Here’s and example of a triple 20 rack I built out of cedar

[Hobbit]

1 hour ago, ererer said:

Sorry, I can't tell well from your pictures, but it looks like the legs (green) bear fully on the fuschia colored 2x4s, and not on any of the brown 2x4s? It sounded to me like you were talking about reducing the number of brown 2x4s while keeping all of the original fuschia ones.

You’re correct. The reason the (green) leg isn’t fully supported is because it’s thicker than the fuchsia frame. But it only overhangs by a tiiiiny bit. Here’s a bottom view with the joist and shelf scooted over so you can see the leg:

But I really don’t know that it will matter. I’ll probably add a little piece of 2x4 for peace of mind, but not do a whole joist.

@Nephro beautiful stand! I’m just using pine boards and maple plywood for the shelves. I’d like to build the stand strong enough to hold a 90 gallon on top, but I only plan on putting a 55 on it right now.

[Isaac M]

@Hobbit If my math is correct, the block would have to be .325”x1.625” to fit perfectly. At that point, it is not worth the hassle. I would proceed without it. 

[Hobbit]

You give me too much credit—I was just going to stick a 2” 2x4 in there. 😁 But it sounds like everyone’s fairly satisfied that it isn’t necessary, so I may just leave it be. It depends on how finicky I’m feeling next time I work on it!

[Nephro]

I agree with Isaac that it’s not necessary,  I’m not an engineer, but lots of real world building experience. 

[Eric R]

I'll also agree that it's unnecessary. However, if you were going to do it, I'd actually cut a block of plywood to fit there if you have pieces of scrap the right size for it, instead of messing with small blocks of 2x4, which are prone to easily cracking.

[Hobbit]

Well it’s official—I am not adding blocks in the corners. Thanks for the feedback everyone!

Today I sanded the base to make it as flat as possible. To find the high points, I put the edge of my square angle against the base and saw if it rocked. The bright sun helped me see the high points too.

I brought it inside to test how flat it is against our actually-flat floor. This wall is where it will go when it’s done!

Lo and behold, it was flat! No rocking! Yaaaaay!!

Next I had to figure out how to get the legs on. I did three outer legs before I had to wrap it up for the night.

Because I was screwing the legs on from the back of the base frame, I had to put the legs on upside down. So I clamped them in place hanging off the side of the work table, making sure they hung square with the frame.

I put a screw in just below the clamp...

...so I could remove the clamp and drill the next two pilot holes.

Then I unscrewed the screw and removed the leg so I could add glue...

...then put the leg back on and screwed it into place. (I used the clamp again for the first screw.)

It was slow going but it seemed like the safest way to do things.

Hopefully tomorrow I can finish the outer legs and add some of the inner legs, too! 😃

Turns out my SketchUp free trial runs out in two days so I need to get this done!! 😅😅😅😅

[Eric R]

13 minutes ago, Hobbit said:

Well it’s official—I am not adding blocks in the corners. Thanks for the feedback everyone!

Today I sanded the base to make it as flat as possible. To find the high points, I put the edge of my square angle against the base and saw if it rocked. The bright sun helped me see the high points too.

I brought it inside to test how flat it is against our actually-flat floor. This wall is where it will go when it’s done!

Lo and behold, it was flat! No rocking! Yaaaaay!!

Next I had to figure out how to get the legs on. I did three outer legs before I had to wrap it up for the night.

Because I was screwing the legs on from the back of the base frame, I had to put the legs on upside down. So I clamped them in place hanging off the side of the work table, making sure they hung square with the frame.

I put a screw in just below the clamp...

...so I could remove the clamp and drill the next two pilot holes.

Then I unscrewed the screw and removed the leg so I could add glue...

...then put the leg back on and screwed it into place. (I used the clamp again for the first screw.)

It was slow going but it seemed like the safest way to do things.

Hopefully tomorrow I can finish the outer legs and add some of the inner legs, too! 😃

Turns out my SketchUp free trial runs out in two days so I need to get this done!! 😅😅😅😅

FWIW, those types of screws have countersunk heads and the head is designed to sit flush with the top of the wood. You may want to try cabinet screws for the rest of what you're doing, something like this: https://www.lowes.com/pd/GRK-8-x-2-1-2-in-White-Polymer-Round-Washer-Interior-Cabinet-Mounting-Screws-80-Count/1000075987

Or if you want to use those screws and are concerned about the wood splitting, you can drill a countersink hole by using a larger drill bit the size of the screw head and drilling just deep enough that the screw head will fit in the larger hole. You also would be fine with two screws in those spots instead of three. In the end though, the glue bond will be a lot stronger than the screws.

Nice work so far, especially making everything so flat and square!

[Hobbit]

Thanks!! Ooo cabinet screws. I did not know those existed. Cool!

I have been drilling countersink holes for anything on the outside of the stand, but since this is all hidden, I got lazy. 😋

13 hours ago, ererer said:

You also would be fine with two screws in those spots instead of three.

I’ll probably just two two screws on the other side then. Thanks for all the feedback!

[Hobbit]

Over the last two days I managed to get the inner legs on.

When I finished attaching the outer legs and turned the stand over, I discovered that all six legs were leaning slightly left. All six. Same direction.

Which was a bummer. I had made sure they were square on the other axis, but not this one. I’m not sure I had much control over this axis anyway though. I did try to sand the edges of the frame+shelf to make a flat, flush surface for each leg, but maybe I didn’t sand enough? Or maybe all the boards are warped in the same direction.

So I video chatted my dad (the civil engineer) and we made a plan. Use a (hopefully temporary) diagonal brace to hold the inner leg square with the base, then pull the outer leg against the inner one.

Sounds simple but it took a while.

Once one leg was square, I could use the shelf to push the opposite leg outward.

There’s plenty of glue between the outer and inner legs, which will hopefully keep everything in place forever.

Those two end legs were pretty straightforward. The other four were less so because I realized something very important—if I scooted the inner legs inward to make a nice inset for the cabinet panels, the cabinet would no longer fit a 5 gallon bucket.

Which is the whole point of this cabinet. The bucket barely fits as is. So the original plan was not going to work!

Thankfully my dear husband came out to help me and got very excited about rip cutting the remaining four inner legs so I could still have a spot to set the yet-to-be-purchased panels without losing any width for the door. He made a jig and everything, and he got to use the new circular saw he’s bought the previous day. 😊 

Now that I type this, I’m realizing we shouldn’t have cut the back two legs. Now I’ve lost the place to attach the back panel. Oops. Oh well!

Since the inner legs were not flush with the outside of the stand, we had to get out a lot of clamps and extra pieces of wood to make sure everything stayed flush and square.

Yesterday I finished up the inner legs in the shed since it was threatening rain all afternoon.

The shelf and top frame are not attached yet—they’re just there to force the legs to the correct width.

It’s really coming together!!!

 

Edited May 4, 2021 by Hobbit

[Hobbit]

Ooof, I haven’t updated this thread in a while. For a bit, work and life got really busy, but I’ve made more progress the past two weeks.

I attached the middle shelf, trying to make sure the legs stayed square as I did so. Keeping the frame clamped in place helped with that, though it did get in the way.

Then I glued+screwed the small inner legs in place above the shelf.

Progress...

Next I took the top frame out and sanded one side to be very flat. The super-flat side will be the side the top shelf rests on.

Looking for the light and sanding down the high points... (note the new orbital sander 😊)

The next step was moving the entire thing inside. We decided bringing it inside and doing the final assembly where it’s actually going to go.

We took off the diagonal braces!! 😃

 Unfortunately we realized it rocked. 😩 What @Nephro’s said about working with construction lumber and everything changing overnight (or when you move it from one environment to another) is true and annoying. I think if we do this again we’ll be buying nicer wood that’s not pine!

We flipped the stand on its side and found the high points in the base.

Then my husband kindly took it out to the front porch and sanded the base flat for me.

Two nights ago we put the stand in its final location to attach the frame. This way we could get it super level. Well, it turns out the inner legs ended up being very different heights. They were definitely NOT this different when I cut them!! But tolerances stack and things change. Talking it over, I got the impression that sanding the tall inner legs would be really tough, so we should shim the shorter legs instead. When my husband saw how big some of the shims needed to be though, he thought we should have tried sanding the inner legs after all. 😄 We ended up needing shims on some of the outer legs too. Oh well!

The wood glue made the shims curl, so we ended up with a lot of clamps to make sure everything stayed flat and in place. We glued the frame in while we were at it.

We’re getting there!

Oh and I also found baskets. 😀 More than can fit on that shelf but... 😄 

 

Edited June 8, 2021 by Hobbit

[Patrick_G]

Looks great @Hobbit! I’m carpenter, specifically I fix, build and restore wooden boats. I’ll happily talk about carpentry for way longer that any NERM wants to hear. If you need some advise feel free to ask. 

[Hobbit]

Thanks @Patrick_G! That sounds like an awesome job.

At this point we’re planning on painting the base and staining only the top shelf. Hopefully wood putty and paint will cover a multitude of “happy accidents.” 😄

This is a question for anyone: has anyone ever used iron-on veneer edging to cover the edges of plywood for staining? (See link below) Not sure what else to do with the edges of the top piece. It’s maple plywood.

https://www.acehardware.com/departments/building-supplies/lumber-and-trim/veneer-facing/5005152?store=03201&gclid=CjwKCAjwqvyFBhB7EiwAER786Wfw6F5GZMc4gGUoHouKiJ-nH8Yrid0rEryrLXYaVcwEaZTCxtOqshoC4igQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[Patrick_G]

@Hobbit, that edge banding works great. I think I’ve used the iron on type and I’ve definitely used the glue on. A veneer trimmer comes in handy, but sandpaper works too.  A free option if you have a table saw is to take some of the leftover maple ply and rip off strips of the top veneer. Those can then be glued to the edge grain of the plywood. 
 

Oh, and wooden boat building is a great job, but only if ones spouse has a “real” job. 😉 I’m lucky! 

[Hobbit]

More progress! Step by step.

It’s a good thing I got extra baskets because

I filled any gaps between the boards with wood filler. It was pretty easy to use, especially since we decided I’ll be painting the base. No need to worry about getting it everywhere.

To make it prettier, I also decided to add some pieces of moulding to various areas, such as in between the legs. Here’s one piece sitting in its spot:

It turns out as hard as I’ve worked to make this stand square, there’s still a lot of variation in the lengths between the legs. 🤦🏼‍♀️ So unfortunately they all had to be cut slightly different. Adding a board to the back of the table saw helped get the measurements exact and prevent the cut edge from fraying.

A lot of the trim pieces had to be ripped too because they were too wide. My husband and I took advantage of our friend’s table saw to do that.

My hubby also volunteered to do the pre-painting sanding for me! 😍 Everyone say “oooo so smooth!”

I’ve started putting the veneer on the top piece in the evenings. It’s super easy! I use an iron and a piece of parchment paper between the iron and the veneer.

There are soooo many details to take care of at this stage. Progress felt a lot faster when I was screwing boards together. Now it’s a lot of detail work. Still fun, but it feels slow. I’m going to be extremely excited when this is done!!

 

[Griznatch]

Coming along very nice. The feeling of accomplishmentnt when you're done will be well worth it!

Don't beat yourself up for the issues with the legs. First you are going to find it very hard to find good straight pine at any big store like home depot or lowes. They just don't have it, it's way overpriced, and greener than heck. So no matter how careful you are with your cuts and clamping, it's still probably going to warp, twist or bend. The good news is if you build another one, you now really know what to look for. I've got my tables and stands perfectly flat in the shop and put them in the house only to find the floor is built like a marble lol...

I used to build cabinets for a living a looong time ago and I still get disgusted when I buy lumber of any sort.

Keep the updates coming, I love seeing these projects.
 

 

[Isaac M]

Oooo so smooth!

[Hobbit]

Well, I went and got myself foster kittens, so the hubby has been putting the trim on the stand. It’s very close to painting time!

Question for everyone: I have some leftover Benjamin Moore paint that I’d be planning on using for this project. Is it okay to use wall paint on wood? Do I need primer or anything? And do you think I’ll need to cover it in a poly coat or other sort of finish? Can I even do that over wall paint?

[ChemBob]

I would recommend some form of sealant over the paint. I believe you can use at least one type over it. It should say on the can of poly. I am not sure on the wall paint over wood. Is probably at least use primer, but I really don't know what would be necessary or if it will work,  but I don't know why it wouldn't. Did the can of paint say anything? 

[OnlyGenusCaps]

On 6/13/2021 at 10:53 PM, Hobbit said:

I’ve started putting the veneer on the top piece in the evenings.

I've got a bunch of plywood to cut for fitting out a stand, and I'd not thought of that (despite having played the Antiques Roadshow drinking game - every time they say "veneer").  That is going to make the edges look so much nicer.  On your project.  And now mine, too.  Thanks for the idea!