Stainless steel stand?

[zirky]

I’m thinking of fabricating a stand but I’m not sure it’ll be strong enough. The tank is 48”-;27”-22” tall about 125 gallons. I’d like to use 1.5” x1.5” 1/8 inch wall two tall on the top 48” cross bars. And perhaps 1” square top knees or gussets. I built a 2x4 frame instead of a drawing. Does anyone know if this would be strong enough?

 

[((FORDTECH))]

Won’t stainless steel eventually rust

 

[Ippyroy]

Stainless steel and saltwater are a deadly combination. I am currently using a stainless steel table as a stand and I have to clean it twice daily. I can't wait until March when I will hopefully upgrade and build a wooden stand.

 

[((FORDTECH))]

My stainless steel 24inch long tweezers I just bought rusted after 2 days

 

[DaddyFish]

A cursory look makes me doubt you have enough support/gussets for the potential sideloads. Think of someone working at one end of the tank, perhaps on a stepstool, and they lose their balance reaching out and pushing against the end for support. That's a 200-lb sideload with roughly 1.5-2.0 g-force. I'd want 1/8"-thick gusset plates on all inside corners. Rule of thumb is gussets need to be the same material thickness as your tubing sidewall, and 2x the length of the material dimension, or 3" minimum in your case.

 

[DaddyFish]

Won’t stainless steel eventually rust

Depends on the grade and quality of the steel. Good stainless is expensive!

 

[Ratherbeflyen]

I'm not an engineer, but I wouldn't feel good with 4 x 1.5" tubing columns, stainless or not.

I built my 6' 220 gallon stand out of 6" 6061 aluminum channel. It's light weight, rock solid, been corrosion free for the last 3 years, and much cheaper than stainless.

Unless the stainless was free, I would do the aluminum again.

 

[DaddyFish]

I built my 6' 220 gallon stand out of 6" 6061 aluminum channel. It's light weight, rock solid, been corrosion free for the last 3 years, and much cheaper than stainless.

Nice TIG work there! Interesting choice using round tube for the lower cross braces. Curious what material you use for the bottom fabric/liner?

 

[Ratherbeflyen]

Nice TIG work there! Interesting choice using round tube for the lower cross braces. Curious what material you use for the bottom fabric/liner?

I do have a tig welder, but I did this with a wire feed.

The round tube was scrap on hand. I don't think it was needed for bracing, but it holds the oatey pvc shower pan liner to catch drips and spills. It works great, until it fills up anyway. It has saved my floors several times and will be in all future builds for sure.

 

[theatrus]

For those in the "but rust" camp...

There are over 15 alloys of "stainless steel". Many aren't suitable for salt water, but are cheap. Most things labeled "stainless" are made of these alloys (18-8, 304, some 400 series steels, etc).

Would something like 316 stainless develop surface rust at times? Yeah. Its not going to affect the durability. If you want to polish it up, and keep it super shiny, you can probably seal it up with a permalac product to avoid surface scratches and any spotting:

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[zirky]

Stainless steel and saltwater are a deadly combination. I am currently using a stainless steel table as a stand and I have to clean it twice daily. I can't wait until March when I will hopefully upgrade and build a wooden stand.

I was thinking 316 stainless with a sink cromate primer and Alwgrip

 

[zirky]

I was thinking 316 stainless with a sink cromate primer and Alwgrip

Typo I ment zink

 

[zirky]

A cursory look makes me doubt you have enough support/gussets for the potential sideloads. Think of someone working at one end of the tank, perhaps on a stepstool, and they lose their balance reaching out and pushing against the end for support. That's a 200-lb sideload with roughly 1.5-2.0 g-force. I'd want 1/8"-thick gusset plates on all inside corners. Rule of thumb is gussets need to be the same material thickness as your tubing sidewall, and 2x the length of the material dimension, or 3" minimum in your case.

Thank you for responding. How’s 1.5” square tubing 1/8”” wall on all 8 top corners mounted 8” in and 8” down For the gussets

 

[zirky]

I do have a tig welder, but I did this with a wire feed.

The round tube was scrap on hand. I don't think it was needed for bracing, but it holds the oatey pvc shower pan liner to catch drips and spills. It works great, until it fills up anyway. It has saved my floors several times and will be in all future builds for sure.

That looks great I’ve been saving for a framing tech so for me the stainless is the inexpensive option. I love the drip tray

 

[LeftyReefer]

Awesome!

Don't forget to passivate the stand if you use stainless steel. This step is very important.

Use 316 SS. and be sure to passivate it correctly afterwards.

if you don't passivate it, it will eventually rust no matter what.
If you can, try to avoid using any tools that have been used on carbon steel, when you are building your stainless steel stand. for instance, don't use any grinding wheels or flap wheels that have been used on carbon steel, and only use wheels/brushes designated for stainless steel.

Another option would be aluminum, which is usually cheaper than SS, and then opens the possibility of having the stand anodized in any color you want.

 

[zirky]

Awesome!

Don't forget to passivate the stand if you use stainless steel. This step is very important.

Use 316 SS. and be sure to passivate it correctly afterwards.

if you don't passivate it, it will eventually rust no matter what.
If you can, try to avoid using any tools that have been used on carbon steel, when you are building your stainless steel stand. for instance, don't use any grinding wheels or flap wheels that have been used on carbon steel, and only use wheels/brushes designated for stainless steel.

Another option would be aluminum, which is usually cheaper than SS, and then opens the possibility of having the stand anodized in any color you want.

Wow thanks lots of great info here. I’ll talk wit my buddy who’s getting me the stock. As far is strength goes do you think I would need thicker wall square tubing with aluminum over steel

 

[Greybeard]

My stand is welded mild steel, 1.5" square tube, 11 gauge. Powder coated. Supports a 140g or so tank. Solid as a rock. It could easily hold a tank several times as heavy as this one.

Note, I put full length cross braces in the ends of the stand, to keep it from twisting.

The plywood shelving units you see under the tank are non structural, and removable. It's just the steel supporting the load.

 

[Jman76]

Perfect thread, watching. Some nice stands here. I was really set on 316 stainless myself, but am now leaning 6061 aluminum. I have a lot of 1.5" square tube 1/8 wall on hand. Will this suffice for a 75 gal? My plan is very similar to OP...maybe an extra cross beam and a couple columns down the back. Front will be open, all corners will have gussets from the 1.5 tubing

 

[LeftyReefer]

My stand is welded mild steel, 1.5" square tube, 11 gauge. Powder coated. Supports a 140g or so tank. Solid as a rock. It could easily hold a tank several times as heavy as this one.

Note, I put full length cross braces in the ends of the stand, to keep it from twisting.

The plywood shelving units you see under the tank are non structural, and removable. It's just the steel supporting the load.

Man, that stand is beautiful. Awesome job on that bad boy!

 

[zirky]

My stand is welded mild steel, 1.5" square tube, 11 gauge. Powder coated. Supports a 140g or so tank. Solid as a rock. It could easily hold a tank several times as heavy as this one.

Note, I put full length cross braces in the ends of the stand, to keep it from twisting.

The plywood shelving units you see under the tank are non structural, and removable. It's just the steel supporting the load.

That’s frikin beautiful thanks for sharing. I was hoping to not have the center brace. Instead stack two tubes one on top of the other. Now I’m thinking separating them with bar stock to form an I beam (of sorts)