5x2x2 basic stand

[aussiegreenthumb]

hey guys its aussie here and ive just scored a little job to do for a guy from one of my local forums to build him a basic pine stand for his 5x2x2

I will be starting this build early next week and doing a full cutting list and plan drawn up to show how easy it really is to construct a stand for any size fish tank.

as a rule of thumb I usually have legs 2ft apart but being a 5 ft there will be a middle leg in the center at 2.5ft, the design will be very easy and require no tenon joins or trenching and provide maximum strength

I will also document the price for materials and build time for future reference. looking forward to this little project and hope to get some pics next Monday for you Click here to enlarge till then keep green from Aussie

material cost $80 total

pine 8x, 45x70x24000mm structural pine batterns

pine 3x, 80x15x2400mm fingerjointed pine arcatrave

screws 50mm,57mm

pva glue

(tools)

cordless impact driver

cordless drill

sliding table saw

tape,pencil,paper,calculator

roofing square

[aussiegreenthumb]

pine battens. 2400x70x35mm x 8, when you first selected you should sight them down to make sure they were pretty straight this is essential when building stuff because you cant work with crooked,twisted wood

next step is laying the wood on a perfect flat surface and picking the best flat pieces for the main support beams, then stack them from A-grade to C-grade

now once that's done get started on the legs and have i came up with a design that dosnt require trenching and is very sturdy and can hold a ton or two.

as you can see I have the main leg that is full length and then the other piece of leg that is dissected to allow the main horizontal beams to pass through

here they all are cut and ready to be assembled

[aussiegreenthumb]

in this pic there are the essential tools that make life easy, cordless drill,driver,file,pva glue,nail gun for tacking the timber so you can drill and screw it without it moving, notice also I made a jig on the end so I can push the timber up flush and nail it

I then glued the non-face side this is the side that has defects like knots and marks so it can be hidden

next step is then placing the glued pieces on the main long leg and then tacking it with a nail gun, make sure the nails arnt to long or they could go through what ever your nailing especially short bits

this is a dummy piece (spacer) with a abit of 1mm pvc tape on the end so it can allow me a tolerance so the main supports can slide in just right without being to tight.

now you can see the whole leg starting to come together, the short piece-the spacer-and the other long piece, note that I am pushing the leg up against the jig too

with all the pieces nailed together I then check the bottom of the leg nmaking sure its flush. if not you can hit it with a hammer and then get ready to screw it off in position

[aussiegreenthumb]

this is countersinked drill piece it allows you to drill and counter sink at the same time rather than swap the bits back and forth. note I have adjusted the length to suit the thickness im drilling into

next step is pilot drilling the pieces you have nailed. the pilot drill is the countersink thingy I just talked about

here is the impact driver (aka) cordless screwdriver, you can see how I have checked the length of the screw to make sure its not going to go through but has enough thread to provide strength

now you can drill the screws in all the countersunk holes

one finished leg three more to go

all the legs ready for the next step

[aussiegreenthumb]

now lay two of the legs on a flat table and work out what length the main horizontal support beam is. what I did is minus the width of the two legs and took it off the total length giving me the exact size. then cut the main support beam and test it and measure making sure its right. then cut the other 3 beams

now put away the four main support beams and do the same with the side support beams. in the photo you can see I have used spacers or dummy pieces to get the exact length so I can measure and double check

in this pic I am using a 90degree roofing square to check that its square when im gluing nailing the horizontal support beams in.

next step is gluing the support beams in and checking that everythings square, then the 3 steps glue-nail-screw

nail

screwed and ready for the next part

[aussiegreenthumb]

so there we have it two complete side supports

now get the four main horizontal support beams that you cut earlier

now dry fit them in and make sure every thing is looking square (this is actualy looking like a stand now

take the horizontal supports off and get ready for gluing

make sure there plenty of glue and don't worry if your concerned about it dripping out, you can use a wet towel do wipe off excess glue

bottom glued up

[aussiegreenthumb]

now start tacking,pilot drilling and screwing the support beams in

bottom screw hole, note I have only put one in because its the front and didn't want to many screwholes to see. the glue and nails will hold it (trust me)

once the stand is all glued,nailed and screwed off its time to have a quick break and look at what progress yourv made

heres some closeup pics of the construction without flash

side view

[aussiegreenthumb]

now on to the skirting or trim. heres some nice pieces of finger jointed pine arcatrave

set your drop saw @ 45degrees or if you have a digital sliding table saw in the back shed

blade set @ 45 (altendorf) I love this saw

cut one end of the pine arcatrave and place right on the end of the end leg

then mark with a pencil on the other end where the leg meets, this is the easiest way to do precision mitring

now cut it at 45 and make sure the bottom of the cut is where the pencil is.

[aussiegreenthumb]

now glue the mitired facia panel (aka) trim-skirt and get some g-clamps handy

clamped on and ready to adjust and screw off

do the same process with the end mitred trims-skirting

put plenty of glue on the mitre that way its going to glue nice and tight and wipe of with a wet rag. note that any undried glue can be wiped of easy with a wet towel or rag.

now you can see how clean the corner is looking and way better than an ugly but joint

once screwed off check that its square then sit back and have another break

[aussiegreenthumb]

now were finally getting close to the end and can almost taste a cold one coming on

sorry but I forgot to take some pics of me ripping the bottom rail and the shelf slats

here ive tipped the stand over on its side and installing the slat support rail on, its easy on the back and neck. tipp it over and repeat on the other side

now some maths and thinking is involved to make life easier with getting your spacings right. so what you do is get all your slats and bunch them together and measure them. then get the total distance of the rail support. then minus the combined slats measurement and divide it by the total number of spacings that will give you the exact measurement for the spacing in the slats. simple Right?

now cut a scrap bit of wood to the width of the spacing you came up with and place next to it

now you can glue and nail the slats on and congratulate yourself on finishing an awesome stand that you have made for a lifetime

so there you have it folks on how to make an aquarium stand with out trenching,routering or any tricky bits well except for the mitring but its well worth learning Click here to enlarge

I hope you have enjoyed the process and pics along the way and this design is very strong and recommended for any heavy weight. you can also add another leg in the middle and make yourself a 6,8 or even ten foot tank stand.

i hope you enjoyed this build thread and many more stands to come in the next coming year,cheers to all and keep green from aussie :thup:

[livingart]

nice build thread

[kiwiraka]

Nice! Clear easy to follow instructions too! I might have to steal this one day soon :thup:

[Discusguru]

Very nice build thread. Simple to build yet strong and cost effective.

Thank for sharing

Ron

[Ira]

Looks like it still needs panelling around it and doors. :slfg:

[kiwiraka]

Looks like it still needs panelling around it and doors. :slfg:

I think most of us can work that bit out by ourselves :yawnn:

[David R]

Good design and great workmanship, but TBH (unless Aussie pine is a lot stronger than our stuff!) I'd feel a bit uneasy about it without that middle set of legs you mentioned in the first post.

as a rule of thumb I usually have legs 2ft apart but being a 5 ft there will be a middle leg in the center at 2.5ft,