Difficulty of building a stand

ndz98 · Dec 15, 2016

On a scale of 1-10, how hard do you think it would be to build a tank stand for say a 65 gallon tank (36 7/8 x 19 x 24 5/8)? I'm definitely no pro carpenter or anything like that but I'd consider myself pretty handy and able to learn. That being said, I'm definitely a beginner when it comes to building stuff with wood. Thanks in advance!

Oscar47f · Dec 15, 2016

this should help you out

ndz98 · Dec 15, 2016

Oscar47f said:
this should help you out

Hmmmm this looks very doable. How about the skinning process? Or adding doors and what not?

sundog101 · Dec 15, 2016

I used tongue and groove to skin mine.

I was going to make use doors at first, but a later decided to have two front panels with magnets that are removable.

There's a lot of threads and good ideas out there

Jolly Roger · Dec 15, 2016

The DIY King produces excellent videos to show you how to save money and it really isn't hard at all to build a stand stronger than the cheap ones that tanks usually come with. Skinning and putting doors on isn't too difficult as long as you have the right tools to make it easier. The one thing I can't stress most is to plan out how you want it to be structurally and how you want it to look. After realizing some changes half way through my DIY stand, I scrapped a part of it and had to redesign on the fly...

Oscar47f · Dec 15, 2016

oops sorry lol he does the skinning in the last video of that series first he does a video for the stand then one for the canopy then one for the skinning...

Pola0502ds · Dec 15, 2016

It depends on your skill level, how handy you are, how mechanically inclined you are, do you enjoy DIY stuff? In my opinion as long as you enjoy spending the time working on stuff like this and are patient, nothing is hard. Take your time and have fun with it.

indyjaco · Dec 17, 2016

Finding quality wood is the hardest part in the process.

Tink · Dec 17, 2016

indyjaco said:
Finding quality wood is the hardest part in the process.

This really is the truth

cromag27 · Dec 18, 2016

Some of his videos are really painful to watch. use 3/4" plywood only and don't worry about skinning.

Pepcrylic · Dec 18, 2016

Quality wood can be found at a "Lumber Yard" NOT a box store.

ndz98 · Dec 18, 2016

Do you guys mean get quality wood for the outside of the stand? And use regular 2x4's for the frame of the tank?

cromag27 · Dec 18, 2016

No, build the whole thing out of quality plywood only. skip the 2x4s altogether. they warp, take up space inside the stand and look ugly.

ndz98 said:
Do you guys mean get quality wood for the outside of the stand? And use regular 2x4's for the frame of the tank?

ndz98 · Dec 18, 2016

cromag08 said:
No, build the whole thing out of quality plywood only. skip the 2x4s altogether. they warp, take up space inside the stand and look ugly.

How do you build the stand without 2x4's? That was something I was worried about though was that they were going to take up too much space inside.

cromag27 · Dec 18, 2016

Pocket hole screws, wood glue and accurately cut panels.

ndz98 said:
How do you build the stand without 2x4's? That was something I was worried about though was that they were going to take up too much space inside.