3 Tier Stand

[Andrew_B]

Let me guess.. Freespool came to you and walked away with something completely different? Honestly, I wouldn't mind that. I wouldnt be able to transport it completely done in my car, but with everything cut properly to size and maybe the top and bottom bases together - I should be able to manager to finish it up! I'll let you know if I decide to keep the satisfaction of doing something myself... or having it be straight

Nice - I have an architecture degree, graduated in '09, but of course, not working in the field. Not an easy field for the newcomers. If you want, I'll teach you everything you need to know about sketchup. Great program to learn. People think it can't get as detailed as other programs, but they're quite wrong! I'll PM you my final project so you can see what its capable of. I can also give you a rendering program (artlantis) that works great with sketchup and is easy to use. Pretty sure I still have all of the activation codes and what not laying around.

[jhenry]

Say Andrew don't just teach Jason how to do it. He's a balla charge him

[JasonC]

Nice - I have an architecture degree, graduated in '09, but of course, not working in the field. Not an easy field for the newcomers. If you want, I'll teach you everything you need to know about sketchup. Great program to learn. People think it can't get as detailed as other programs, but they're quite wrong! I'll PM you my final project so you can see what its capable of. I can also give you a rendering program (artlantis) that works great with sketchup and is easy to use. Pretty sure I still have all of the activation codes and what not laying around.

May have to take you up on that! Always looking for ways to one up our competition.

Say Andrew don't just teach Jason how to do it. He's a balla charge him

come on now...where's the love??

[Andrew_B]

Hah, just let me know

Well, finished up the framing. Tried to see if I could make the 10gal tank cantilever out from the 20gal stand, but it wouldnt work. It would be fine when both tanks are full, but if I did a big water change on the 20gal up top, it would probably tip over. Just added on one support, and it was able to hold me jumping around on it. Going to take the next couple days to clean it up, spackle the nail holes up (will it hold on wood?), sand, then paint it. Probably just add plywood to the bottoms, maybe one additional shelf in the middle of the 40gal then call it a day. Its hard seeing empty fish tanks laying around! No idea whats going in them yet though.

I'm sure ill stare at them later on, find myself bored, then attempt the skinning then

[jhenry]

Yes spackeling will adher to wood. And Jason there is no love in bussiness you know that j/k bro

[Andrew_B]

Done! Here it is. Had to skip over the skinning due to needing a free tank by sunday. Going to fill them up tonight and toss in some established filters/gravel. I think they turned out real nice, should be clean. I mounted black surge protectors on the back of each stand, so I should be able to keep every cord hidden. Still need to toss my 10gal on its horizontal stand, everything should be up and running by monday I would guess. I'll post more updated pics then - thanks for the comments guys!

[jhenry]

Well what can I say??????? Mmmmmmm looks good. Not to bad for a rookie.

[armthehomeless]

Looks nice . . . glad to see that you moved the small tank up off the bottom.

[nhung]

Good work. Love to see it when it is done.

[nacra99]

Lookin good!

[HookTheBrotherUp]

I'm done with the main section, it just needs paint. I may attempt to throw on a plywood skin, but I have a feeling a crappy job will make it look that much worse! I also decided against making it all one complete unit. I'm going to make three seperate stands, and just make it so they can link together somehow but stay freestanding.

Getting everything together really made it strong, and it no longer has a tiny wobble. The top is still very slightly uneven but ill try the few ideas above to fix that.

Wow! Well... I'll just ask... do you know the properties of wood? ) I bet if you could balance your vehicle on that stand, it would hold it up. Depending on the wood, and the carcass, but I see you don't have one on it in your later pictures, you could calculate about 350 pounds per square inch with pine. The secret to building stands like this is stability. You could build it with 4x4s, but if it is not structurally sound, it could collapse easily. You used the brute force method to making it stable, but as you already noted, you could have done it with much less, and made it much lighter, I bet it is heavy.

Kudos on your first project though, what is important is that you had an idea and followed though with it, more than most people can say, and a good learning experience as well. My unsolicited advice is.... use eye protection when chopping, or ripping, and get a good table saw. Good luck.

[jhenry]

Stop picking on the rookie. The stability comes with the rest of the stand connected to eachother. He will have no problem with racking on this agreeably very heavy stand lol. Check out the pictures of the finished product and you'll see that it is not going to have any racking problems

[HookTheBrotherUp]

Yes, I agree, I did see the finished product. Very sturdy. I think all of us who have built own stands at one point have been through this already, he just joined the club.

[jhenry]

Yeah most people weigh on the very study side. Which is better than not strong enough

[JasonC]

you ever get the other tanks on the stand and filled?