How many have DIY stands/canopies?

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Beckmola24

Beckmola24

Hawkfish
Joined
Mar 17, 2004
Messages
1,112
Location
Columbus, OH
I keep noticing that a whole lot of people are going with DIY stands. I know I could make a "plain" stand, but how hard is it to make one that actually has some character?? I know there have been some diy threads about stands lately, but I can't remember exactly who posted them. Any advice on making my own stand??? TIA!
 
If your lookin for a good and beautiful design that can be done without a full woodshop. Check out Toms (bigt). Who know maybe you can even get him motivated to put the doors on.

Don
 
Becky - we did ours without fancy woodworking equipment. The stand and canopy are maple, and the doors were ordered unfinished from an online store. It came together very nice....I think anyway. I wanted crown molding on the top of the canopy to match the cabinets in the kitchen (also the reason behind the maple). Anyway, here is the completed stand and canopy:

450Standcomplete.jpg
 
Nikki, I love your stand. How long did it take for you to make it? Also what is the height? The place where the tank will go won't allow for the side doors, but I love the woodwork. How did you go about doing the crown molding??? Thanks again for all the help! I'm new at the DIY stuff :)
 
Becky - I'll take a couple of closer pictures and get some info put together on it. It isn't nearly the masterpiece as some stands on this board, but it serves its purpose.
 
Ok here is a pic of mine. That is my woodworking friend Ricky, he helped out a little with the construction.
269stand.jpg
 
I "built" my stand for my 30g out of a surplus hickory wall cabinet which i added a base out of 2x4's and covered it with a 1x4 hickory board. then used a post formed counter top to set the tank on. Check with your local lumberyard or kitchen cabinet store they all have extra and ding and dent cabinets.(trust me on this, for i am a kitchen designer by trade) I picked up my whole stand setup for 30 bucks. I only have about an hour of time invested. Cant beat a deal like that!
 
I built mine and textured and painted it as well. Mine is not the normal wood looking stand. It looks more like the walls of a house then a stand. I also added very large doors to not only the front but on both sends as well. That way I can have access to all sides of my underneth.
 
I am in the design stage of a 150 gallon stand and canopy. I have the canopy part done and will be constructing it soon. I hope to get my POS Sony Camera back broken with the exact same problem 4 times in a row now. Of course the warrenty expired 8-15-05 and since they have had for at least 3 months out of the year, the warrenty is still expired. Sorry I am just a tad bit upset with Sony right now. If it comes back and will actually take pictures I will take photos of construction. I have some other pics of canopies if you wanna see them.
 
Very Nice Ken, would you do me a favor and take pics inside the stand and canopy? I have seen a lot of different ways of doing things and it helps me to learn and do better. Steve
 
Well I went to your website, I would like to see where the braces meet the stand, and how the floor was built. I would also like to see how the flip up front was made. Its really well done and I would like to try and use some of the the things you did. I think I see where you used a kreg tool is that correct?
 
Kreg tool, uh... pocket screws....yes. Here is the layout I made before building, I used the same cross memberes on top that are not shown here. Yep had to check, it was a Kreg!!

stand%20done.jpg
 
Let me know if you need any more info or detailed pics. The pocket screws are my new best friend, love those things, very strong, hidden and easy. The one mistake I made was not to have a removable panel on one of the sides, limits what size of sump I can get in there. I have to run a seperat sump, and fuge tank, a all-in-one wont fit. Not a big deal but I will have a removeable side panel on my next one:D .
 
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