How did you skin your stand?

House · Apr 2, 2013

Finished Building My Stand, But Keep Going Back And Forth On How To Skin It. Plywood Or Oak Boards. Build Doors Or Buy Doors. Stain Or Paint. Magnets Or Hinges...

Yeah, Im Just All Over The Place.

How Did You Skin Your Stand And Why Did You Choose That Route? Pics Are Much Appreciated

ReeferBob · Apr 2, 2013

The minimal wood you would want to use if you are going to stain it is oak - and that is argumentative. Oak is the lowest furniture grade wood. Anything lower (like pine) should be painted. I suggest plywood and spray-painting it flat black. This will make it look professional. Staining cheap wood will make it look amateurish.

Here is a good before and after stain vs paint.

GnarleyMarley · Apr 2, 2013

I skinned mine with Redoak plywood, and used Red oak boards for the top and bottom and all the trim... Im still not finished with it, i have to pickup my corner molding this weekend

Steveowhits · Apr 2, 2013

I would look around your space for inspiration. I have a black couch, black table, and a black tank.... It looks pretty good.
...BUT one of the coolest systems I have seen was done in stained wood to match a guys dining room set. They guy used Stained hardwood and accented the tank stand with the same embellishments as his table.

I also tried using a Kona chocolate stain on a very simple stand, but because it was 2x4 it looked cheap. The top panel was a presanded panel I purchased at Lowes that turned out better.

mainereefer · Apr 2, 2013

i used tri-ply (under layment) and painted with black exterior paint. a quick sand in-between coats of paint and it lays nice and flat for that pro look

OurReef · Apr 2, 2013

Dry erase board, I can write notes on the sides and kids can color on the front.

Not the best pic but you get the picture.

cdness · Apr 2, 2013

Mine is skinned in 1x4 and 1x6 red oak with some red oak plywood panels for the doors and sides...

Unfinished:

After staining and poly (Tank ticked off and aquascape not fully done yet):

Personally there were some things I would change though. I spent a small fortune ($450) on just the oak for the stand, not counting the structural 2x4 and 2x6 lumber or the plywood used for the bottom panel, paint, stain, poly, kreg screws, etc... I would look into smaller oak boards for the doors like above and use oak plywood to skin the stand, not 1x4 and 1x6 red oak. It looks nice the way I did it, but it was VERY expensive. Total I'd say I have about $600 - $650 in just the stand alone.

The above comments about type of wood are correct. If you use cheaper wood, paint the stand. If you use expensive wood, show it off with a quality stain.

black hills tj · Apr 3, 2013

The stand for my 75g which I built with my dad is skinned in 1/2" red oak, stained, and poly'd. The stand for my 72 came with the tank and is skinned in something similar to 1x4's that have been routed. I think it looks like crap myself. It is also stained. I don't like it, I just haven't had a chance to come up with a neat workaround for it.

slojmn · Apr 3, 2013

I had my 3x3 cube skinned with three panels and painted black. Its sealed as well and has stood up to salt creep and salt water spills really well. The front panel has doors. I attached it to the stand with Industrial strength Velcro. I know it sounds crazy but it works really well. I've replaced the Velcro once about 6 months ago at the 3 year mark. I can take any or all panels off and access everything underneath the tank. Here are some shots, excuse the salt creep here and there. About every 6-8 months I take all the panels off and clean them really well, lemon oil them and generally clean them up pretty. I think its about that time, hehehehehehehe.

slojmn · Apr 3, 2013

Here is a full shot of the tank with all panels in place.

souk · Apr 3, 2013

Tagging along, thinking of building a stand too

kschweer · Apr 3, 2013

Built this for a friend for his 129g and 57g. The frame of the stand is built with 2x4's and 2x6's then skinned with birch. The canopy over the 120 was framed with 1x3 fir and also skinned with birch. The "floating" canopy over the 57 is framed with 2x4's abs also skinned with birch.

Here it is with final trim and light leak fixed