Peppie's 180 Reef-Room

[Peppie]

So how many of you out there have painted the inside of your stand??
I have done it way more than once. It is a huge benefit if you are a contortionist.
Not only that once you squeeze yourself into the stand, laying on your back to reach the front inside top corner, you find you can see the paint bucket to re dip your brush. Now that you have a full brush and you slop it into the above corner, it never fails you end up wearing half of what was on the brush. Only 7 more corners to do. Thats just the first coat!

Not going to happen (to that extent) this time.
The 2 X 6 is for a wood platform that will sit on the steel stand. The tank will sit on top of the platform. You will see why later down the road.
It was a nice day yesterday so I primed and painted all the lumber for the platform and the bottom of the stand.

 

[trido]

Didn't get any local kids riding bicycles or skate boards over those ramps huh? lol I can honestly say I've never painted the inside of a stand and I've built quite a few.

 

[mercenary-grunt]

No more "Major" Honey Do Projects this year.

that is what you think. you know she'll have something when she goes back to Disney land.

Things are moving at a quicker pace now that I have finished installing the rock on the face of the house.

but it looks good. im a sucker for the real stone tho. did you finish that yesterday too. ?


Sent from my Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk 2.

 

[TJL]

Yes, four coats of Marine Spar Varnish and even siliconed all inside corner seams on mine. Then went through serious vapor withdraw for a week or more....lol

Cheers, Todd

 

[Ichthys]

Hey Dave, your build is progressing nicely, to bad the abrasive blaster didn't work, hopefully they will let you return it. Let me know if you need some help moving the tank into place when you get there, the more hands on deck the better.

 

[Peppie]

Thanks Danny,
I will try to get the blaster to work at a later date. I have an idea the involves sand blasting some acrylic.
I got frustrated with it the other day, I wanted to get the rust cleaned off while I had a good weather window.

 

[Maxx]

Impressive work so far.....I'm along for the ride!

 

[Peppie]

Impressive work so far.....I'm along for the ride!

Thanks Maxx, Hope you packed a lunch, looks like it will be a long build.



So it is time to make this stand functional. I will be using 1'' plywood to sheet the bottom. The gussets are a pain in the .... to cut around, so I made a template to be sure I didnt miss read my tape measure.




I flipped the plywood over and cut a shallow dado around the cut-out. This will allow room for the welding bead that holds the gussets.




Countersink for the screw-head, pre-drill for the screw, drive in a self-tapping screw. A bunch of times.


Fill the screw-holes with caulking


I cut the 1'' plywood, 3/4'' long around the edge of the stand so I could face the steel with wood. This will keep it from getting dinged and rusting.


Cut in the corner pieces, and the mid-leg pieces.

 

[TJL]

​Slowly but shurely it's coming along well Dave..... should have this system wet by March huh :fish:

Sure going to be nice my friend, once completed to your standards.

Cheers, Todd

 

[Spinner]

Nice detail Peppie quality +1

 

[Peppie]

Thanks you two. Todd, Spinner

Here is another small detail. Everybody knows saltwater and steel dont mix. Just about every steel stand I have seen has some rust on it, somewhere. I am going to try to reduce that chance. The legs will be one of the places on the stand that will get the most abuse. No matter how many coats of paint you put on there, it is bound to get a ding, and RUST.
So I will be wrapping all the legs in plastic. I went to the Big Box Store and bought plastic down spout. Luck on my side the inside dimension was 2 x 3. My steel legs are 2 x 2.
A quick pass on the tablesaw, and I have two pieces that will overlap on the legs


I still have to deal with the steel gussets, just cut some slots with a pair of shears


Some pieces to cover the gussets. It will have a J- mold on top. (used for capping 1/2'' drywall edge)


3 triangle pieces per gusset to have the correct thickness of the 1/2'' J-mold


This is how it will all tie in. Caulk the seams. All water tight. NO DINGS. NO RUST.
I will finish up the remaining legs tomorrow and get up some pics of the finished bottom platform.

 

[TJL]

See....... Thats what I'm talkin' about man........... What the #%$& !............... you're a genius my friend.

Cheers, Todd

 

[1guydude]

There's a fine line between genius and crazy! J/p looks great peppie keep it up!
-d

 

[kpiotrowski]

Even if the only reason was for looks, it looks awesome! real tough like!

 

[Peppie]

See....... Thats what I'm talkin' about man........... What the #%$& !............... you're a genius my friend.

Cheers, Todd

Thanks Todd,
Sometimes I even surprise myself. It is actually a very simple solution.

 

[Peppie]

There's a fine line between genius and crazy! J/p looks great peppie keep it up!
-d

I have been known to cross the line now and then. LOL

 

[Peppie]

Even if the only reason was for looks, it looks awesome! real tough like!

I got lucky on this detail. I killed 2 birds with one stone. Looks great,and great protection.

 

[Peppie]

So about 16-20 hours later I have got the bottom part of the stand ready for sumps and pumps.


Filled corner detail

 

[TJL]

Repeat my ^above^ statement !!!


Cheers, Todd

 

[rainydave]

Wow...that is some serious attention to detail. It is looking great!