madmark285 Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 Metal aquarium stands are ugly, IMHO. What I want, a metal frame which I can attach a wood facade on to it. With a drill, pocket hole jig, clamp and a mitre saw, it is quite easy to build a cabinet front/side. Just use the predrilled hole to screw on the cabinet front/side. Custom cabinet door online are reasonable priced, you may be able to buy cabinet face/sides. But the important issue here, the cabinet face is just for looks, the metal frame provides the support. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy's Fish Den Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 There have been many stands made with steel stands, and wood facade, most of them they glue or epoxy magnets to the wood so that the wood attaches to the stand with magnet rather than screws that have to be removed to take a wood panel off. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepere Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 @madmark285, you might enjoy looking over this thread. https://forum.aquariumcoop.com/topic/27776-building-a-2-tier-stand-with-beadboard-and-2-pine-boards/#comment-260669 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmark285 Posted July 19 Author Share Posted July 19 On 7/19/2023 at 6:10 AM, Pepere said: @madmark285, you might enjoy looking over this thread. You are correct, I very much enjoy reading that thread. Nice work! I feel bad for folks who don't have the tools/shop to make these things. In part, my Christmas wish was for them. With a circular saw, cutting table (2"x4") and saw guides, non-woodworkers could build a nice cabinet if it had a steel frame inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepere Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 (edited) I was born in the mid 60s and remember my Grandfather building plenty and his only power tools were a skill saw and a drill. The rest of his tools mostly fit in a tool box and were all cordless…. Ie human powered… I remember being utterly fazzled by his Yankee screwdriver. It had groves cut into the shaft of the metal and you could push on the handle and the pushing would turn the shaft one way or the other depending on how you had the lever set. An early power screwdriver per se… I could manage this build without power tools. A Handsaw, a hand powered drill,screw driver, handplane, glue, carpenter square, coping saw, tape measure, sandpaper etc…. Powertools make it go faster and easier… Edited July 19 by Pepere 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmark285 Posted July 19 Author Share Posted July 19 On 7/19/2023 at 6:06 AM, Andy's Fish Den said: There have been many stands made with steel stands, and wood facade, most of them they glue or epoxy magnets to the wood so that the wood attaches to the stand with magnet rather than screws that have to be removed to take a wood panel off. I have seen reefer do the magnet thing, they want side access to the sumps. My Xmas wish item would not prevent that but for myself, I would just screw the facade to the steel frame. I just mounted a Delta t-30 fence to my table saw, drilling holes into steel is a pain hence, pre drill some holes please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tolstoy21 Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 (edited) On 7/19/2023 at 7:52 AM, Pepere said: I was born in the mid 60s and remember my Grandfather building plenty and his only power tools were a skill saw and a drill. The rest of his tools mostly fit in a tool box and were all cordless…. Ie human powered… I could manage this build without power tools. Oh god not me! I live by the convenience of modern power tools. Every time that I switch something up -- like a hammer for an air nailer, a mitre box for a good mitre saw -- I think "My God what was I thinking all these years? Who knew things could be this easy!" Plus I'm getting older. A few years back I had to sledge hammer out an old bathroom floor, and break up a cast iron tub with a hand sledge to get it out the bathroom door. After that was done, I spent 6 month in physical therapy getting my shoulder operational again! Next time I had to do similar work in my kitchen, I rented a demolition hammer. Yeah, like I said, I was like -- "My god what was I thinking!" On 7/19/2023 at 7:52 AM, Pepere said: Powertools make it go faster and easier… Yup! But yeah, a good craftsman could make a cathedral with nothing more than a hammer and a saw! Edited July 19 by tolstoy21 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmark285 Posted July 19 Author Share Posted July 19 On 7/19/2023 at 7:52 AM, Pepere said: I could manage this build without power tools. No hand tools for me! I thought about making a video/guide on the minimalist shop for those who use their garages for cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepere Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 (edited) On 7/19/2023 at 8:09 AM, madmark285 said: No hand tools for me! I used to be a private boat builder building custom boats for sale. (one I built) I would be on boatbuilder forums where a newbie would come in and ask what tools they needed to buy. Invariably someone would suggest a good belt sander was the most important tool. I would reply that I had one that mostly functioned as a stationary dust collector. I had found a well tuned hand plane in skilled hands was much faster, more accurate and unbelievably more pleasant to use. people were in total disbelief. I then took video of me putting a 3 foot length of fir in a vise, scribing a line 1/4 inch down and picking up an old all wood jack plane and erasing wood down to the line in minutes. Long curlicues of wood shavings happily flying out of the plane,(which by the way makes The BEST firestarter you could hope for in your wood stove. not mine but just a photo to indicate the type…. I then scribed another line 1/4 inch down and put on hearing protection and an N95 mask and used a belt sander and barely made an 1/8 inch progress in 10 minutes meanwhile a cloud of wood dust enveloped me… power tools chief advantage is the ability to plug it in, pull a trigger and do something. Hand tools require knowledge of how to use them and sharpen them that involve an investment of time…. But there are times they are faster… and certainly more pleasant to use. On 7/19/2023 at 8:08 AM, tolstoy21 said: Oh god not me! I live by the convenience of modern power tools. I have not sworn off power tools. They certainly have their place…. By the same token there are times the hand tools are more pleasant to use and can even be quicker… With the aquarium stand I could make do without power tools if I needed, but I would certainly miss a few.. my cordless impact driver being the one I would miss most… Edited July 19 by Pepere 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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