Nikecivic's stand build

Ok everyone, here's the thread where I will document Nikecivics stand build and canopy/pendant build when he decides what he wants.

My plan is to fully document the process along with actual hours worked. I will also document the cost for materials. That way you have an idea of what it takes to build a stand.I will not discuss the cost of the build as that is between Nikecivic and myself. If you are interested in a stand, we can talk off line by PM. Some may use other methods for building a stand but this is the way I do them.

The main stand will be build from 2 X 4 Studs. I will then "skin" it with Poplar and stain it to match his furniture. The stand will be 6 feet long and 2 feet deep tp match his 180G tank with center overflow. The stand will be 38" high as that is what he has chosen.

The "skin" will be 3 uprights with a three coves centered in the uprights. One upright on each corner and one in the center. There will be matching uprights on each end as well. There will be two set's of double doors on the front. Each door being 15" wide for a total of 30" on each opening. The doors will have a decorative bead on the indie of the styles and rails and it will have a raised panel in the center. There will be matching panels on each end of the stand as well. The back will be open.

So here is the time break down and cost break down. I will continue to update it as I go thru the build.

TIME

Hours                Task
  .5                    Purchase 10 8 foot 2 X 4 lumber
 1.5                   Design stand and develop drawings
   .5                   Develop lumber list for stand
  1.0                  Cut and assemble Top and Bottom of stand
  2.0                  Cut and assemble legs and cross braces
  3.0                  Assemble bottom frame to legs
                        Assemble center uprights
                        Screw all pieces together
 7.0                 Layout, cut to rough length and width, joint edges,
                      cut to final board widths 6 panels. Glue and clamp 6
                      panels. Cut to rough size and square.
8.0                   Layout, cut, joint edges, of wood for rails, stiles for
                      doors, upper and lower main cross pieces and
                      uprights. Joint and plane to final width and thickness.
                      Route profile on door rails and stiles.


COST
$28                  2X4 lumber  10 pcs
$  5                  Glue for assembly
$  5                  Dry wall screws for assembly
$165                66 Board Feet of Poplar. S2S with one straight edge cut.

Building the top and bottom frame. Got to make sure it's square. Got to let the glue dry before moving on.



" />

Next step, building the legs. I doubled up 2X4's for the leg in the corners and notched them so the top and bottom will fit in the notches and be supported.

[img][/img]

Now that everything has dried and been screwed together, it's time to put the legs in the top frame. First step is to set up the top frame upside down on the sawhorses and get it level before moving on.

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

I used shims to get it level. I know that my garage floor is not level so I need to do this so that everything else comes out true, square and level.

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

Now that the frame is level, I can start to attach the legs and get them level and square.

[img][/img]

I did the same for all 4 legs and then let the glue dry.

Next I put on the base, checked it for level, glued and clamped, and then glued and clamped in the center uprights. there is one in the front and two in the back because of his center overflow.

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

Ok base is complete. Now we need to test fit the tank to make sure it fits before moving on.

[img][/img]

Looks great! I'm currently doing a leak test before I start removing the plastic frame/trim.

A little update here. I'm waiting for Nike to pick up the stand base for a fit check. Also we went and picked up the Poplar needed to "skin" the stand 66 Board feet of wood at $165. A board Foot = 1" thick by 12" long and 12" wide. The lumber we got is 1" thick and varies in width from 5 to 9 inches and 4 to 10 feet long. But they figure it all out and sell by the BdFt. Lowes sells it by the board. It was a bit cheapier than buying at Lowes but the wood is surfaced 2 sides and has one straight edge cut on it. That means more machining on the lumber to get it to a finished state of the Lowes lumber. So you can either spend time or money to get to the finished lumber. Luckly I have the tools to do the machining, Table saw, Jointer, Thickness Planner.

The next step will be to cut and glue up pannels for making the raised pannels in the doors and ends. I've picked out some lumber with some nice grain patterens for the pannels. I'll take pictures when I start cutting and glueing.

OK, I've updated the first post with more work time. A little explanation of what I did. When making boards for use in this build, I first cut them to the desired length plus 2". Mainly because I'm not quite sure of the final length on some pieces as we are still doing a bit of final design work. Once cut to length, I cut them to width plus about 1/8". I then go to the jointer and run one good side thru the jointer to give me a good straight edge. Once all of the pieces have been run thru the jointer, I move on to my thickness planer.

I'll run several boards ganged together on edge so that I can plane them all down at the same time to the width I want. This way I know they are all exact which makes it a lot easier when building raised panel doors if everything is the same and square. I next run the boards thru the planer flat so that they are all the same thickness. believe it or not, even the Surface 4 Sides lumber you can get at Lowes and Home Depot can vary between boards. My last chore was to run the inside edge of what will be my rails and stiles for the doors thru the router table set up with a rail bit. This bit cuts the decorative profile as well as a give for the panel to "float" in. It's a long repetitive process but it's got to be done. Also all of this "machining" takes several passes with removing 1/32" of wood each time. Long and slow.

So here's some more pictures.
Gluing up the panels and cutting them to rough shape.






The 4 panels for the doors.


The 2 panels for the sides.

here's the rails and stile for the doors and side panels.

Stand is waiting for the fit test with the tank.

Looks like it fits pretty good there. Once the "skin" is on, it will be about as wide as that wall is. So how does it sit right now? Any wobble?

OK, it's been too long since the first post and so now I can't edit it. So I'll have to add on here what I have been doing. I had some pictures but lost them. I'll get more soon.

I didn't like the spacing of the coves on the uprights and my router bit was a bit dull so I had to get a new bit and redo the coves with a different spacing. Lucky for me, I just flipped the boards over and used the other side so no waste. You won't see the back side anyways.

I went to Nike's house to check out the tank on the stand. he said it was too wide but that's because he miss measured the tank a bit and added too much silicone to the out side. So if we remove the extra silicone from the out side, the tank will fit perfect. I now have the base stand back in the shop and got the bottom base glued on. Next step will be to glue on the uprights and corners and then the top piece and molding. I've got a little bit of redo on that part as I forgot to add in a overhang of the top trim. I'm either going to make rounded corners or have to go buy some more wood out of pocket to make square corners on the top. We'll see if I like the rounded corners first.

So here's what's been done lately.

Hrs. Task
2.0 Routed coves in uprights with new demission's.
2.0 Cut panels to rough width and planned flat.
1.5 Glued up molding.
1.0 Cut door rails to length.
0.5 Glued up corner panels.
4.5 Sanded everything to 220 grit. Hand sanded all
molding to 220. Sanded some sections to 320 grit.
4.0 Confirmed fit check of tank to stand. Brought stand
back to shop. Fit, cut and glued bottom base molding
to stand.

One thing we are talking about doing is to make the door panels a book match. I've got to do a little research on finding someone who can resaw some panels for me. My band saw is just not good enough. It will make the stand that much more impressive.

Upper molding. It's made in two pieces.

OK. I got some more work done so time to update. First off is the work list and hours spent.

Hrs        Task
2.0       Cut, fit and glued corner uprights to stand.
2.0       Cut, fit and glued center upright to stand. Made new upper
           molding and glued up. test fit to stand.
8.0       Fit, cut and glued back uprights on ends. Fit, cut and glued
           upper molding to stand on three sides. Cut door rails to size.
           Cut door stiles to size. Routed end profile.
5.0       Cut panels to final size and routed profile for raised panel.

I don't have any pictures of the base stand yet but will get some next time I have it out and am working on it. Now comes the sanding and trying to stain the wood to match his furniture.

The router set up for cutting the end profile in the stiles.



Rails and stiles with end profile cut in stiles.

Next I started cutting the profile into the panels for the doors. I can only move the fence back 1/8" at a time to expose a little more of the cutting blade. It's a long process but to get a good unburned/ no rip out cut, you have to do it. I did 7 passes at 1/8" and then 2 at 1/16" and a final pass at 1/32". For some reason, as I was doing the last few cuts, I found that my bit was lowering some and starting to cut too much in the back of the panel. I caught it in time and so didn't waste the panels, causing me to start over and loose money. So here's the pictures of the panels that were a pain.

Base panel cut to size.



After 2 passes



4 passes



6 passes



Final pass. All it needs now is some hand sanding on the profile.



What the door will look like when done.



A quick preview in the stand.

OK, I got some more shop time finally so time to update.

16 hrs sanding and staining raised panels
8 hrs glueing door assembies together
4 hrs sanding and staining door frames

So as you can see, I've been working on the doors. I applied 2 coats of traditional cheery stain and one coat of American walnut stain, letting each application dry for a day. The cheery was just too red so that is why I used the walnut on top, to darken it more and dull out the redness. I wanted to stain the raised panels before assembling the doors as it makes it easier to snd if need be. Now I'm staing the door frames with the same layers. Once they are donw, I'll have Nikecivic check the color and see if I need to go darker or not. It may be a second coat of walnut and then a final coat of cherry before the color is just right. Once it is, then I know what I have to do for the rest of the stand. I'll post up some picturs of the doors once I get them stained.

OK, everyone likes pictures so here you go. I got 4 coats total of stain on the wood. I haven't sealed it yet but the plan is to use a matte or semi gloss clear or spar varnish. It will darken it up a little but give it that rich hue everyone likes.

Here's a front shot with the doors in place.

And matching end panels. The plan is to make them doors as well.



Some of the details







This is all the result of about 20 hours of hand rubbing out the finish. Lots of work but it looks better than machine finish.

Wow this stand is incredible! I know who I am going to have make my next stand  

Thanks, just bring a big check book.

Beautiful work! Lovin it!

Looks great! Can't wait to see the tank on top of the stand.

I can't believe this is my first post in your thread but it turned out really nice. When is it getting delivered?

sisterlimonpot wrote:I can't believe this is my first post in your thread but it turned out really nice. When is it getting delivered?

Hopefully by next weekend :-)
I'll let you know when I need to lift the tank on the stand.

nikecivic wrote:

sisterlimonpot wrote:I can't believe this is my first post in your thread but it turned out really nice. When is it getting delivered?

Hopefully by next weekend :-)
I'll let you know when I need to lift the tank on the stand.

Hopefully know one has to go to the ER this time haha

Not that soon. Still got some work to do on it and then at least a week to spray the clear and buff out.

SLP, I was wondering if/when you were going to show up here. Thanks.

MxReEfEr92 wrote:

nikecivic wrote:

sisterlimonpot wrote:I can't believe this is my first post in your thread but it turned out really nice. When is it getting delivered?

Hopefully by next weekend :-)
I'll let you know when I need to lift the tank on the stand.

Hopefully know one has to go to the ER this time haha

Wow will cover all the necessary safety equipment lol!

Wow the stand looks pristine bro you got a lot of love put into it

Thanks. Maybe one day I'll retire again and start a small business in custom cabinets and such.

For now, it's just another passion/hobby of mine.

Retire again once I retire I'm done

Ray ones your done with that one if you want to do a canopy for mine give me a call it will open top this is my number 844-34 38

Ok time for another update. The stand is built and the doors have been hung and adjusted. I then removed the doors and painted the interior of teh stand with 2 coats of Kiltz primer/sealer. Then I covered that with 2 coats of Exterior Spar varnish. That should seal it nicely and prevent and rotting from the moisture. All of this was done with a brush so as to get some good thick coverage and get it into some of the little nooks and cranneys.

I Then preped the exterior of the stand, the show peice, and sprayed 3 coats of the same Spar varnish. Sanded it all with 320 grit paper and sprayed a final coat. I've got to redo the top part as I had some runs that wound up peeling. No big deal and an easy fix.

Once that's done and all cured for a few days, I'll cut the inside shelve and install and seal it then it will be time to move it to Nike's house for good. That way he can start working on setting up his tank while I put a finish on the doors.

Materials:
1 gal Kiltz $10.00
1 Gal Water based exterior Spar varnish $50.00

Time: 32 hours

Stand is up with the tank without the doors

Wow! That looks great!!! I can't wait to see this up and running!!

The stand came out perfect. You may be able to fit a piece of paper between the tank and stand moulding.

He said his wife likes it. She also said it looked expensive.

Happy wife, hapy life. Maybe I need to charge him more. Or tell her how much it cost.

Great, now if we could come up with a nice clean way to open up the doors.

I'm working on it.

Had a little set back this weekend. But I'll get back on it today.

Make the doors automotive lol Jk
But it would be clean

But hands down crusty you got some talent with the wood work brother but now just to get those white thing sticking outta that tank and then it would be a cherry build

What's the dim of tha stand I like how tall it looks

My requirements for the stand was to be 38" tall. The height is perfect for everything to fit under the stand.

Thanks Ian. It's just another one of my hobbies. Maybe one day I'll start a custom cabinet bussiness.

I'm still working on the doors and how to open them. It would have been easy if I would not have put the "lip" on the inside of the door opening to block out any light/noise from inside the cabinet. Might have to go with a very small pull tab at the bottom of the door.

The stand looks awsome in his house and almost matches his table that I was trying to match. I did a satin finish on it that I think looks a lot better than a gloss finish would have. Wait till you see the doors all done.

Almost there...4 of 6 doors installed.

Nike that tank is looking sexy ass hell how did u guys go about the door?

He's working on a pull out tabs on two of the doors that aren't pictured yet.

The stand is finally completed! The tank build thread will be up soon.

Looks awesome. Those doors look like a very tight fit. Good job Ray!