Eric & Becca's 180 build

[eww]

Purchased the 180 with stand....if you can call the face and Rt and Lt side panels in separate pieces a stand...in December of 2010 from none other then Craigslist. Finally freeing up some time to tackle the rebuilding process of the stand, after of course making the space inside the home fitting for such a magnificent tank. Removing old flooring, yes all 800 sq ft., yes got someone from Craigslist to haul away for free. Removing dingy old brick wall from the 70's, again another free Craigslist haul away. Laying new laminate flooring throughout the kitchen, dinning room, living room, hallway, closets and one bathroom, ALL for a 6' by 2' tank, of course the first choice of flooring had to be hauled back to the store and a alternate was hauled back to the house....UGH!!!! Side note, remove a good portion of water from existing tank before sliding from old floor to new, lesson learned. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO MOVE A FULL TANK.

Future home of 180

Thanks to Todd (TJL) for providing the initial cleanup and prep of the stand parts.
Thanks to Dave (Peppie) for coming down from the hill to help transform the stand parts into a complete stand worthy of our 180.

Now this little project needs some color. A good dye job should be a decent place to start. I can tell you this will be a one shot deal, unlike the first stand we refinished THREE times before I (Becca) was happy. But first we have to get through Easter...UGH holiday delays.

 

[Peppie]

Don't envy you on the sanding and staining. I am in the same mode here on a sofa table. I have spent the last 3 days. Put stain on sand stain off. Put stain on sand stain off. I'm only 1/2 way done. ARGGGGG.
Will be watching.
Just call when your ready to do the hood.

 

[NC2WA]

Eric,

Happy to see this project is finally on the way...will be watching for updates.

 

[noworries]

Will be watching this. What is the structural support in the stand? The skin hides it well enough to not see it in the photos.

 

[crazyfish253]

OK quick tip from a pro on the stain... wet the surface to be stained with water first notice the wood will no longer be smooth wet and sand till you wet and no more spurs stand up after weting let dry. You are now ready for stain. Do not! Use a brush use a lint / hair free cloth. This method is for high end finish that is stand alone

 

[Krish]

Good luck with the setup!! I will be tagging along.

 

[Somethings Fishy]

so far so good cant wait to see more!

 

[TJL]

Hey Eric, NICE start and will be a sweet new system once up & running. Not bad for just a YEAR in the reefkeeping part of this hobby.

Cheers, Todd

 

[DonW]

Looks great, going to look real good with finish. What sort of finish are you going for?

Don

 

[eww]

Thanks everyone for following us on this new adventure. This should be fun and we can't wait for the extra room.

Don, we have it all sanded and ready for finish. So far I have hit it with 220 then wet it all down and let it dry. Then I went over it with 320 and have vacuumed and tack clothed it and it is nice an smooth. The first color will be a black aniline dye and then a coat of triple black stain. Once this all dries up we plan on using Cabot's Satin Finish Spar Varnish in several coats inside and out.

 

[DonW]

Thanks everyone for following us on this new adventure. This should be fun and we can't wait for the extra room.

Don, we have it all sanded and ready for finish. So far I have hit it with 220 then wet it all down and let it dry. Then I went over it with 320 and have vacuumed and tack clothed it and it is nice an smooth. The first color will be a black aniline dye and then a coat of triple black stain. Once this all dries up we plan on using Cabot's Satin Finish Spar Varnish in several coats inside and out.

You dont need to grain raise furniture. Dont get cought up in the whole Spar for an aquarium stand thing. Spar will not do anything extra for your stand especially the Cabots and other big box store brands. Spar is a flex finish actually softer and does not hold up as well. Its less water resistant than hard interior finishes. I know everyone thinks that they use it on boats so it must be better. The big box stuff is not true spar long oil finish anyways its poly based and is not true boat finish anyways. An aquarium stand especially a plywood one will never see the expansion and contraction of outdoor material so the finish does not need to flex. Uv is a non issue in a house which is the only advantage to big box spar. Spar will also amber your black taking away from the true black color. If an aquarium stand expanded and contracted or flexed as much as a boat spar we would have much more to worry about than the finish.

Don

 

[eww]

You dont need to grain raise furniture. Dont get cought up in the whole Spar for an aquarium stand thing. Spar will not do anything extra for your stand especially the Cabots and other big box store brands. Spar is a flex finish actually softer and does not hold up as well. Its less water resistant than hard interior finishes. I know everyone thinks that they use it on boats so it must be better. The big box stuff is not true spar long oil finish anyways its poly based and is not true boat finish anyways. An aquarium stand especially a plywood one will never see the expansion and contraction of outdoor material so the finish does not need to flex. Uv is a non issue in a house which is the only advantage to big box spar. Spar will also amber your black taking away from the true black color. If an aquarium stand expanded and contracted or flexed as much as a boat spar we would have much more to worry about than the finish.

Don

Then just a polyurethane finish then? I know thats what we used on the first stand and it seems to be holding up well but then again it is only a year old.

 

[DonW]

Then just a polyurethane finish then? I know thats what we used on the first stand and it seems to be holding up well but then again it is only a year old.

If your going to use something from lowes or Hd then plain poly. WB will be more clear. Sounds like you already picked the stain so the top coat needs to be compatible. If I had choice other than off the shelf it would be Target CV or Sherwin Williams CV or NCL.

Don

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

 

[eww]

Both the dye and the stains are from Dayls. HD or Lowes are just convenient but we can get what ever is needed from where ever. Can you clarify what you mean. I don't know what all the abreviations mean.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[DonW]

Both the dye and the stains are from Dayls. HD or Lowes are just convenient but we can get what ever is needed from where ever. Can you clarify what you mean. I don't know what all the abreviations mean.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

I assume you meant Daly's. As far as I know their stains are oil based. Dye can either be water or alchohol. CV is conversion varnish. The Target waterbased CV is harder and more durable than any off the shelf product and is ready to use right out of the can. NCL Nitro Cellulose Lacquer is by far the easiest finish to use and the Sherwin Williams or Rodda is going to be more durable than anything you can get off the shelf.

CV is a little tougher to lay down flat if your brushing so needs more attention between coats but is the most durable. The NCL is the easiest but the solvent based versions are very high VOC and will kill a few brain cells using at home in your garage. They do make a water based NCL but I have not tried it.

CV is a 3 mil max finish so if you like that real high build then it wont work. NCL is a 5 mil finish and builds beautifully. Either way NCL from Rodda or Sherwin williams or CV from Target (online) will be much better than anything you can buy at HD or Lowes.

All your dyes and stains are going to be compatible with Zinsar Bullseye dewaxed shellac that is cut 25 to 50% with denatured alchohol and used as a sanding sealer to keep your analine from blotching on the plywood.

Don

 

[crazyfish253]

If you want a smooth high end finish, raise the grain use a cloth. T-shirts work pretty good.

 

[DonW]

If you want a smooth high end finish, raise the grain use a cloth. T-shirts work pretty good.

Grain raising is only needed for oil/wax hand rubbed finished found on real hardwood furniture. If you want a "smooth high end finish" use a good sanding schedule down to 320 and sand the top coat between coats. Getting that true high end finish with a t shirt is called light film finishing or padding and is reserved for laquers and fast evaporating self cutting finishes. Todays plastic finishes need to be brushed then sanded (for diy) but even better yet a HVLP sprayer. An HVLP will lay the finish in one coat dead flat with no need for sanding because there is only one coat.

The reason grain raising is in no way a good thing is first the plywood veneer is to thin to waste by turning it into dust exposing the absorbed glue used to hold the veneer in place. The veneer is so thin there is not enough wood between the under glue absorbsion layer and raw wood to take the finish (stain) properly if the ply is over sanded. Second poly finishes must be sanded between coats in order or each coat to adhere to the previous. Any raise in the grain is gone after the first coat sanding which should be sanding sealer which is what is going to prevent stain blotching.

Don

 

[Peppie]

Is your stand darker yet?. Have you drilled ant holes yet? I'll bet both are done, you just havent taken any pics yet.
We're waiting!!!!
TJL has a head start you know.

 

[eww]

Yep it's darker. Got the aniline dye applied and the oil based triple black stain after that. Then began the search for the color putty to fill the nail holes. Two days later I finally came up with the concoction of Ebony, Dark Walnut and a little of the triple black stain mixed in. Almost a perfect match after being all over the region looking for something off the shelf. I just started the top coat process. Pics are difficult with the amount of space I have to work with in this disaster of a garage but I will try to get some tomorrow.

FWIW... Todd still has an entire room of tile floor to lay before he can get his tank wet so I think we have a little cushion. He does have his sliding glass door installed though so maybe we better kick it into gear a little just in case.

 

[eww]

Here are a couple of pics to satisfy a few... These were just taken a few minutes ago as the first coat of varnish has been drying for almost 24 hours and it's still tacky. Darn weather isn't helping. Hopefully coat #2 can go on by tomorrow. We are planning on 4-6 coats before it's all finished. As soon as there is some time the canopy project will begin as well as stripping and refinishing the three doors.

More to come soon.