Ideas on skinning a metal stand?

GHsaltie · Mar 4, 2017

I need some help with this stand. I had originally thought it would be easy when I chose to go this route but it's been months and I can't come up with any good ways. Doesn't help any that I'm not very good at diy

. Now it's becoming a necessity to do something about the stand as my niece is learning to walk and it's only a matter of time before she starts trying to explore where she shouldn't

.

In case you wonder about the blue tarp..... I had planned on wrapping/stapling it to some 2x4s or something to create a basin for catching drips/spills. Needless to say I didn't get there either because I haven't finished the stand.

happyhourhero · Mar 4, 2017

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/hhhs-65-mixed-reef.228678/

Check out the first post in my thread for what I did. For what it's worth, I just built a wood stand this weekend to replace the metal. Rust became an issue but I am still using everything else.

Aussie paul · Mar 4, 2017

Magnets on acrylic sheets easy to remove when doing maintenance

GHsaltie · Mar 4, 2017

Where would I find acrylic? I haven't even seen it at Home Depot or lowes weirdly enough. And is there a certain tool needed to cut it?

fishbox · Mar 5, 2017

Google local plastic shops or acrylic shops. Most HDs do carry it but keep it in an odd place. Mine keeps it near the screen doors. There's a special scoring knife you can use for but there's also saw blades and router bits as well if you have those power tools.

reef lover · Mar 5, 2017

We used wall board from home depot and used magnets to hold in place so everything comes off easy and I can get under there easily.

thewbell · Mar 6, 2017

I also used magnets on mine but I did cabinet doors with the frame held on by magnets. This way I can simply open doors to check on things or remove the entire panel for any bigger jobs.

GHsaltie · Mar 6, 2017

@thewbell that is very similar to what I originally had wanted to do. Except that with mine I would need to frame everything and add doors. I'm having an exceedingly hard time finding any wood/doors that is the correct mm size (not too heavy but not too light) and length/width for the doors.

thewbell · Mar 6, 2017

I built the frames out of 1x lumber and made the doors myslef (and you can tell if you look at them haha). If I were doing it again I would have built my face frames to fit some doors I could buy that would match my cabinets.

Fritzhamer · Mar 6, 2017

I've used painted 3/4" mdf panels (cut to size) held on with heavy duty Velcro.

Rybren · Mar 7, 2017

I used 1/2" plywood held on by magnets. For doors, I cut openings in the ply and then framed the pieces with 1 x 2 poplar.

JBradford · Mar 8, 2017

Acrylic panels with Velcro or magnets glued on the back. You can get clear from Lowes and paint it or buy colored panels online. Easy, light weight, and looks nice.

jeff williams · Mar 8, 2017

GHsaltie said:
I need some help with this stand. I had originally thought it would be easy when I chose to go this route but it's been months and I can't come up with any good ways. Doesn't help any that I'm not very good at diy . Now it's becoming a necessity to do something about the stand as my niece is learning to walk and it's only a matter of time before she starts trying to explore where she shouldn't .

In case you wonder about the blue tarp..... I had planned on wrapping/stapling it to some 2x4s or something to create a basin for catching drips/spills. Needless to say I didn't get there either because I haven't finished the stand.

If it were me I would drill several small holes through the legs (top and bottom) build a nice cabinet front and attach the panel to the steel legs with small wood screws. Put the screws on the inside of the legs and through the the leg and into the wood.
So build a square or rectangular frame the size of your stand let's say out of a veneered plywood make the strips 4" or so wide attach to the stand then buy some over lapping door hinges cut your doors 3/4 to 1" overlap on all edges screw the hinges to the door and then center the door or doors and screw them to the wood frame