Cutting wood for stand

nstd · Jan 26, 2017

I have a cylinder saw. Im a little anxious on making the stand level.

Any tips on how to cut 2x4 in perfect lengths?

cromag27 · Jan 26, 2017

If you feel the need to use 2x4s, then I would suggest you plane and jointer them. then use a miter saw.

Pepcrylic · Jan 26, 2017

What is a cylinder saw??

nstd · Jan 26, 2017

Pepcrylic said:
What is a cylinder saw??

I mean circular saw

killingseed2000 · Jan 26, 2017

ya, use a chop saw or miter saw. circular saw would be a little more trouble. i would ask some local friends or your local club most the time some of them have tools are are willing to lend a hand.

cromag27 · Jan 26, 2017

Or better yet.....skip the ugly 2x4s and use plywood.

nstd · Jan 26, 2017

cromag08 said:
Or better yet.....skip the ugly 2x4s and use plywood.

Any examples or plans?

cromag27 · Jan 26, 2017

davocean · Jan 26, 2017

If you are not comfortable w/ a skill/circular saw than it may not be the best for you, and even though I'm a contractor/carpenter myself 30 years in the trade and use circulars pretty much every day, even I will usually go to my miter/chop saw as it is much easier to make a perfect cut.
I've never had to plane or do anything extra to 2x's and i have no idea how many stands I've built over the years that are all perfectly fine and still in use today.
Even if you were to use ply, you're still going to need to be able to make accurate cuts, so really I'd say check w/ your local club or someone that may be able to help you.

spinycheek · Jan 26, 2017

nstd said:
I have a cylinder saw. Im a little anxious on making the stand level.

Any tips on how to cut 2x4 in perfect lengths?

Practice. Make some cuts, screw them up, make some more, screw those up less this time, then make some more. Eventually you'll get good at it and feel comfortable.

"Those who make no mistakes are those who do no work".

nstd · Jan 26, 2017

Its going to be a frag tank in the garage so what do you guys think about using cinder blocks and adding a piece of plywood on top?

davocean · Jan 26, 2017

nstd said:
Its going to be a frag tank in the garage so what do you guys think about using cinder blocks and adding a piece of plywood on top?

Well, not that it's going to be much easier to have a perfectly flat surface, but many have done it, guess it also depends on whether it's a trimmed tank(trimmed are more forgiving in this area), size of tank, how precious the animals in there are to you, and what a potential failure would do and how bad it would be to recover, I guess a garage should not be a big deal, but obviously this is not optimal

sundog101 · Jan 27, 2017

I would go with a barebones 2x4 stand.
Chop/mitre saw will make it sooo much easier.
This shows the build step by step if your new to woodworking.

ReefNo0ob · Jan 29, 2017

nstd said:
I have a cylinder saw. Im a little anxious on making the stand level.

Any tips on how to cut 2x4 in perfect lengths?

Im a carpenter(helped a little heheh) and built my own stand! Its not as hard as you think! Buy a speed square and a framing square and whenever you measure a 2x4, use the speed square to trace a perfectly square line and use a mitre saw to cut it to ensure perfect cuts. If youre capping the top and bottom with plywood (i did to add to strength and to make it more solid) use the framing square (alot larger than a speed square) to trace perfectly square lines. Also buy 3/4 foam to set the tank on in case the stand/floor is off level, the foam will be a buffer layer to prevent stress on the tank seams and you'll be good to go [emoji6] [emoji106] and if you only have a circular saw, just take your on your cuts and set the depth to the thickness of whatever your cutting (so you dont cut your fingers or anything else) and youll be okay

nstd · Jan 29, 2017

ReefNo0ob said:
Im a carpenter(helped a little heheh) and built my own stand! Its not as hard as you think! Buy a speed square and a framing square and whenever you measure a 2x4, use the speed square to trace a perfectly square line and use a mitre saw to cut it to ensure perfect cuts. If youre capping the top and bottom with plywood (i did to add to strength and to make it more solid) use the framing square (alot larger than a speed square) to trace perfectly square lines. Also buy 3/4 foam to set the tank on in case the stand/floor is off level, the foam will be a buffer layer to prevent stress on the tank seams and you'll be good to go [emoji6] [emoji106] and if you only have a circular saw, just take your on your cuts and set the depth to the thickness of whatever your cutting (so you dont cut your fingers or anything else) and youll be okay

Thanks this is very helpful.

Where can i find the foam?

SandJ · Jan 29, 2017

I like to use a guide when cutting with a circular saw. For longer cuts like plywood, they make inexpensive metal rails that clamp down and you run the circular saw along them. Or you can use any kind of straight edge really, such as a long level. I'm sure you can make a jig of some sort to use as a straight edge for 2x4s.

But as some other people said, a miter saw is much easier to use to get straight cuts on 2x4s. You can even stack the boards so you know multiple boards are the exact same length (or I have a sliding miter saw so it can handle a few 2x4s side by side).

ReefNo0ob · Jan 29, 2017

nstd said:
Thanks this is very helpful.

Where can i find the foam?

You can get foam at most big hardware stores like lowes, home depot, or Menards its insulation foam sheets usually near the plywood and 2x4 im using the pink panther insulation foam (its literally a 4'x8' pink sheet)