Not Just A Fishtank Stand

Art Mulder

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Location
London, Ontario
(haven't done an "in-progress" project thread in a while...)

I finally got some of my other round-tuits/honey-do's out of the way, so it was time to tackle the fishtank stand/cabinet that I'd started planning a while back. The design and background was posted over in the design sub-forum back in July and following.

This project is mostly a big cabinet, made with lots of sheet goods. But still, I'm pretty happy with the design, and I take plenty of pleasure in putting together a well designed piece of functional furniture.

I started on some of the parts last week... The carcass is from a sheet of 3/4" maple plywood. (This was the piece where I put the edge tape on the wrong sides)
IMG_3117_2.jpg

There is a small toe-kick out of the lower-front corner. This is not 'regulation' kitchen cabinet size. I'm trying to maximize the cabinet volume. (greedy, I know) But we still want a toe-kick, mostly so we can slip our foot under the left-side drawer (where the trash can/recylcing bin will sit) and use it to pull it open. We do that on our under-sink cabinets now, and it is very handy -- and that is an understatement.

Some of the cross-members and other bits:
IMG_3119_2.jpg

Today I put it all together -- at least all the bits I've built so far.
IMG_3139_2.jpg

Here was another learning experience... Having just a single center divider can be a problem when you're building with pocket hole joinery. I didn't even think about this until I was getting ready to put it together. That was when I realized that anywhere that I had two cross-members touching the center divider at the same place, I was probably going to have trouble with the pocket screws hitting each other. :doh:

I was able to avoid that in a few hidden places by alternating the orientation of the cross-members. Some had the screws angled up, some angled down. But I still had a couple places where it just didn't work and I had to macgyver a solution. Oh well, once it's built no one but me will ever know about it. But I confess here, in the hopes that others will learn from my oops. (Though I'm more concerned that *I* learn from this...) :rolleyes:

IMG_3140_2.jpg
The top is loose right now, not going to be attached until the end. The carcass is getting a blue stain. And the top is just going to get a bit of shellac, to warm up the pale maple, and then the whole project will get a whole bunch of varathane topcoats --- remember; fishtank. (I bought myself an Earlex in the summer, and this will be my first chance to give it a shot.)

And yes, there is a hole in the back. (which is 1/4" BB by the way).

The top right drawer is going to be about 4" shorter than the others, from front to back. This is to give me room back there to hide a power bar for the various A/C adaptors and plugs as well as a room for one or two air pumps for the tank.

Next up will be drawer construction. And I haven't even started milling the maple that will make up the drawer fronts. But it's got to be done by Oct 16 (LOML's bday party) so I'm under the gun, a bit.

...art
 
Hi Art the fishtank stand is looking good. Just out of curiosity is there any particular reason you did not use a face frame on the front.?

I would have thought that with the weight of the fishtank on top that the faceframe concept would have given added structural strength to the plywood and hidden the front so as not to require the banding. Also providing place for the draw glides to be mounted and hidden.

Not trying to be smart here just wanting to understand pros and cons given whats going to go on top?:(
 
Are you building a matching hood? or just using the factory hood?

Factory. I've only seen a few stands with wooden hoods, and only in the last few months. So I've never really considered it. It does seem to me to be one place where plastic/glass makes more sense than wood. And I just like this look.

Hi Art the fishtank stand is looking good. Just out of curiosity is there any particular reason you did not use a face frame on the front.?

I would have thought that with the weight of the fishtank on top that the faceframe concept would have given added structural strength to the plywood

Rob, I did address the weight issue in the design thread: "After looking back at the original stand that came with the tank I realized that they just had some 5/8" particle board for the top, and a simple box for the base. So what was I worried about?"
If you take a second look in that thread at thephoto of the ugly black stand that came with the tank, you'll see that not only was it a basic box, but it had a big door in it, and you can't see the big hole in the back of it also (for hoses, etc). So the weight of that was mostly born by the two 5/8" melamine sides.

My design has Three 3/4" plywood supports, not to mention the (nearly) full back of 1/4" BB. I have no concerns at all about this being able to support the weight.

The face frame question is a valid one. I considered a face frame, but decided that the frameless Euro-Kitchen style of cabinets would both be quicker, simpler, and suit the kitchen environment where it is going to stand. (I was going to say that it also matches our current cupboards, but as those are butt-ugly and due to be replaced when the kids are older, they don't really bear mentioning.)

thanks for the comments!
 
I did not mean to offend or insult you.

Ive found that now that I started putting drawers in things(I never had luck so I didnt put drawers,only doors with open cabinet space and shelves), its 5 times easier for me to line up drawer slides and put them in absolutley straight without having to work in the confines of a cabinet, with dividing walls and other attachments in my way.
 
Update...

Here's a little update, in case you're curious how I'm getting along...

First, here's a quick shot of the cabinet with the slides installed.
I'm still kicking myself for not thinking about mounting them before I assembled the case. Next time... These are Blum kitchen slides. I've used them in other cabinet-type applications, (ie: in several of my shop drawers) and they work great. But I bumped into the same problem as with the pocket holes. With the one central divider I had to be careful to not have the screws bump into each other when the slide is at the same height. :doh: Live and learn.
IMG_3223.jpg

Oh yeah, the trash can slide/drawer will get a 100lb full-extension slide, which isn't installed yet.

Here's the top leaning against a cabinet. I've shot 3 coats of clear rattle-can shellac on it. I was hoping it would amber up a bit more, but oh well. The skinny panel on the left (seen edge-on) is going to be the panel in the lower-right door/drawer. It'll be built like a door, but it'll slide out a drawer-type-thing where the trash can will stand.
IMG_3224.jpg

Stack of drawers, and a test piece with the blue stain. These are basic box drawers, nothing fancy. The kitchen slides wrap around the bottom, so I see no need to get fancy with mounting the drawer bottom. The sides were supposed to be rabbeted, but someone (who shall remain nameless) made a little error when measuring. :bang:
IMG_3226.jpg

Tonight I started prepping the stock for the drawer and door fronts. This is soft(?) maple -- got it from a buddy who bought it at an estate farm auction for a song, so we're guessing a bit there. These boards have been in my basement shop for months. So I was more than a bit shocked to stick in my moisture meter tonight and have it show me 10-11% Usually I see 8% in my shop, maybe 9, sometimes 7.

So I thought I'd best play it safe. I jointed and planed just down to 1" thickness (they were a nice generous 5/4 rough) and stacked and stickered them in front of a low speed fan. We'll check it in a few days. I'm aiming for 3/4" finished thickness, but I could go as thin as 5/8".
IMG_3222.jpg

And finally, just for fun, this is a test piece I made up to simulate the top.
IMG_3225.jpg

It's about 14" long and 5" wide. I plan to spray the finished cabinet. I bought myself an earlex 5000 a little while ago and have yet to get a chance to try it out. So I thought it would be wise to shoot a test board (maybe several) before starting in on the project! So I thought making one up to be like the top would be a fine idea.

and I think that's about enough for now.
...art
 
Looking good, Art. :thumb:

Bill, I guess you know your fishtank hobby has gotten out of hand when you have to don scuba gear to arrange the rocks in the bottom, huh? :p
 
I'll be interested to see how the blue looks on the finished cabinet, but I'm very impressed that your drop cloths are color-coordinated. :thumb: Plaid and floral both...you're on it. :p
 
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